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escordvi2024-08-30 10:43 pm
multidisciplinary) wrote in escordvi2024-08-30 10:43 pm
Entry tags:
log ๐ป in the absence of sunshine
Who: Zelda and Darin
Status: Closed
Where: Zelda's apartment on Eltrut
What: (Backdated to August 15) The aftermath of their fight with Ganondorf the previous night.
Warnings: Major injury, probably some PTSD, and other such warnings that come with hurt/comfort threads (edit: now with themes of self sacrifice, self loathing, and some surprise UST ๐ถ๏ธ)
[ These past twenty-four hours have been the longest, slowest hours Zelda has had to wait through in a very long time. After her century sealing Calamity Ganon, the princess has developed patience in spades-- in stark contrast to how she was before the Calamity. But now, that patience seems to have evaporated and she feels just like that girl she once was, standing impatiently for hours in the Goddess's springs straining to hear Her voice. Time passes with agonizing slowness, and each hour that Darin does not wake feels somehow slower than the last.
Zelda has seen firsthand how quickly his injuries heal, no matter how severe. When she rescued him from the ocean after his fight with Garuda, it took less than an hour for his broken bones to heal. So although the severity of the injuries he sustained from their fight with Ganondorf were deeply upsetting to Zelda, she expected him to heal through the worst of them before the following dawn.
But that wasn't the case. When dawn came, not only did his injuries barely look any better, but he hadn't hadn't regained consciousness. Dawn turned to day to afternoon to dusk and to night again and still Darin did not wake.
Throughout those long, long hours, there was nothing Zelda could do but wait. Wait and try to treat his wounds as she would anyone else's. She cleaned and bandaged his injuries as best she could, and at least that helped set her mind slightly at ease. She didn't know why this was taking so long, but she could care for him through that time. Goddess knows she had done so for Link countless times in the past.
But first aid only went as far as normal wounds. It was all but useless for treating Gloom burns. Usually, the cure for Gloom sickness was sunlight; Gloom faded away in the light and a person's vitality returned over time. Zelda had never seen Gloom burns before she and Link found the corpse of the Demon King below Hyrule Castle. She had an idea how to treat them-- a poultice made of sundelions might work like a concentrated salve of sunlight. But there are no sundelions in this world and the process for trying to fish for them through the rift was tricky and time consuming. And even if it wasn't, Zelda couldn't risk leaving Darin alone. If something happened... If she wasn't here...
These are the thoughts that have gone round and round in her mind all day, interspersed among memories of that fight with Ganondorf. Everything he said. Everything he did. How even the combined efforts of Darin, Ranma, and Zelda were barely enough to injure him at all. She couldn't get these thoughts out of her head.
Now it's nighttime again. Zelda has barely eaten and she has staunchly avoided sleep-- not just because Darin is on her bed, but because if something were to happen and she was not here beside him.... Well, she wasn't willing to risk that. But after twenty four sleepless hours, even anxiety isn't strong enough to keep her awake. The princess finally nods off sometime in the middle of the night, sitting in her chair at the bedside and leaning against the edge of the bed, her head against his shoulder so that, if he shifts, the movement will wake her. ]
Status: Closed
Where: Zelda's apartment on Eltrut
What: (Backdated to August 15) The aftermath of their fight with Ganondorf the previous night.
Warnings: Major injury, probably some PTSD, and other such warnings that come with hurt/comfort threads (edit: now with themes of self sacrifice, self loathing, and some surprise UST ๐ถ๏ธ)
[ These past twenty-four hours have been the longest, slowest hours Zelda has had to wait through in a very long time. After her century sealing Calamity Ganon, the princess has developed patience in spades-- in stark contrast to how she was before the Calamity. But now, that patience seems to have evaporated and she feels just like that girl she once was, standing impatiently for hours in the Goddess's springs straining to hear Her voice. Time passes with agonizing slowness, and each hour that Darin does not wake feels somehow slower than the last.
