Closed for Sheik

[spiritofthewild]

Talking with the device Link inherited from the Sheikah was one thing, speaking in person was going to be a completely different one, but the knight was curious and... no matter how limited his ability to actually talk was, he wanted to find out who managed to steal Sheik''s heart. And he probably also wanted something nice to eat on the side.

He appeared by the shrine above the village and, after throwing his hood on, he quickly moved to the village, greetings the people he met with a slight bow of his head. Pumpkin tarts and tea, the knight didn't know if he was more interested in learning more about the other man or if he wanted to stuff his stomach first... but hopefully he was going to do both things together. 

He offered the guards in front of Impa's house a small bow, then hopped upstair and opened the wooden door to greet Impa as well. Words only really escaped his lips when he finally spotted Sheik. 

"I'm... here!"

Writing had never been an issue for him... but talking? It was a struggle. Still, the other was probably used to that at this point and, if truly needed, Link could type on the slate anyway. The knight licked his lips before finding the energy needed to speak once more. He really had to start learning sign language... 

"Tea and pastries?".

Comments

[spiritofthewild]

Of course he knew who Sheik was, it wasn't like Link didn't spend time in Kakariko! It was one of the very few places where he could buy special carrots for his beloved horse! What was not to love about that little, isolated place? Perhaps the knight had a little obsession both over food and horses, but at the same time... he genuinely appreciated the place.

Seriously, Sheik, what better way to lure him than offering food? Freshly baked treats, too. The knight licked his lips, already smelling the delicious pumpkin tarts in the air.

His ears dropped just slightly at the man's comment and, after offering Impa a quick bow, he was quick after the Sheikah. If others had thing to do, Link was definitely going to spend some quality time in the company of Sheik's food- but before that?

"Not always..." he patted his own chest, to let the other know he was talking about himself. "Hurt." Only when he attempted stupid personal challenges, like taking down a Lynel only using stupid weapons or something on that style. Anyway, that didn't matter.

He stopped for a moment, shifting his weight between one leg and the other, trying to form a proper sentence in his mind.

"It's good. We have time. We can talk." He crossed his arms. "Your crush." Was Link really curious? Of course he was!

[inuthings]

“I once saw you drag yourself into Kakariko with shards of a broken wooden mop lodged in your shoulder. Paya later told me that you used a mop to fight a Lynel.” Sheik picked the tea kettle up and carried it over to the fireplace. He set it over top and left it to heat up. “She told me that you decided to heal it by consuming a series of poorly made dishes. As if food heals wounds.” One day, he’d teach Link how to make Elixirs. Not that they could cure stupidity.

He returned to the table and sat down on top of the cushion, adjusting the mask around his face before his red eyes darted up to the Hero. Despite his teasing, he was quite glad that Link was alright. At least by appearances. Truthfully Sheik often wondered if he was a bit—too cheerful for someone who lacked so many years of memories. He took his mission well, fought for it, all the while barely remembering any of them. Impa told him stories of the brave Knight who served the Princess, her friend, and Link didn’t remember her.

Didn’t that bother him?

A sigh and he dismissed his own thoughts, motioning for Link to join him at the table. They didn’t come here to sit around and wonder about the Hero’s mental state. As much as Sheik found himself curious about it.

“Do you know what the Sheikah are, Hero?” A light question as he sat a plate in front of Link. He took one of the tarts, placed it on top of it, and looked up to him. “The Sheikah were soldiers to the Royal Family, but we had other tasks. Our job was to transcribe the Legends of Hyrule. I was raised with these legends as bedtime stories. Tales of adventure, some that ended in tragedy. I think I developed a love for adventure because of it.”

A brief smile beneath his mask and he gave Link a playful look. “By the way, that was your first hint. Your turn.”

[spiritofthewild]

Link grumbled waving his hand and shaking his head. Okay, perhaps he did attempt Lynel hunting with a mop and it did turn out horrible, but at the same time it had been a wonderful challenge. Conquering Lynel parts by mops required full use of his skills, great coordination, patience and... he had fun, okay? Even if he ended up wounded, he still won. And, yes, perhaps he tried to heal himself by eating boiled hearty radishes, but at the same time- hey, he survived, right?

"Was good." He finally hummed. He would definitely try something similar again.

