Chapter Text
Link’s car slowed to a stop but didn’t turn off. The window rolled down and Sheik’s growing nerves were slightly calmed by the blond’s genuine grin. “Hey! Sorry I’m late.”
Sheik headed for the passenger seat and opened the door, about to sit but stalling for a second with a murmured “It’s fine, I hardly even noticed.” That was casual, right?
Link bent over to move some various things out of Sheik’s way before he sat; empty water bottles, a laptop case, dog toys- and quite a few textbooks that were a few classes out of date.
Sheik climbed in carefully and sat, knees pressed together with his hands folded politely. “Thanks for driving us,” he started, proud of himself for starting a conversation. (He always seems to do that more when Link’s around, but that surely didn’t mean anything.)
“Course!” Link passed a few CD cases over, stacking them carefully on Sheik’s lap while he watched with growing confusion. “Pick whatever you’d like, she doesn’t have an aux.”
“‘She?’” Sheik echoed, picking up a digipack and opening it up. Indigo-go's, huh?
“Epona!” Link patted the area above the dashboard with a hand while pulling out of the parking space and starting for the road. “She’s an older car, but still just as reliable.”
A hum and Sheik lifted a few more CDs, flicking through and reading the titles while brushing some hair behind his ear. He didn’t recognize some of them, and by this point he was wondering if he was taking too long deciding. Just randomly picking one, he popped it open and held it out.
With a thanks, Link looked away from the road briefly to take it, (fingers brushing against Sheik’s hand for a split second-) and pushing it in. He pressed some button in the same second and then he was back to looking up through the front window.
Slow calming music started while Sheik looked out his window in embarrassment, willing his face to cool down. His eyes drifted upwards a bit to catch the sunset in full bloom; strokes of pink and orange, blue and purple spread across the sky.
Sheik let himself relax a little bit. Even if the days… hours.. AND minutes prior to hanging out with Link were stressful as hell, somehow as soon as Sheik actually is there, all of his worries melt away.
Yeah, he can do this.
"I heard from a friend that the Twilit fair has a secret," Link starts with a smile in his voice, turning off of Main Street and onto a roundabout. It slopes up and onto the highway, which he somehow navigates so calmly while Sheik feels dead inside just LOOKING at it. "-so we're gonna find it."
Ah, that was slightly evil sounding. "We?" Sheik likes how that sounds. Then he flushes and coughs into his hand. "I mean- secret?"
Link glanced at him from the side. What does that mean. What did that look mean. Stay cool Sheik. "There's a treasure, obviously."
"A… treasure." Sheik crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow at him. Subconsciously instead of facing straight ahead like earlier, eyes on the road, he's angled towards Link now. "Like a.. treasure chest treasure?"
"A treasure chest treasure," he repeated amusedly, reaching for the middle console and pulling out a water bottle covered in stickers. It seemed like the type gym bros use, one that your fingers won't touch if you wrap your hand around it. Link passed it over. "I don't plan on stopping till we find it, so we're gonna have to stay hydrated. Want some?"
"Is it water?" Sheik unscrewed the top and peered in. To anyone else that'd seem like a foolish question, but he knew that it was valid in this instance.
Link hesitated.
"Link…"
"Try it!"
"If this is alcohol I'm getting out of the car."
"It's
not!"
Sheik cracked a grin and used a finger to tug down the corner of his face mask to sip at it and…
"It's soup?!"
"Chicken noodle. Is it good?"
Sheik looked up to Link, half his mask dangling from his face. There were so many questions he could ask right now, so many things he could say. 'I love you,' and 'Marry me' were on the list. "It's incredible."
That was absolutely the best way to respond, Sheik thought as he felt the metaphorical friendship meter in the corner of his brain fill a bit. Link was smiling while he drove. "Thanks. I had a craving, and I knew the fairgrounds would let me down."
Ahh, so that's why he was a few minutes behind. It was a relief to know it wasn't Sheik's fault; except now of course he felt silly for ever thinking it had to do with him in the first place.
It seemed that Link was just Like This.
Not that Sheik minded.
"Oh god," Sheik groaned under his breath while next to him, Link made a sound not that different from a squeal. "Holy crap! So many people!"
Okay Sheik, let's be normal shall we?
With that thought, and a determined nod in Link's direction, they walked into the crowd.
He only got overwhelmed once, when the blue of Link's shirt disappeared entirely and for a second it felt like he was in a river of bodies, being pushed and pulled in different directions uncaring of his wellbeing. All semblance of control he had felt a few minutes earlier was gone with a flash of blond in the crowd.
"Link?" Sheik dared to raise his voice to be heard over the din. "Uh-!"
Then someone grabbed his hand, and he felt like he could breathe again. Warmth seeping into his hand, Link pulled him through the crowd of people, weaving in and out with just a few words
(scuse me. pardon. hey nice hat! sorry, comin through!)
Finally the crowd thinned, and Link turned around assumedly to make sure his companion was in one piece. "Phew, almost lost you there."
Sheik normally would've apologized, stared at his shoes, and withdrawn into himself but this time something stopped him. It didn't seem like something Link wanted him to say, more just an observation. Maybe in relief? Instead he sighed heavily, turning to look back at the main grounds. "Yeah. They're like a shoal of salmon."
Link laughed into his hand, glancing at Sheik from the side. Sheik's heart skipped a beat. "Hey, yeah! That's exactly it."