Zelda has seen firsthand how quickly his injuries heal, no matter how severe. When she rescued him from the ocean after his fight with Garuda, it took less than an hour for his broken bones to heal. So although the severity of the injuries he sustained from their fight with Ganondorf were deeply upsetting to Zelda, she expected him to heal through the worst of them before the following dawn.
But that wasn't the case. When dawn came, not only did his injuries barely look any better, but he hadn't hadn't regained consciousness. Dawn turned to day to afternoon to dusk and to night again and still Darin did not wake.
Throughout those long, long hours, there was nothing Zelda could do but wait. Wait and try to treat his wounds as she would anyone else's. She cleaned and bandaged his injuries as best she could, and at least that helped set her mind slightly at ease. She didn't know why this was taking so long, but she could care for him through that time. Goddess knows she had done so for Link countless times in the past.
But first aid only went as far as normal wounds. It was all but useless for treating Gloom burns. Usually, the cure for Gloom sickness was sunlight; Gloom faded away in the light and a person's vitality returned over time. Zelda had never seen Gloom burns before she and Link found the corpse of the Demon King below Hyrule Castle. She had an idea how to treat them-- a poultice made of sundelions might work like a concentrated salve of sunlight. But there are no sundelions in this world and the process for trying to fish for them through the rift was tricky and time consuming. And even if it wasn't, Zelda couldn't risk leaving Darin alone. If something happened... If she wasn't here...
These are the thoughts that have gone round and round in her mind all day, interspersed among memories of that fight with Ganondorf. Everything he said. Everything he did. How even the combined efforts of Darin, Ranma, and Zelda were barely enough to injure him at all. She couldn't get these thoughts out of her head.
Now it's nighttime again. Zelda has barely eaten and she has staunchly avoided sleep-- not just because Darin is on her bed, but because if something were to happen and she was not here beside him.... Well, she wasn't willing to risk that. But after twenty four sleepless hours, even anxiety isn't strong enough to keep her awake. The princess finally nods off sometime in the middle of the night, sitting in her chair at the bedside and leaning against the edge of the bed, her head against his shoulder so that, if he shifts, the movement will wake her. ]
no subject
[As a boy, he and Dromas used to fantasize about their futures. They wanted to be knights. Heroes. And Darin dreamed of one day gallantly saving the day while people looked on in wonder. That they'd see him as a source of inspiration.]
[That his blue hair would seem comparable to the sky itself. That they'd look upon it and think of their dreams.]
[Darin doesn't take any offense to Zelda's snort. In fact, his mouth quirks up in a delighted smile. He loves it when little moments of Zelda's personality shine through. When they pierce the veil of decorum and propriety and she's allowed to be a young woman. He finds himself laughing and leaning forward as he helps himself to a mouthful of food.]
[He'd have to ask about those specific Hyrulean Legends some other time. For reasons.]
No way. I can't picture you hating anyone who wasn't ten feet tall and has the face of a bearded gargoyle.
[Darin does his best to look like a grumpy Ganondorf but he really just scrunches up his face and neck into some...ridiculous contortion...while puffing up his already broad frame.]
So...why did you hate him? What was he like...?
no subject
A gargoyle is not too far off, actually! [ She remarks in an almost conspiratorial manner. ] He was actually a lot like a statue when he was a boy!
[ Zelda sighs, something both fond and wistful. ] Considering why he became like that, I can hardly blame him.
In Hyrule, there is a legendary blade called the Master Sword. It was forged by the Goddess Hylia eons upon eons ago and it is like no sword ever created. It is a holy blade that dispels evil itself, capable of self-repairing any damage it sustains and even growing in strength when bathed in divine light. It slumbers in a stone pedestal deep within a forest, watched over by the forest's guardian, and in Hyrule's hour of need, it will choose a hero to wield it. None but that hero may draw it from the stone.
[ If Darin is not completely distracted by how incredible the Master Sword is, then he might already know where Zelda is going with this. ]
Link is that hero. He drew the legendary blade when he was but a boy-- twelve, maybe thirteen years old, I do not recall exactly.
The mantle of a hero is a terrible burden for one so young. All of the sudden, the lives of all of Hyrule rested upon his shoulders. In the eyes of the people, he immediately transformed from a boy into a hero like those of legend... Except that isn't what happened. He was still a boy, a boy with a sword as long as he was tall and a destiny he never asked for.
