#ogling

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Day 1:

Zelda stood knee-deep in the snow-covered Hyrule Field to inspect the troops in lieu of her father.

It was a respected tradition that often took place during Winterfest, the season leading up to Wintersday, but after a particularly rough blizzard had rendered Hyrule Field un-travelable, a small delay had left the soldiers and the Princess stuck performing their duties in horrible conditions. Her father refused to call off the event, claiming the people needed normalcy in light of the impending Calamity.

In her deceptively not warm white coat (with a flimsy, royal, fine silk shirt underneath), cold white leather gloves (but no hat or snow boots because that would be too sensible to be part of her royal regalia) and… admittedly her own poor choice in light riding pants, Zelda was shivering and struggling to get any of the words to her official speech out.

It had taken everything she’d ever been trained to do, but the words spilled out in a few sharp breaths, ending with the articulate, “—andmayHyliablessyou,” before bolting to her horse just to use him to block some of the bitterly cold air.

“Princess?” Link asked, approaching her. It was something he’d never have done a few months ago, but since he’d saved her from the Yiga in Gerudo Desert, they’d become—dare they say it—friend­s. “Are you okay?”

There were many reasons to hate her Appointed Knight. For one, he was perfect. No one liked perfect people, especially when an entire kingdom was keen on flaunting them in one’s face. He was succeeding in his destiny where she was failing. And unlike their sentiments toward her, the Kingdom loved Link.

But above all, the main reason she hated Link was that he’d had the sense to dress warmly.

He was in a woolen hat that bore the royal family’s embroidered insignia on one side, and the Knight’s of Hyrule on the other. He wore a scarf, layers, fur lined pants, and the little show-off wore a Rito feather in his hair on top of it all.

Yes, she hated him still. But not for the reasons she once had.

“N-no. I’m n-not ok-k-kay. M-my royal w-a-war-ardrobe is trying to k-k-k-k-kill me!”

Link rested his hand on The Master Sword. “Just tell me where to go; I’ll take care of them. You’ll never wear anything too cold again.”

Zelda laughed, but it came out in a burst of air that she wheezed on. Her throat was dry as she shivered. She grabbed Link’s arm and wrapped herself around it, hugging his arm tightly.

“Princess…” Link warned, glancing at the large gathering of troops just a little ways away.

“They c-c-can shut up, or b-b-b-b-bring my f-f-frozen corp-p-p-pse to my f-f-father!”

“Okay,” Link relented, though he kept his eye out for anyone who might be watching them. The occasional glance passed over them, but barely spared a thought for the freezing Princess and her stoic Appointed Knight. They hardly looked snuggled up with the miserable look on Zelda’s face.

There was laughter off to the side, and Zelda turned, dragging Link with her so she could see.

A group of children threw balls of snow at each other, laughing, running, hiding. They dove into the snow, disappearing under the thickness, only to pop up in a flurry of it.

“D-d-did you ever d-d-d-do anything like th-th-th-that?” Zelda asked.

He shook his head slowly. “No. Never had time. You?”

“S-same.”

She turned her face into his arm and closed her eyes. “I’m g-g-g-going to d-die before the C-C-Cala-m-m-mity.”

“Princess?” another guard called to them both. If Link was around, and someone said ‘Princess’, they were often talking to him as well, like now. “We’re going to be leaving soon.”

Link was the one who nodded. As her Appointed Knight, it was more important that he knew so he could be on high alert that they’re about to move. That anyone not moving was suspicious. That Yiga could pop out of the snow for no reason. It was his job to be ready to go, not quite Zelda’s.

The wind whipped hard against their faces for a moment, and Link heard Zelda whimper. “I w-w-want to f-fire p-p-people.”

“A fire might do you good,” Link chuckled, giving her arm a sympathetic rub. But even with all his layers on, he could still feel her shaking. “Come here,” he said, tugging his arm so she’d follow.

He half expected a quip about not giving her orders, but she didn’t have it in her.

Her eyes were heavy, burning and stinging from the cold. But before she could close them, something was being placed on her head.

She flinched, but calmed down when she realized it was Link’s hands sliding along her hair, smoothing it out. And she was… warmer?

He had no hat on.

“Thank you,” she smiled, gratefully accepting.

But when he took her hand and shimmied off her tight leather glove, popping one of the fingers into his mouth so he could get the other off and then dropping it into his hand, she looked at him like he’d gone mad.

“What are you…”

He held up a finger and tucked her gloves into his back pocket before taking his thick gloves off one at a time and sliding them onto her hands.

“You’ll be c-c-cold.”

He narrowed his eyes at her and began popping the clasps off his thick outer gambeson. He still had a tunic underneath, so he was less concerned with indecency.

“Link, s-s-stop. That’s an o-o-order.”

Link smirked but didn’t stop his hands. “My role as your Appointed Knight supersedes your orders in matters regarding your safety, Princess. You’re not freezing to death on my watch.”

“I wa-a-sn’t serious ab-bout f-f-frezing!”

Link paused and stared her down, a challenging look crossing his features. “Tell me that again without your teeth chattering or stuttering.”

