#newtsnaturethings

A few days later, Link braves the outdoors for a little bit. Only to grab supplies, though – or that was his main goal, at least. And he was able to achieve that goal at first, purchasing the groceries that they desperately needed, but – but they had been gone a long time – long for them, anyway – and Link kept getting stopped on the way back home, pulled aside as his concerned neighbors asked over and over if he and Zelda were okay. He was out much longer than he intended, but when he finally stumbled back home, it was with a warm heart; it was good to know that the fellow villagers cared.

It was a feeling that quickly died when he stepped into the house and called Zelda’s name and got nothing in response. He checked the loft, quickly peeked into the bathing room, and – nothing. She was gone.

Panic quickly snatched up his heart, chilling him to the bone, but he tried to breathe. Made himself focus.

Zelda still wasn’t feeling well, he reminded himself. So she couldn’t have gotten far. He just needed to look around.

Link still took a moment to ground himself, breathing in, breathing out – calming his racing heart. And then he went to look for her.

He found Zelda in the backyard, lying in the dead, dry grass.

She wasn’t sleeping – it was way too cold out, to try and sleep. She was just…lying there. Eyes wide as she stared up at the watery blue sky. He noticed that she was wearing one of his softest tunics, to not aggravate her healing wounds, and his heart melted a little in his chest.

“Zelda.” He called out when he was close enough, taking care not to startle her, and her eyes slid over to him. She smiled, wide and bright, her fingers curling into the grass.

“Link!” She said happily. “Welcome home! I didn’t know you were back.”

“I just got home. I was – you –” He shuffled in place a little, unsure of what to do with himself. “You weren’t inside. So. I was worried. For a second.”

“Oh.” Her smile softened a little. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you. I just –”

She sighed a little. “I just wanted to see the sky. Just for a little bit. For no reason, really, it just – it looked really nice out.” She extended a hand towards him. “Come down here with me?”

Link didn’t hesitate to take her hand – but wasn’t expecting her to pull him down, coaxing and tugging, until he was hovering over her on all fours. The cold air made the blush on his face feel scorching, and he didn’t know why he was feeling so shy, all of the sudden.

“I thought you said you wanted to see the sky?” He mumbled, the heat in his face increasing as Zelda gently brushed his bangs away from his eyes. “This feels pretty counterproductive.”

“That’s true.” She agreed. “But I’ve watched the sky plenty, I think. I want to stare at something a little nicer.”

Link felt his heart squeeze, and he made sure not to press any of his weight onto her as he leaned down to press a light kiss to her lips. “Fine.” He murmured against her mouth. “But we’re not staying out here for long – it’s way too cold for that.”

food. we all know link is the master chef of the pair. he loves to cook meals for the two of them and he always presents them so elegantly. zelda is a decent cook as well and she'll make food for link when he's tired or having a bad day. both link and zelda get a tiny bit chubby post-calamity just because they really like their fine dining :') eating together is one of the times when they feel closest.

hair braiding. and just like, playing with hair in general. they're both very good at styling hair actually, but they still like to do it for one another. link really likes to give zelda intricate patterns and braid flowers in. he says "it makes you look like even more of a goddess."

sharing clothes! good god i am a sucker for zelink sharing clothes. zelda may be taller and bigger in general but they're close enough that it doesn't matter too much. link doesn't mind baggy clothes anyway. and. zelda wearing the desert voe set or the climbing gear?? link wearing dresses?????? you know how much i love that. they have some matching outfits too :)

thigh pillows. they take turns being the pillow. this one pretty much explains itself

post-diplomacy snuggles. zelda takes it easy for a while after sealing ganon, but it's not too long before she jumps right back into rebuilding her kingdom. and well... it takes a lot out of her. link has to remind her to take a break sometimes like "you've been staring at the same ancient documents for 5 hours, you need to fucking sleep already" and zelda just. very begrudgingly crawls into link's arms and then immediately falls asleep and link is like. i told you so

the squeeze™ after the calamity, link is a lot more socially confident than he was Before, and he talks much more frequently; but he can still go nonverbal in stressful situations. whenever this happens zelda just gently takes one of his hands and squeezes it in hers, softly rubbing her thumb over his knuckles until he feels safe enough to talk again.