#ler!link

Link held his lips from curling into a smile and approached his friend as he imagined the outcome of what he was about to do.

“I only see fairness Mr. Hero! Out of the goodness of your heart and the-hehAH-” The merchant was suddenly interrupted by his own voice.

“Ticklish?” Link smirked and retracted his hand from Ravio’s hip.

Ravio’s heart skipped, a new feeling of giddiness and fluster lighting throughout him.

He scrambled to answer, “What-PPFSH n-no…?” chuckle “Nope.” He crossed his arms and held his sides.

“I think you are!!” The grinning hero approached him as he shuffled back.

Butterflies flutt- no, swarmed in his stomach. The not so subtle excitement for where this was going teased at his nerves. Ravio felt the connection of playfulness sparking between them, a feeling he was very ready to welcome after so long without.

“N-Now this has nothing to do my deals, buddy!” He protested, his voice wavering as he tried to suppress the anticipatory giggles creeping up his throat.

He grasped the merchant’s hips once again, “Well I have to get you back somehow!” he retorted winking, unable to keep that smirk off his face as he began to squeeze and knead into the spot, recalling the way he reacted when he did it the first time.

“WAIT-waihahait hero we can tALk aboUT THIHIS” Ravio stumbled over his words and backed into a counter, spilling out giggles and trying his best not to fold like a lawn chair from the fingers attacking his ticklish hips.

His false voice had already been slipping from the moment Link had first taken him by surprise, but that bit of control he had left was now completely gone, and Ravio was kicking himself. Just some tickles to fully tear down the grouchy guise of his so well-hidden voice? Really?

Link payed no mind however and slipped under his leather band, beginning to squeeze his sides, the other instinctively scrambling to escape the ticklish sensation and tripping over himself, quite literally falling into laughter as Link followed him down to the floor.

The blonde boy easily removed the midriff accessory and went straight back for his sides, squeezing up and down and spidering in circles. Ravio twisted and turned, squealing out a waterfall of giggles and frantically pushing Link’s hands away as his legs tried their best to kick from under him.

“You laugh softer when I go down here…” two squeezes to his lower sides.

“And you laugh harder when I go up here…” three squeezes travelling up them. Ravio belly laughed as the cogs in his mind turned with Link’s. What was he-? oh no.

“So…” He locked onto his target.

“WaHahahit naHAhah—HAH!” he barked out suddenly, before trailing off into awkward and nervous giggles, giving Link as pleading of a stare as he could give through the mask of his hood.

“Bad spot?” Link chuckled, starting up again the moment after he spoke, skittering up and down Ravio’s ribs - leaving his loud and frantic laughter to answer that question for him.

Ravio’s hood jumped about along with him and began to lift, the slightly quietened sound of his laugh becoming clearer, and realisation hitting him in the face as light creeped in.

He scrambled to clutch onto his hood and keep it down, which unfortunately for him, was an obvious mistake and too perfect an opportunity for Link to miss. The blonde quickly shoved his hands under Ravio’s arms and scribbled into his hollows, a grin spread across his face.

The squeal he let out was unbelievable, getting a snort out of Link himself as he curled in and clamped his arms down, refusing to let go of his hood.

Which didn’t help, trapping Link’s wriggling fingers and sending all the more ticklish sparks buzzing along his nerves. He spluttered and amusingly squealed out as many half-hearted protests as he could.

“IHihi- th-this wihihill rahAHAISE YOHOur priHIces si-hihIHAH-SIGNIFICANTLY!-AHAH”

“Threatening me in this situation? Really?” The boy smirked, slowing his tickles a little.

“Well whahat are yohou gonna do? You cahahan’t tickle me to deheath Hero.” Ah. Rookie mistake.

“Oh you wanna test that theory?” He set his hands back on the giggler’s ribs, twitching them a little.

Ravio tensed and felt himself gaining an even wobblier (and wider) smile on his face, squirming, “Wahait-wAItwaitWAIT yohou wouldn’t-” He spluttered, convincing his arms to move down and hold Link’s.

More and more giggles seemed to bubble out of him in anticipation and nervousness. And the light squeezing to his ribs Link was kind enough to provide him with weren’t messing with him any less either.

Anyway, turns out he would go there. He definitely would.

“MR. H-HEHEHEHAHAHAHAA!! LIHIHINK!” The merchant was screeching with laughter, grabbing desperately at his attacker’s hands as they kneaded into each sensitive bone.

Link couldn’t help but smile as he vibrated and wiggled his fingers into the ticklish crevices of his rib cage, digging out every cackle and wheeze he could find. He absolutely deserved this.

“NOHOHAAHAHAT THEHERE!! PLEHE- I’M GONNA DIHIE!!!” Ravio threw himself about like a fish out of water. Wasn’t this guy was supposed to be a rabbit?