The Sheikah boy felt his face get hot so he looked down, feeling something light up in his brain as he smiled to himself within the privacy of his face mask.
Meanwhile Link was scanning the fairgrounds. "Alright, let's make a game plan."
"A game plan?"
"An infiltration route, ideally. I don't have any clue where the treasure I heard about online could be, so we might as well do a broad sweep. Maybe pick up on some rumors from vendors, yanno, stuff like that."
Sheik nodded. "And we'll need funnel cake."
"Right. Ferris wheel's lookin mighty suspicious too."
Sheik felt something squeeze his hand, and that's when he realized that Link hadn't let go of him this entire time. Once again, his face was hot. He couldn't keep from making an ' Um- ' kind of noise by accident.
Time to think rationally.
Cute boy + fairgrounds + just the two of us + holding hands (just to make sure I didn't get lost) + funnel cake + adventure-ish goal + ferris wheel? Equals……
"Hey," he started, staring at the ground. "This is a date, right?"
Link's ears twitched and he looked over. "Sorry, say that again? It's loud here."
Shit! "I said umm… win me a prize?"
Link looked more than pleased. "Yeah, obviously! C'mon, I've been training my whole life for this."
And he pulled him back into the crowd, still linked by their hands.
Sheik's eyes were drawn to a blupee plush way above his head which had buttons for eyes, and a look about it that told him that it would be perfect for hugging while he slept. He had tugged wordlessly on Link's shirt with his free hand, and then pointed to it. Link's eyes lit up and he changed course fast, making a beeline towards the gamemaster.
He made some pointless small talk with them, passing over a blue rupee and nodding sweetly when they asked if it was his first time. The man gave him a brief rundown of how it went, and by the looks of it, Link didn't have a single thought behind those gorgeous blue eyes.
"How many points do I need for that one?" Link asked, pointing to the blupee that Sheik had barely managed to tear his eyes away from. The buttons called to him.
"Ahh, eye on the prize, huh? That's one of the gold tier, so 30. Kind of big goal for a beginner, but I think you can do it with enou-!"
thunk! thunkthunkthunkthunkthunk! Darts hit the board with a series of sure thuds, each hitting the ten mark. Link preened, glancing to where Sheik stood with his mouth wide open.
"You really have been training for this your whole life."
The employee stared at him stunned, before reaching for the plush wordlessly and handing it over. "G….greaat job, champ.."
"Thanks! Here you are, sir~" Link said in a grand kind of voice, presenting it to Sheik as if it were a fancy trophy or a prized gem.
Which, seeing as Link had won it just for him, it really was.
Sheik grinned under his mask, burying his face in the plushie. His voice was muffled when he thanked Link, but he heard him all the same.
"Right, so we got the new recruit.. I'm kinda hungry, what about you?"
"The soup won't do it for you?" Sheik found himself teasing, peeking out from his blupee.
"Ehhh, carnival food is part of the experience. Can't miss out on such a staple! Besides," Link wove in between a couple, Sheik hurrying after. "The soup will still be warm when we get back. That's a top of the line thermos, yanno. It keeps things hot for mega hours. Especially wh-"
Link's voice was getting farther away. Sheik ducked his head as he cut through at least two lines, slid under the handle of one baby stroller, dodged a caution sign with nothing but luck, and almost tripped over his own feet. Finally he caught up to Link, who was still talking, and grabbed his hand firmly.
"-and it still had ice in it when noon c- oh! " Link got cut off, looking behind him to see Sheik quite desperately clinging to his hand.
Sheik squeezed. "Slow down please."
Was it just him, or was Link's nose red? "My bad.." he trailed off sheepishly, eyes wandering up from where their hands connected. He finally met Sheik's eyes, looking into them for something Sheik didn't know.
But he didn't look away, just staring right back at Link.
Finally the crowd reminded them both of where they were when someone bumped into Link, who jumped like he had been pinched. He huffed a laugh. "Sorry, I'm used to walking with friends who have longer legs."
Sheik's expression turned flat, regardless of how warm and fluttery he felt. "A short joke. Very original."
"Everyone's a critic," Link said dismissively, turning around again and pulling Sheik along this time instead of leaving him in the dust. "Don't drop our son."
"
Our
son?"
"Did you name it yet?"
"Hm? Oh no, not yet. Any ideas?"
"Name them after me, obviously." Link seemed very proud of his suggestion as they passed through a line of people, heading directly to a giant food truck area. "Link the Sequel: They Wanted Another One."
Sheik snorted. "Gonna pass on that one. Too long, no acronym."
"How about Sheik II?"
"Nope."
"Wolfie Junior?"
"You're not very good at this, are you?"
"Pancakes!"
Sheik meditated on this one. It is very pancake-looking. "Hmm.. maybe.."
Link pointed to a truck. "They have crepes, too."
Oh. He was talking about food.
"I've never had a crepe." Sheik stated, testing the word on his tongue. "Aren't they.. flatter pancakes?"
"These ones are rolled," Link explained as they found a table. He extracted his hand from Sheik's to put his things down. "And put on a stick. Let's get some!"
Sheik offered to watch their stuff, and sank onto the bench as he watched the other leave.
Something about being with Link- nope, not phrasing it that way, it sounded coupley. Being.. around Link made something about his brain just.. light up.
God, he's in deep.