Yeah I’m finally getting to these lmao
Thank you so much @sm0keysabre for the request! I’ll start off by saying that in canon, I absolutely agree with Teba being the Dad Friend™️ of the “new champions,” and when I ship him with Link I generally make him a) younger and b) not married and with child because I am simply not about weird age differences or adultery. That said, here’s some Teba/Link first-time-meeting-to-getting-together headcanons for y’all!
-Teba thinks Link is absolutely fucking insane when they first meet. Like. This tiny fucking Hylian thinks he can help deal with Vah Medoh? He can’t even fly. What the fuck
-This feeling is very much exacerbated when he sees how Link does aerial archery - he soars around on this bizarre contraption that he holds onto for dear life with his tiny little Hylian hands and then fucking drops into freefall to shoot and then wrenches his arms out of their goddamn sockets taking the glider out again so he doesn’t fall to his fucking death??? What is WRONG with this bitch
-He has all of these thoughts in the span of about thirty seconds and then immediately goes fuck this is probably what Saki and Harth think of me, huh
-Meanwhile Link’s first thought when he meets Teba is just. Fuck, he’s tall
-Second thought: Fuck, he’s hot
-Third thought: Fuck, he’s soft??? Feathers??? If I snuggle into his back right this second he will drop me at a thousand feet with no mercy but I want to do it anyway
-If Link’s being honest with himself, Teba’s a solid 60% of his motivation for continually returning to Rito Village whenever he gets the chance, even after he doesn’t really have any reason to be there anymore (the other 40% is that the Rito-down beds in the inn are ridiculously comfortable)
-Teba, for his part, is entirely unsure why Link keeps showing up to train at the Flight Range when he seems to have pretty much mastered both aerial archery and swordfighting, but he’s certainly not gonna complain about it - as odd as Link is, he quickly joins Saki and Harth in the very small group of “people who don’t hate Teba for being a gruff, impulsive, antisocial bastard,” and he always has lots of very interesting stories from his travels
-Eventually Teba’s just like. Fuck it, I’m setting up a second hammock in my roost so that Link doesn’t have to pay to stay in the inn every time he visits
-And Link’s just like. Fuck it, I cook dinner for myself every night I might as well cook for Teba as well when I’m here
-Saki offhandedly jokes that the two of them are starting to look more and more like a courting couple and Teba just. Loses it. Like he is flustered beyond belief, denying up and down being attracted to Link in any capacity whatsoever, and she just gives him A Look™️ and then it sinks in and he’s like. Well shit
-Honestly, neither of them are entirely sure at one point they move beyond friendship and into courtship. Maybe it’s the first time Link rides back to Rito Village on Teba’s back instead of just teleporting. Maybe it’s the first time he tucks himself up against Teba’s side while they chat by the fire. Maybe it’s the first time they share a hammock, although that was more the weather’s fault than anything. But eventually, Link is whispering gentle words into the crook of Teba’s neck and Teba is crooning them back, and they’re both pretty sure, then