Link strategically placed his fingers on every bone he could, paused for a second, and tased as quickly and evilly as he could as his friend arched and gasped and bursted into another round of harsh cackles, falling into a hyper-giggle fit in between every shock.

His laugh was so funny and contagious, it reminded Link of his own. His smile was wide and his heart was so warm with affection he almost forgot the reason he started all of this.

He had missed these kinds of moments. The times where he’d get into trouble with his friends, where they’d laugh together for ages and his biggest worry was waking up late for work, when his responsibility for the kingdom and the princess was still in the past.

This was the happiest he’d felt in a while, for once he felt like there was nothing wrong with the world, like it was just him and Ravio. Just him and this strange, funny, stupidly ticklish ‘merchant’.

Link dazed in the moment before snapping back to reality, meeting before him a wheezing, snorting, curled up Ravio, realising he’d been practically murdering the guy this entire time.

He slowly halted his attack and patted his friend on the shoulder, moving to sit off his legs.

All his thrashing had yet again revealed a glimpse of the underneath of his hood, only a little. Link wouldn’t look any further but just enough to see his smile. To which he felt his own butterflies fluttering in his stomach, it was so playful and happy, so genuine.

Residual giggles filled the air, “O-Oho my gohoddess I thought you wehere gonna kill me!”

Link scoffed, “Don’t be dramatic! You’re not earning any sympathy from me, the amount of times I’ve fallen in battle and you’ve snatched your items back immediately! You greedy guy!!” He scurried his fingers over Ravio’s stomach, earning a squawk and another round of laughter.

“HEhey thahat was the deheal!! And I thihink we knohow who’s fault it is anyway judging by ‘the amount of times I’ve fallen in battle’ buddyYHA- HAHAHAH” He flailed as another attack was launched again by an ‘irritated’ hero.

“OKaY OKAHAY stahahap!” Ravio snorted and shoved Link as he sat up further.

“I didn’t overstep did I?” Link gave him a nudge.

“No, not at all. It was…fun.” Ravio’s tone was warm and lighthearted, one that spread through the room.

“You’ve learnt your lesson?” Link raised an eyebrow, smiling.

“Yes yes I have.” he giggled, head in his hands.

“…I don’t have to lower the prices though right-OKAYOKAYIMSORRY”

No matter what he pulled Link couldn’t seem to shake his affection for the merchant, being somewhat drawn to him and feeling their bond grow despite only short moments of interaction.

And this seemed to be mutual.

——————

Normally Revali stayed in Rito village, only allowing himself to be groomed and preened by close friends, as most Rito did. But at the moment he was in Hyrule Castle, along with some of the other champions, having a meeting. The princess was kind enough to offer rooms for all the champions to rest over the next few days, since their villages were a long way from the castle.

Revali sat in his room, trying hard to groom his feathers, but it was much more difficult than he thought with only one hand, since he was trying to straighten the feathers on his left arm. After a while, he growled and gave up, letting his attitude get the better of him. "Revali?"

The bird jumped upon hearing the voice. He turned to see Link standing in the doorway. Revali knew the other Champions thought he hated the Hylian by how hard he was on him, but the truth was completely the opposite. He had a soft spot for the knight, but he was the youngest and the smallest, and Revali was scared to see him get hurt. He was hard on him in order to create a wall between them, and also to make him stronger.

"...Revali?" Oh.. Guess he got lost in thought. "What do you want?" He asked, coldly. "You left your door open. I heard you growl and thought maybe you needed help." Link explained.

Help? HIM? Revali? Never! "Maybe I do." He found himself admitting. The comment seemed to shock them both. Link stepped fully into the room, shutting the door. "Would you like some help then?" he asked. After a moment of tense silence, the Rito nodded. "I was trying to groom my feathers, but that's usually a social thing that people do in Rito village. It's hard to do by yourself apparently." Revali said, sitting up straight.

Link walked over to the dresser and grabbed a comb. There was a comb this whole flipping time? Was Revali really that blind? Link sat down next to him, pulling him from his thoughts. "So.. How does this work? I've never helped groom... anyone really." the boy said, looking up at his much taller friend.

Revali glanced down at the comb in Link's hand. Rito usually used their hands, but it wasn't uncommon for them use combs as well. Usually parents used them for children, since they had down feathers, or their feathers were too small and fragile to really grab ahold of. Children were also encouraged to use combs until they got a bit older, since they might accidentally damage the feathers of friends or younger siblings by grabbing or pulling too hard. But Revali decided Link was allowed to use a comb as well, since he not only saw him as a child, but he was new to grooming.

"It's not that hard, really. You just comb it through, going the same direction of the feath- ..Yes, like that." Revali hadn't even finished his sentence when Link just started to run the comb gently down the length of his arm. Link was a quick learner, really. After a minute or two of Revali guiding him and giving him pointers, Link seemed as though he'd been doing this for years.

