#ngh...

They were enamoured with the moon that sat above, their pupils nearly as big as the sky rock itself. Without taking their eyes off it they reached over to Robbie, grabbing at his jumper to get his attention.

“Yes?” Robbie tried to flush out the fondness in his eyes, as not to look too sappy.

‘This is the first supermoon since the calamity. It’s nice to see a moon so large yet so white, I’ve been so used to red’ Link signed, finally looking the man sat next to him.

“Damn, has it really been that long? I hope Purah’s looking out at it.” The thought came naturally to him and like with many thoughts, Robbie didn’t get a choice in whether he verbalises it. He felt bad, no matter how much he tried to make nights just about him and Link, her name would pop up.

Link’s movement caught Robbie’s attention, ‘Me too. She’d love this.’

That. That right there was one of the reasons Robbie loved Link so much. The number of failed relationships that stemmed from his and Purah’s one wasn’t a nice number to think about. He’s had far too many people tell him that their relationship isn’t normal and he should go fuck her instead.

In hindsight, maybe they weren’t good people to begin with. But Link? They were so completely different. They were so accepting of his and Purah’s weird comradery. No not weird, different. Link was the one who kept reminding him of that. There was no way Link would ever care for Purah as much as Robbie did. That was just a fact. But for Robbie to finally find someone who cared about them both and their happiness while also understanding Robbie loved Link so emphatically. It was a nice change of pace.

Robbie finally had an urge of confidence he had been waiting for. It came like a truck driving into his stomach.

“Link… uh” Link looked towards the researcher, “can I hold your hand?” Rip of the band-aid… then let the blood pour out. “Obviously you don’t have too and of course you can let go and stuff to sign or just in gener…”

Link realised that their left side was facing Robbie. In most cases, for most people, this would’ve been fine. But link didn’t know how comfortable a cold Sheikah built hand would be to hold, so they got up and stepped over Robbie’s lap to the other side, taking his hand as they sat. They looked to Robbie, a look on their face that says a mix of ‘thank you’ and ‘you’re ridiculous’.

They sat like that for a while, a harmonious silence that Robbie was still getting used to. Life had never been this quiet for him. As a child being raised by hundreds of people meant there was never a dull moment. As an adult, he met the most obnoxiously loud person he could possibly be blessed with and then was launched into war. It’s safe to say that silence was foreign to Robbie. He tried to stay in it as long as possible but it soon became too much. He didn’t realised at first but Link looked to him in concern, then to their hands which were white-knuckled.

“Shit- Link I’m sorry.”

Link took their free hand, ‘You ok?’

“Yeah…” Deep breaths. In and out. In and out. “Just got worked up over nothin’ is all. Sorry.”

Link took in as much air as they could, “You’ve been off tonight.”

Robbie still got caught up every time words left Link’s mouth, but he coolly played it off.

“I- uh- Have I?” He stuttered through the two-word sentence then scolded himself because that wasn’t playing it off as cool.

“You’re acting too…” Link chose their words carefully, “normal.”

The scientist looked confused. It took a minute to realise what the knight meant. He then began to laugh, bringing his and Links hands up to his face to hide the smile.

“What so you’d prefer me to act like an eccentric twat?” He asked, the laugh still in the background of his speech.

“It’s not acting. It’s you Robbie. You are an eccentric twat” Link’s voice ran dry with the laugh that followed. They enjoyed talking but knew it was back to signing for now. Lucky for them, Robbie knew how to talk someone’s ear off.

“You sure you ain’t gonna regret this Hylian.” Robbie leaned towards the knight, an eyebrow arched on his face.

Link just smiled softly in return. That was enough for Robbie.

Link prepared themselves for the onslaught of guardian knowledge that was about to come their way but instead was greeted with, “You’re gorgeous you know that.”

Link got whiplash from the compliment, it being so far from what they expected. They looked to Robbie confused.

“Every part of you. Like your eyes. Every time I look at them I see that hot spring up on Herba. The place you took me. The blues are the same.”

Link’s eyes crinkled, that was sappy.

“And your hair, how it shines. Seeing you on a sunny day, I may as well be seeing a deity with how much you glow.

“Your ears. How they're so different from mine. How they move ever so slightly. Half the time it’s the only tell you have. I find that so fascinating about Hylians.

“Your height. I don’t know what to say about that one except your really short.”

Link laughed. They walked right into Robbie’s trap. Trying to get Link to laugh was one of his favourite things to do.

“Way to ruin a…” Link brought their hand up to their neck, their voice was still sore. It put a somber look on their face, Robbie saw this as an opportunity.

“Your voice. Hearing you speak still brings me butterflies, even after this long.” Link smiled sadly, still with their hand on their neck. As slowly and gently as possible he took Links hand and brought it down to their other.

“Your scars. Every one of them. From the one on your neck to the one on your wrist.” Link them looked to their prosthetic hand. The researcher didn’t let the look linger long, cupping Link’s face in his hand guiding Link’s stare back to him.

“Hell, I think if I counted every scar on your body, I could connect each one to a reason I love you.”

Link took their hands from Robbie’s, ‘I have a lot of scars.’

Robbie smirked. “I have a lot of reasons.”

The knight chuckled. They lent over, landing a soft kiss on Robbie’s cheek. He wasn’t expecting that.

Link internally laughed. For a man so flirty, Robbie really did short-circuit with affection. It was cute.

They lent back, their hand back in the scientist’s grip. The moon really did shine brightly tonight.