The knight approached the other, sitting by the table and making himself comfortable at the table. Him? Too cheerful? Perhaps, but at the same time it was how the knight was approaching a battle he wasn't sure he could win: with Zelda trapped in the castle and an impending calamity, he just wanted... to enjoy what he could from his very short life. The few memories he recovered showed someone who didn't feel like 'him', it was a young man who could only obey orders and be silent, meanwhile Link- he wanted to feel free? And, despite dealing with some struggles in talking with others, he still enjoyed being around others.

"Sheikah... I know. Kind of." He answered with a nod, listening to the other and reaching for one of the little tarts. Soldiers of the Hyrulean family and... oh. Right, past heroes were part of Hyrulean tales, weren't they? The tart suddenly didn't feel too appetizing as he almost expected the other to remind him of his duty and the various expectations on his shoulders. Ugh, he didn't want to have that conversation again.

"Huh?" No 'you have to do this'? Oh, it was his first hint. His ears twitched as he finally brought the sweets to his mouth. Okay, that wasn't too difficult to understand, right? He pointed one finger in Sheik's direction, nodding. "Adventurer." He probably liked a traveler of some sort, it made sense.

"Me..." He placed down his tart once more and tilted his head. It was time to try to put together a full sentence again. "I... huh... don't know what I like? I know the knight-" his past self "Liked princess. Zora princess. But me... I'm trying? Unsure."

[inuthings]

"Please tell me you don't have a crush on the voice inside your head." Sheik actually closed his eyes in silent prayer and heaved a sigh. It wouldn't be that surprising, it truly wouldn't. From what he knew of Zelda she could be a wonderful person. Though the person Impa described to him was definitely not someone Sheik would want to spend prolonged interaction with.

Verbally abusive was a term for her that came to mind.

Impa had told him she'd been under a lot of stress, that Link was like a physical embodiment of all her failures. Each time he held his tongue but Sheik had not, at all, considered that an excuse for treating the Hero the way that she did. However if that was the type of person that Link was into, he certainly wouldn't try and talk him out of it. The heart was stupid and wanted what it wanted, that was something that he knew very well. Though he agreed to talk to Link about his crush, he fully intended to talk circles about the Hero. If he never realized who it was, they'd never have to have the awkward conversation of being turned down. At the very least Sheik would have this moment with him.

"Maybe that's a kink, Princesses." His tone was light, teasing and mostly deflecting. If he liked Zelda or Mipha, it didn't change much at all. One was sealed in a Castle and the other dead. Link really seemed to have poor choices in crushes. Sheik was clearly right up there with him in that regard. Too bad they couldn't lament over their choices, as his was less than three feet from him.

"I should get the tea." Standing up he moved over to the fire and grabbed the holder from beside it. Using the mit he pulled the pot out and carried it to the table. He poured Link a cup and himself, though purely for display, and returned the kettle to the fire. Taking a seat again he pulled his own cup toward him and looked down into the liquid.

[spiritofthewild]

Link shrugged in response: he knew too little of the voice inside his head andd... what even was Zelda beside someone who was showing him his path? He didn't remember much of the person she used to see, but it clearly was someone who was struggling like him. Who even knew what was going on inside the castle, the knight could only imagine how much difficult her fight was as he kept training to become stronger.

"Knight liked Mipha." he touched his chest again. "Barely remember her." He felt guilt for that. There were so many people who had been close to the old Link, yet the knight barely had any idea who they were or what Link's feelings were for them.

The tarts felt sour in his mouth as he thought about that and with a sigh he shook his head.

"Like... people?" More than a crush, he likedto flirt with others, there was no one he wanted to truly call his own. Perhaps there were some people he could consider for a tentative approach to romance, but at the same time- what even was it like to be in love? He did call those he found attractive 'crushes', but it was just one word like many others.

"I experiment." He finally admitted, nodding to himself. "Cannot stay in one place for long so no... relationships." Friends? Yes. But at the same time he didn't want to leave someone behind to wait for a knight who could not return.

"Ugh... yeah. Tea sounds good." he finally commented crossing his arms on the table. "Your turn."

[inuthings]

They never held an actual conversation before, he realizes. Sheik got his info from Paya and watched Link from a distance. When he happened to be in the same area he listened to what was said but he never approached Link on his own. He hadn't know that Link considered the person he was and the current him two separate people. Impa said something similar, that the slumber had helped Link before more open, brighter, but the heart inside was still the same.