[ Zelda sighs again. ] The expectations placed upon Link were unbearable and in order to be the pillar of strength Hyrule expected him to be, he had to stop being anything else. Link... smothered his own emotions until all that remained of him was a hand that wielded the legendary blade. Hyrule needed a perfect hero, so he molded himself into that.
I did not know any of this when I was a girl. All I saw was a boy who performed his duty effortlessly. Link has a natural talent to master any skill on the first try.
[ A bit of amusement comes back into her expression. ] Meanwhile, I, the Princess of Hyrule, could master nothing whatsoever. Although I had been training to awaken my sacred power for longer than Link wielded the Master Sword, I met with failure at every turn. He and I knew we were destined to perform our duties together to repel Calamity Ganon and thusfar, he was holding up his end of that responsibility, while I was not. Whenever we met, he looked upon me with this completely blank expression, as though he was carefully controlling himself so as not to show his disappointment in my failures. I assumed that he despised me, and thus I, in return, despised him.
1/2
[Ever smith has one Masterwork. One opus. It represents the peak of their ability. The single work that epitomizes their life— their craft. It is the one work whose conception is borne of the purest, most distilled form of inspiration. Purpose.]
[Darin's pupils flicker and while he's listening intently, his mind is a thousand miles away. Racing.]
['A holy blade that dispels evil itself. capable of self-repairing any damage it sustains and even growing in strength when bathed in divine light.']
[Hadn't he posited something similar to someone else not too long ago? About armor that was self-sustaining through the power of magitech? Gods, he needs his notebook! He needs to—]
[But then Zelda continues. And slowly...slowly Darin's face shifts like the seasons. From pure wonder to...something unreadable. Distant.]
['A boy with a destiny he didn't ask for.']
[Gods above did that strike Darin in the heart and the shock is visible on his face. All at once he...understands what that was like. Becoming what you thought other people wanted you to be. For Link, he became a tool of the Master Sword. A hero. Someone who wasn't allowed to be anything but. And for Darin?]
[He tried to bury his more reserved nature. To be someone who acted out and challenged. Because when you challenge someone, you become their adversary. Every hero's story needs a villain and Darin was uniquely able to play that role.]
[Even if it broke his heart.]
[And suddenly, just like that, he's exactly like Zelda. Hating Link for...what? For assumptions? Because of his own inferiority complexes? Zelda's words from the previous night echo in his mind like cathedral bells.]
['Heir to a throne of nothing.']
[It's all so sad. It's so sad that fate dictates roles like this. That one single edict from some nameless source transforms the lives of people who weren't given a choice.]
[He hates fate.]
[He wants to destroy it.]
2/2
I...I think...I can understand how you felt.
I used to admire knights too. Dromas and I did. So...seeing someone chosen by Fate to be this grand hero you just kinda...compare yourself to them. Because you're struggling for no discernible reason.
"Why aren't I better?"
"What makes them so much more special than me?"
"Why was I chosen and not someone else?"
[He laughs.]
And then on the flip side, I bet Link just...had no idea. He had to be something and that's all there was to it. He had to be a hero and somehow fit the description of what everyone thinks a hero is. Problem is? Everyone's description is different...
So...you either try and encompass everyone's different ideas or...
...You become a blank slate. And let their expectations define you for you. You can't be wrong if you're blank. You just are.
[He looks at Zelda, stunned by his own understanding.]
Who saves the hero then?
no subject
But what she's more interested in is how he reacts to Link's story, because the two men share a surprising number of similarities. It's part of what has drawn her to Darin in the first place, and part of why his reactions to things surprise her so much. She sees so much of Link in him that it takes her by surprise when he acts the opposite.
And yet, it's many of those opposites she finds so charming. Link does not have a particular interest in ancient technology, although he listens with interest whenever Zelda starts going on about it. Darin matches her same enthusiasm, which makes Zelda all the more excited when they engage in projects together. Link is quiet and reserved, regularly allowing Zelda to lead the conversation. Darin is talkative and reactive, oftentimes being the one to lead Zelda in conversation.