Everything was going fine for a while. Link had combed down both of his arms, and had just started to go for his side, when Revali suddenly tensed up and flinched away, grunting. The Hylian almost dropped the comb, startled. "Oh- Revali, I'm sorry, did I hurt you? Are you wounded there? I can go get a medi-" "I'm fine. It's nothing, don't worry about it." Revali said. Even he was confused for a moment, until he suddenly remembered something. Oh.

Revali had forgotten something over the years. He was ticklish. He hadn't been tickled since his mother used to play with him as a child. She used to chase him around for grooming time, and he'd always hide, making a game out of it, until she inevitably found him, scooping him up and taking him back home, where she'd comb out his feathers and tickle him. It had been years since then, and be had been so busy that he had even forgotten his own sensitivity. But he couldn't let Link know that.

"You just caught me off guard." ...Look, Revali was very skilled at fighting. Not so much at lying. Link tilted his head like a confused puppy. "...How? I've been combing your feathers for ten minutes now." Revali silently cursed himself. "Uh-.. I mean, y- Hey!" Revali yelped and gently slapped the comb from Link's hand, letting out what sounded like a strangled giggle.

"No way.."

"Link."

"I can't believe it."

"Then don't, there's nothing to believe-"

"Revali, the Rito Champion is-"

"Link, don't-"

"Ticklish?!"

"No!"

Suddenly forgetting to be proper, forgetting that they were warriors, Link jumped at his feathered friend, knocking him over. Revali put up a good fight, but he was weakened when Link buried his fingers into the feathers over his ribs, scritching against the skin underneath. And then the Rito was broken.

"Lihihink! Stahahahap ihihit, this ihis chihihildish!" Revali gave up on fighting, back, and focused more on protecting himself. He brought his arms down, accidentally pinning Link's hands right where they were.

"Hah! Some Champion you are~!" Link teased, laughing right along with his friend. He wiggled his fingers in place, listening as the pitch in Revali's voice actually got higher the more he giggled. And he giggled! It was so bizarre! Link never heard more than a chuckle or a scoff out of Revali. He assumed if Revali ever did laugh, it would be hearty or snobbish, like his personality. He never thought he would giggle like a child.

Link was just about to pull the 'my hands are trapped, you need to raise your arms' trap, when he suddenly felt a swift kick to his stomach, and found himself on the floor.

With how fast Revali sat up to check on him, Link assumed it was an accident, and raised his arms, saying "I'm okay, I'm okay. I've dealt with worse." Which was true. He was a knight.

Revali grabbed Link's hand, acting like he was gonna help the Hylian up. Link went to stand up, but found himself yanked back onto the bed, into the arms of his friend. "Wh- Revali! I thought you were helping me up!" He said, almost giggling as he tried to fight his way out of the hold (which wasn't working).

"Lesson one in battle: Never let your guard down."

"What- We weren't fighting!"

"Lesson two: Never trust your enemy."

And with that, Revali slipped his hand under Link's shirt and let his feathers brush over his belly. Link growled to keep from laughing, and kicked his legs, trying to fight back and get away. "Are you- Are you growling at me?" Revali laughed. He started to claw gently at Link's side, letting the feathers tickle him more than his actual hand. Worked like magic.

Link threw his head back, letting boyish laughter spill from his mouth. He kicked less and just laughed. "R-Rehehehehehe- Stahahahap! Thihihihis isn't fahahahair!" He giggled. Revali rolled his eyes. "Oh but it was fair when you tickled me?" "YEHEHES!" Oh this brat.

Revali pulled his hand from Link's shirt and directed his attention to his pointed ears. He stroked just under his ear with one feathered finger, as Link's loud laughter turned squeaky, and he struggled a lot more. His giggles turned to hiccups and he tried to duck his head away. "R-Rev- -hic- Revahahahali! Nahahat t- -hic- thehehere!"

The Rito champion finally took pity on the poor Hylian and stopped. When hs let go of Link, the boy just let himself flop onto the floor. Revali made an attempt to catch him, but Link was too fast. "A-Ahare you alrihight?" He chuckled. Link just held a thumbs up, still giggly and loopy from the tickling.

Revali felt a fondness for Link bloom in his chest, but one of family. In that moment, he didn't see the Hylian champion, or the Princess' guardian, or a knight. He saw a 17 year old boy who finally let himself relax and have a bit of fun for once. He saw a kid who had gone through more than what most adults went through.

"I see you two finally got along." Came a voice from the doorway. Revali snapped his head up to see Lady Urbosa, smiling at him. She must have heard all the noise. Link sat up, still with a lopsided grin. Of course he wasn't embarrassed, Revali thought, he didn't have a reputation to uphold. He sighed, knowing he couldn't lie to Urbosa. She'd see right through him.