Sheik blinked down into his cup and nodded his head. He supposed it made sense, someone could like one person and then after forgetting them, not. It might be best for Mipha's heart that she wasn't alive to see what became of Link. The story he was told definitely spoke of a love.

Sheik tried his best to not let his stomach sour at the words the Hero spoke, knowing them to be true anyway. If his Aunt found out about his childish crush anyway she would have had a few words to say to him. He can see her making him sit through the entire lecture on the importance of the Hero of Hyrule again.

The lectures bad enough once, worse when you can quote it.

"Maybe we shouldn't continue this conversation." Sheik pushed the tea cup away and raised his red gaze to the other. "It seems to be depressing you, Hero." It was definitely depressing Sheik, not that he'd tell him that. "I can take you to the store to get you some clothes, like I promised, after you finish your tart."

Escaping and inevitable horrible conversation was definitely the better idea right now.

[spiritofthewild]

It was hard to have a proper conversation with Link in general. Sidon, his 'best friend' got him to talk a little, but the knight reserved most of his energy for conversations that were actually needed (not to mention... whenever he went to the Zora Domain? The prince took care of most of the talking for both.) and not for minot chitchats. The fact that he was spending energies trying to speak with Sheik spoke volume of how he somehow treasured him as friend, but... conversations were hard.

The knight sipped some tea, munching on his food and trying to ignore the growing feeling of uneasiness.

Yes, he wasn't 'the Link from before', he barely had any memory about his previous life after all. He woke up knowing absolutely nothing, he had been given some indications and he was left to his own devices by Rhoam... all he could do was trying to piece together pieces of a puzzle that wasn't his to begin with.

"I... don't mind. Just..." He waved his hand just slightly "Confused? Feelings are hard." that was one way to put it. Feelings were difficult to understand and even more difficult to undertand. He did flirt with Gotter, yes, but it mostly was because they both shared love for good food. He flirted with the lady who gifted him an elixir and taught him how to make them, Celessa, and even others... but love was something he never truly explored. Sweet Hylia, he didn't even exchange more than a kiss with other people- not that he knew IF his past self got further, but... he somehow doubted so. "And I'm... no good at explaining."

He pulled the tarts closed and held the cup of tea.

"Oh, no no... food first. It... good." he said, nodding.

[inuthings]

“Hm…” Feelings were quite hard, he supposed, and they didn’t get any easier the more years went on. They certainly didn’t get easier the longer he watched Link. Sure, the Hero of the stories his Aunt and Grandmother told him were different, but he could see parts of the same person in this one. His younger self who admired the Knight so strongly hadn’t been that wrong, he can see why people so easily flirted with Link and asked him to wrestle… naked with them.

He really hoped that conversation hadn’t been about the Goron’s but they were the only ones that he could see doing it. Even the Gerardo wore clothing.

Sighing a bit Sheik nodded to Link’s words and waved him off. “No it’s fine Hero, I understand. Besides, I’m more than aware that I’m not the easiest person to talk to. Paya often tells me that I need to express more emotions than constant disdain and general exhaustion at everyone around me.” Paya he could have a conversation with, growing up as practically siblings meant she wasn’t afraid to tell him how it was. She also understood his childish crush on the Hero, though she preferred women to men.

“In my defense though, I’m perhaps the only competent Warrior in this Village. As much as I care for Cado and Dorian, they could use a good workout.”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth there was a knock on the door and it quickly slid open. Sheik pushed the tea cup away from him and tilted his head to the side, looking over at Cado himself. He nodded his head in greeting to Link before turning his gaze back on Sheik. “Sheik, Lady Impa would like me to inform you that the Bokoblin camp near Kakariko is growing larger and getting dangerously close. She wanted to know if you’d deal with it now, rather than later. She said, since Link is already here, you’re free to bring him along.”

Bring him along. Like this was a tour or a weekend trip. This was Impa’s way of telling them both to get off their asses and do something. Politely, of course, his Aunt was a lady after all. “Every blood moon. It’s not like it’s going to change anytime soon, I know it’s there.” Still, he can’t refuse an order even one worded politely. “I just need to grab some weapons from my room, I’ll deal with it.” He shoved the tea away and stood from the cushion, adjusting his mask and cowl around his neck. His gaze returned to the Hero again. “You don’t need to obey my Aunt, you’re welcome to stay here.”