It makes her all the more invested in getting to know Darin better.
And to her delight, he gives her exactly what she wants. She listens with open interest about how he and his brother used to admire knights. That is not as surprising to Zelda as Darin might expect it to be. His altruistic nature shines through in his actions no matter how he tries to hide it. And knights, heroes, they serve the people. They help all who need them, no matter how small the need, and their selfless acts inspire all who meet them.
Who saves the hero, then? Zelda gently smiles. ]
I do.
[ She tucks a flyaway strand of hair behind her ear. ] One day, when I was sixteen, we traveled to Kara Kara Bazaar on our way to Gerudo Town. I was fed up with Link shadowing me everywhere I went and always watching me with that infuriating blank look of his, so I snuck away on my own.
I thought myself so clever. Clearly, I did not need a knight if I could lose one so easily-- even though it was actually not easy at all.
Of course, that is when I was attacked. [ She tosses that out with a chuckle. ] Assassins saw me unguarded and seized the opportunity. Luckily for me, Link was already searching for me and he reached me before the assassins did.
When the dust settled and I looked up to see him standing over me, I was utterly flabbergasted. After how callously I had treated him, all the cruel things I said to him and assumptions that I made of him-- all of that, and he still came to save me.
After that day, I decided to try to get to know Link properly. I had been terrible to him and he would have been within his rights to refuse to have anything to do with me outside his duty, but he gave me a chance. Bit by bit, he began to open up to me and I realized how badly I had misjudged him. We came to be friends, to trust each other, to be each other's strength in the face of the monumental duty thrust upon us.
On the day of the Calamity, even though I failed to perform my role in our duty, Link continued to protect me. We fled Hyrule Castle together. Had he not been there to encourage me to keep going, I would have surely given up that day. But he was there for me to the last, even though it nearly cost his life.
Link is the reason my sacred powers awakened that day. He was mortally wounded protecting me, and yet he refused to stand down. He was determined to die for me there and I.... I could not bear it. Link had done everything Hyrule had ever asked of him. It was I who failed. I who cost my father and the other Champions their lives. I could not allow Link to die as well.
no subject
[The words run down Darin's spine like warm water and his gaze snaps to meet hers. She...said that so effortlessly. And it was so admirable. But in Darin's eyes, all he sees is a cycle. Link and Zelda endlessly saving each other forever.]
[When does it end? When is there a point where neither of them have to be saved anymore.]
[The more Zelda recounts of her past with Link the more parallels Darin draws between...well, himself and the both of them. Everything Zelda did was exactly what he, himself, had done with her. Tried to push her away and put one over on her.]
[And as weird as it felt to admit to himself...he'd do the same thing for her that Link did. He had. Twice now: with Garuda and then Ganondorf. And then he kept fighting.]
[No wonder Zelda pulled him and Ranma out of there. It must have seemed like the Calamity all over again. Even last night, when she kept her silent vigil over him.]
[Reflexively, his hand moves to his chest. To the wound that will undoubtedly leave a scar.]
You didn't fail...
[He speaks the words aloud as he thinks them. Before he can parse their meaning. It's just a feeling. Something that ignites in his chest— a fire that reaches his eyes as he lifts his gaze to Zelda's once more.]
You didn't fail. You're...gonna sit there and tell me that you failed when the expectation of a kingdom was...foisted on you? You had no guidance, you said it yourself! You can't succeed when fate sets you up for failure!
You did everything right, Zelda. Everything that was within your power, Goddess-given or not. You saved Link, you survived. You sealed the Calamity until Link could fulfill his role. Anyone who thinks of you as a failure has no idea what they're talking about!
[He pushes himself to his feet but forces himself to take a breath. Zelda doesn't need a defender. She's likely already made peace with what happened. She's already accepted that unfair burden of a failure that was never hers.]
[He lowers his head, collecting his thoughts. Tempering his voice. Stoking the fire.]