“I w—” she cleared her throat and blocked her teeth from banging together with her tongue. “I wasn’t being s-s-serious.” She grimaced, and it grew when his smug smile returned, and he continued undoing the clasps.

Zelda watched over his shoulder at the others. No one was watching them, but still, she felt a slight blush creeping into her cheeks that she could (thankfully) pass off as cold.

He held the gambeson out for her to slide her arms into. She hesitated, and he shook it. “You’re letting the heat escape.”

“Fine!”

Damned if she didn’t admit that Link’s pseudo jacket was big, warm, and entirely too comfortable. Trapped body heat still emanated off the lining, warming her almost immediately. She closed her eyes, breathing it in. It smelled like Link too: clean with the castle’s staple rosewater and soap, fresh with the scent of the pine trees that lined the woods outside the gardens that he liked to frequent in his free time, and perfumed… like her. She spent so much time around him, that she’d essentially rubbed off on him. She almost felt guilty.

She opened her eyes abruptly, remembering that she was, in fact, in public. And she felt more heat rise to her face when she saw that Link was watching her with a strangely intense look on his face, one that only broke when she started to move.

“Better?”

“Yes. Thank you. Don’t ever do this again.”

“I make no promises I can’t keep, Princess,” he hummed, walking away from her with a shiver. And with any luck, she’d never know how cold the loss of all his layers had made him, or how warm he’d gotten just at the sight of seeing her bundled up in them.

~~~~~~~

Day 2:

It was late in the evening when there was an unexpected knock on Zelda’s bedroom door. Link was on duty, so it was either just him—as he admittedly did on the occasion he was feeling a little chatty—or something important was happening. He’d never let her be disturbed so late otherwise.

She threw her long satin robe on over her silk pajama nightdress. Thank the Goddess for the roaring fire in her room that made it almost unbearably warm; she scoffed as she shivered at the touch of the fabric. Everything deemed ‘regal’ was also freezing cold, as if warm materials were simply not aristocratic enough.

Pulling the door open, she smiled at Link’s appearance, glad it was him and not something boring. “Hello, Link.”

“H—” He trailed off, his eyes roving over her with keen interest. His lips went from an ‘e’ to a ‘w’, and he couldn’t stop the ‘ow’ from silently following.

Zelda burned. If she thought her room was warm before...  

“Link?” she prodded, but selfishly didn’t feel like tying her robe shut. No, she’d do the incredibly mature thing: pretend she’d never seen his reaction and revel in it instead. She glanced at his hand where he held a bag. “What have you got there?”

“Uh…”

He’d seen her in her pajamas several times, but maybe it was the color? Maybe he just really liked seeing her in a soft, pastel green? He did like green, she remembered.

She was not mature.

Covering her face with her hand, she dragged it down her cheek. “Please say something, Link. I’m feeling a little self-conscious.”

“Oh…uh… t-thank you.”

“Thank… um... you’re welcome? For?”

His eyes bounced up to hers, and he was back, like he’d temporarily lost control of a carriage, but managed to turn the wheel just before a collision. “Yes. Thank you. The soup. Chef said it was you.”

“Oh!” Zelda laughed in relief. “Yes. I knew that miso soup is your favorite, so I had them make it for you as thanks for yesterday.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Princess.”

Zelda stepped aside and gestured him into her room. “I want to. Besides, I have to return all of your things you’d lent me. Why don’t you sit and eat here for your break? No one is replacing you during your break tonight, right?”

“Right.”

“Then would you like to?”

He clutched the bag in his hand a little tighter. “I would very much, but I don’t want to disturb you, especially if you were preparing for… bed.”

“Hardly! I was going to read, but you’re much better company than a book.”

Link’s lips twitched up, and he set the bag down at her small tea table. It wasn’t the first time he’d eaten in her room with her, but it was the first time it was so late. He set his things out while she went into her closet to grab his hat, gloves, and coat.

She slung them all over her arm and turned.

He was swallowing down the first mouthful with a perfectly satisfied smile stuck on his face, gone only to take another bite, and then letting it rest there once again.

Zelda bit her lip. He was admittedly cute whenever she could catch him with his guard down completely, and it was often while he was eating. It was how they’d managed to become friends in the first place. She’d found him after the Yiga attack, saw his mood had shifted to one that seemed very relaxed to be her Mr. Stoic Appointed Knight. And she’d apologized.

She tugged her robe as she walked this time, but not for modesty. For comfort, because her hands shook when she got nervous. She took the seat across from him. “How is it?”

“Mmm, delicious! Princess, thank you, but you don’t have to reorganize a menu on my account in the future.”

“I want to, especially to thank you.”

“It’s my job.”

Zelda’s face fell slightly, but she nodded. “Of course.”

Link (though she hadn’t credited him with it at first) was incredibly perceptive to her. Any change in tone, or appearance, and he usually caught it. And he didn’t fail to see that as well. “Princess?”

“Nothing.”

“What did I say?”

Zelda sighed, leaning forward against the table. She could tell Link was serious, because he’d stopped eating. “Is it just your job? Or are we… friends?”

Link nodded, mouthing an ‘oh’. “It’s not just the job, Princess,” he said simply. “Thank you for your kindness.”