The perspective...it's wrong. Link didn't awaken your powers...you woke them up to protect someone you loved. The spark was there but you needed a catalyst. Fuel for the fire. And when everyone's bearing down on you, forcing you to be something you barely even understand...
Ten hammers tempering the same blade shatter it.
[He shakes his head and looks up at her.]
I refuse to believe you or Link are failures in any regard. Maybe you didn't win the way the "prophecies foretold." [The way he refers to the prophecy handed down to her is mocking and venomous.]
You won your way. On your terms.
And Fate be damned for anyone or anything that tries to steal that from you.
'Heir to a throne of nothing' my ass...a throne is kindling at best. It's people who do the hard work...
[The words are said under his breath as he moves from the table with the sudden desire to walk around. His blood is pumping. His thoughts racing.]
[Link and Zelda worked their entire lives. Trained their entire lives. What had he done?]
[He'd already arrived at the answer earlier this morning as he recounted the battle with Ganondorf. Zelda and Link got this far because they had something to fight for. Each other.]
[Now he does too.]
no subject
She still remembers the things Link told her about during his journey to free the Divine Beasts from Ganon's control. What the souls of the Champions said to him. How they didn't blame Zelda for their deaths. How they urged Link to hurry and save her. She did everything she could. And once their souls were free, the Champions and their princess defeated finally defeated Calamity Ganon together.
The Calamity remains a tremendous scar across Zelda's heart, not unlike the one across Darin's back. It has healed, but it will never disappear. She will always carry it and there will always be times when it aches.
So although she's initially startled when Darin leaps to his feet and obstinately defends that young princess, Zelda's expression settles into something reflective. This is not the first time she has heard these sentiments, but hearing them from him... Well, it makes her heart feel warm. It makes her feel... seen. Telling the story of the Calamity, it's so easy for Zelda to slip back into old mindsets. Guilt still sits in her heart, ready to overwhelm her whenever a moment of weakness grants it purchase in her mind. The confrontation with Ganondorf the other night brought it right to the surface again.
But there is one thing Darin says that no one else has ever said to her: "Link didn't awaken your powers...you woke them up to protect someone you loved. The spark was there but you needed a catalyst."
When she hears those words, Zelda's expression shifts. Her brows knit together in that familiar way they always do when she's concentrating.
She woke her powers...
And his words prompt another thought, one which Zelda has considered before, but never gave voice to. But now, she feels herself compelled to share it. Maybe there is more validity to this thought than she has ever given it credit. ]
The prophecy... it did not foretell of victory, only the Calamity's resurrection. [ Zelda's speaks with a bit of hesitation, as though testing the sound of her words. ]
When Link fell and I returned to Hyrule Castle alone to face Calamity Ganon, I did so not knowing if I would ever see Hyrule again. Before I did, I returned the Master Sword to the forest where it would be safe. I asked the guardian of the forest to deliver a message to Link whenever he came to retrieve the blade. But the old tree refused to hear my message-- it told me my words to Link would sound better coming from me than from it. The Great Deku Tree, it told me to live-- to live and to fight until Link returned, as we both knew he would.
[ She lifts her eyes to Darin, watching to see how he reacts to her words. ] I... I stopped thinking about the prophecy. I stopped thinking about my failure, everything I had done wrong and everything that I should have done. I decided that I would seal Calamity Ganon until Link woke. I decided I would wait for him.
I think... I think I did what you said. Won on my own terms. All my life I tried to do what I was told would awaken my powers. I never tried my own way. But against Calamity Ganon... I think I did.
no subject
Exactly!
[With new information, with more detail on her actions during the Calamity, Darin's sure of his next statement.]
Prophecies are just words! They're vague by definition because it lets people slot whatever the hell they want into them! Whatever makes the most sense or brings them comfort! It's like fortune telling! As far as I'm concerned that prophecy was nothing more than...than a glorified weather report!
[He's in front of her again, practically skidding on one knee so she doesn't loom so oppressively over her.]
There was no manual that told you what to do. Every choice you made was yours. You didn't fail, Zelda! Your lifetime of hard work didn't go to waste because Link was hurt...! Link was saved because you had a lifetime to prepare!
Heiress to a throne of nothing? More like 'Bulwark Against Calamity' if you ask me!
no subject
But Darin waves it off as nothing. This vague, larger-than-life threat that dictated Zelda's entire life until she was seventeen years old, and he likens it to a weather report. Not the unavoidable future, but a fallible prediction.
And listening to him like this, when he drops down onto one knee in front of her and extols her actions during the Calamity as accomplishments rather than failures... well, it's impossible not to get swept up right along with him. There's a certain light in Zelda's eyes as she looks down at him, something hopeful and optimistic, as well as a faint color in her cheeks at his unabashed flattery. 'Bulwark Against Calamity?' Zelda has been called many things in her life (and not all of them cruel), but nothing so bold as this. ]
You flatter me, Darin. [ She goes to self consciously tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, but there are none. ] No one has every said anything like this to me before.
[ She softly laughs. ] A pity you did not live in Hyrule when I was a girl. I wish you had been there to say these things to my father.
no subject
Only if you promised to visit me in the dungeon when your father inevitably tosses me in for causing a big problem.
[He smirks teasingly at her as he takes the hand that was fidgeting with her would-be hair only a moment ago.]
...It's not flattery. Flattery's just...rosy lies designed to sway. I don't lie.
You're stronger than you think you are. Look what we managed to do just the other night? Yeah, we didn't stop him but you...you gave me light punches!
One failure doesn't lock us out of success!
no subject
That laugh is abruptly cut off when she feels Darin take her fidgety hand. The color in Zelda's cheeks deepens as she looks down at him. Down on one knee, holding her hand like this, it feels like he's swearing an oath to her. Many have sworn oaths to the princess, but this is the first time anyone has done so in such a private setting as her own living room. It makes her heart stumble in her chest. ]
You're right. [ She nods in agreement with him, trying to push away her building self-consciousness. ] I never knew I could do anything like that with my power. I was able to share it with Rauru once, with Sonia's help, but I have never tried to do something like this.
no subject
And if I—... ... ...
[His voice catches and he looks down to her hand clasped between both of his. He'd been thinking long and hard about everything that had transpired over the last two days. All morning while he was cooking, he ran through the events. What he felt. What Zelda had shared with him.]
[And much like Zelda once did, he had felt that he had failed. That he was ultimately no match for Ganondorf no matter how hard he pushed himself. He'd already come to a decision regarding that but...if he said it, it meant he'd have to follow through.]
[He lifts his head briefly. He searches her eyes for wisdom.]
[And he finds courage.]
...I made a decision. After everything that happened...I can't just...keep going the way I have been.
I'm going to start training. Training my body to better withstand my power...
no subject
But Darin's power is a touchy subject (really, many things are touchy subjects with him), and Zelda is careful to pick her battles when it comes to touchy subjects. ]
You are?
no subject
I-I...Yeah. The whole fight with Ganondorf—...
[He pauses. Honesty. They both want honesty from one another.]
No. Even...before that. With Garuda. I couldn't do anything. You saved me twice and...
[He stumbles over his words a little. Normally, he's confident— or at least he projects confidence. Right now? He's never been more scared. Because it means taking a step into a territory he's worried will inevitably destroy everything he's come to love.]
[He shakes his head rigorously to shake the unease away.]
I'm relying on other people to deal with my problems.
[He recites Cid's words to him, verbatim. And just like Link was Zelda's spark, so too does she become his.]
All this time I've been...coasting by. Surviving because I kept my head down because I was afraid of being something more. Because I assumed that 'something more.' Would be bad.
Ganondorf and Dromas are the same. They brandish their power proudly and power without heart is just cruelty— strength for the sake of strength and nothing more...
For a long time I wondered if I was different. Or if I could be. And with you, last night, I figured it out. I found my answer.
[That's when he levels his gaze at her.]
You.
You held back the Calamity for a hundred years and you trained your whole life to do that. What could I accomplish if I stopped hiding?
I know what the difference is between me, Dromas, and Ganondorf.
...I have someo—[ahem]Something to fight for...
[He tilts his head a little to the side as he offers her a sheepish, embarrassed smile.]
...A hero's gotta have good support, right?
no subject
...And that's assuming it doesn't just explode first, because the way Darin is looking at her, she feels like it just might.
There's this... resolution in him. Something Zelda's never really seen before. Not like this, at least. There have been times where he's found his resolve to stay with her after fighting to push her away, just like he did last night, but this is something different. This is something he's found all on his own, without her help...
...Or so she assumes, until he levels his gaze with hers and tells her, quite simply and unexpectedly, that she is the one who has inspired him.
Zelda's hand goes to her chest, hovering over the heart which has momentarily stopped beating.
Her.
She is his answer.
Her face is full of disbelief as she listens to him. She has inspired him. She has given him something to fight for. Not the Princess of Hyrule. Not the descendent of the Goddess. Zelda.
This is what she's wanted to give him from the start: faith. Faith in the fact that he is not a monster. Faith in the fact that people can care for him. Faith that his powers are not a curse, but a tool he can use to protect what's dear to him. Faith that he doesn't need to hide, that he can belong.
Zelda is normally good with words, but there are times when Darin says something that leaves her speechless and the only way she can communicate the overwhelming feelings within her is through action.
She surges to her feet and throws her arms around him. Not around his waist, as she has before, but around his neck, yanking him down to her level. She holds him close as tears threaten to well up her in her eyes for the umpteenth time in the last two days. But they're not tears of sorrow; they're joy, joy so strong that her heart cannot contain it. ]
no subject
[Darin's face is already burning up from his admission. Honestly, how corny could he possibly get? All those hero metaphors? As true as they were even he couldn't help with how on-the-nose they were after their conversation about Link.]
[But...his admiration is genuine. She's proved him wrong time and time again in the best ways possible and it's thanks to her that he feels the way he does. It's thanks to her that he sees a path forward.]
[She's given him a purpose.]
[He can't help but wonder if she caught his little gaffe. That he wants to support her. He assumes she's hugging him out of pride rather than anything more personal.]
[So he wraps his arms around her waist and straightens up, taking her with him easily as he spins around slowly.]
Y...Y-You gotta warn a guy before you just throw yourself into his arms...
[His face is burning red. No doubt she can feel the heat next to hers with their cheeks practically touching. But the chiding is gentle and teasing. He'd hold her like this forever if he could.]
People might start to talk...
[Honestly? Let them.]
no subject
He can chastise her all he wants, but it won't stop her from doing this. Being in his arms just feels like the most natural thing in the world. He makes her feel cherished. And maybe it's the height of selfishness, but she wants to keep feeling this way.
She gently scoffs under her breath. ]
Let them talk.
[ Bold words from a princess who usually needs to be concerned about propriety. But after everything that's happened between her and Darin, a few wagging tongues aren't going to convince her to change how she conducts herself with him. He is always encouraging her to give voice to her wants and what she wants is to continue enjoying this closeness they are discovering together. ]
no subject
[But, even so, he doesn't let go. He stops twirling slowly and simply...holds her.]
[He's never been this close to anyone in his life. Even this seems...far more intimate than either of them should allow.]
[When he speaks, she might catch the lilt in his voice— a shy, almost embarrassed quaver that denotes how flustered he's getting.]
I-I guess I should...be ready to take you into my arms at a moments notice then...?
[He's not putting her down. Now it's his turn for his heart to be pounding in his chest. Given their proximity it's astounding she doesn't feel it pounding against hers.]
...Keep talking like that and I might start to talk...
[Because gods the things he could say. In fact, he often does talk about her. To anyone who will listen.]
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Perhaps that would be wise. I did tell you in the forge that I still wanted this.
[ It was after she told him the truth of her identity, when he offered to treat her with the respect (and distance) her station demanded. She forced herself to go against propriety and tell him truthfully that she didn't want him to treat her any differently. That she still wanted to be swept up in his arms like he had just done minutes before.
Zelda chuckles quietly. ] Is that so...? And what is it that you will say of us?
[ It's a tease and a challenge and a curiosity all rolled into one.
Because if anyone is going to say anything about them, it will be the people who were left waiting outside the forge on opening day when Darin abruptly locked the door to have a long conversation with Zelda... and then later walked out together arm in arm. ]
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[Her voice rolls down his spine and almost makes him shiver. A sweet melody that stirs him. It gives him strength and saps that selfsame strength right out of his knees.]
[He wants to rise to that challenge desperately.]
[He pulls her back, just enough that their eyes can meet.]
What would I say?
...The truth.
That Zelda inspires me to be better than I was. That she's beautiful...and kind.
That...she's my hero. And I want to make her happy.
[There's so much more in his heart right now that he can't define— that he can't put into the right words right now.]
[But, as he searches her eyes for a reaction...it's clear that his face is flush. He's nervous but...excited at the same time.]
...What would you say?
[What sort of things would the princess say about him? What does she think? How does she see him when she's in his arms like this...?]
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And it's here that she feels like she sees Darin at his most honest, free of all the labels and expectations he and his world have lumped upon him. She sees this sweet, charming, maddeningly stubborn man who lights up like the sun with such excitement and wonder when something strikes his imagination. She sees his boyish enthusiasm break through the barrier of cynicism and distrust he has erected around himself. It tugs so fiercely at Zelda's heartstrings. ]
What would I say? [ She repeats with feigned thoughtfulness. ] Hmm...
[ Whether Darin can see through her tease or not, she lets show of contemplation stretch out for a few moments. ]
I would say that Darin Altway is absolutely brilliant, that his designs and his meticulousness put the scholars of Hyrule to shame.
[ Her lips twitch upwards mischievously. ] That he is the most maddeningly stubborn man I have ever met.
And that he inspires me to look at the world, and myself, in ways I've never considered before.
... That I've never met anyone like him before.
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[Oh...]
[Darin's heart doesn't just skip a beat. It stops. Zelda is always so polite and proper that seeing her openly tease him like this? It's got his legs turning to jelly all over again. And that slight mischievous smile? Now that he's seen it, Gods, Darin would do anything to see it more.]
[He really can't deny it anymore, can he? At least not to himself.]
[He's really starting to fall for her.]
[He's never held another in his arms like this and for all he cares he'd never want to. This proximity, this warmth. The way Zelda's soft voice just tickles at his senses and makes his blood rush to his ears. He'd spend the rest of his life training if it meant Zelda would playfully speak into his ear more.]
[But the compliments...she really sees him like that? Darin has spent a lifetime watching the eyes of people. Reading their gaze, their intentions. Eyes are a window to the soul and maybe that's why they're one of the things Darin finds most attractive on a person.]
[And Zelda's eyes are, without a doubt, the most beautiful he's ever seen. Wide, expressive, they carry depth of both wisdom and character. And whenever she looks at him he feels like he can take on the world. And when there's fear in them, he'd tear the world down for her.]
[He realizes it's been some time since he's last taken a breath and it's shaky at best. Because what does one say to something like that?]
[His lip similarly quirks up when she calls him stubborn and he can't help but exhale a soft laugh of admission— the world 'guilty' practically implied.]
[But when she ends with the fact she's never met anyone like him before, he finds himself hoping. Hoping that's a good thing.]
[He pulls her in a little closer. So their foreheads touch, as is quickly becoming their preferred method of contact. So he can lose himself in her eyes for another moment.]
[They're close enough that they can feel each other's breath on their lips. It's warm. Kind and electric all at once.]
I've...never met anyone like you before either...
[That warmth intensifies ever so slightly as the gap starts to close. Turning to heat. Sparks.]
[I want her.]
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Her breath stutters on his lips as he adjusts his hold on her, bringing her close enough for their foreheads to meet. Usually, this touch makes Zelda feel lighter, relieved; it's become the way they touch after a fight, the way they show that they understand each other, the proof that they still care for one another.
This time, it doesn't bring Zelda any relief. No, quite the opposite. It makes something spark below her naval, something warm and ... and hungry. Something she felt last night, when she ended up on top of him in her bed and the look of him below her was so intimate and so appealing.
She should ask him to put her down. He is much too close and much too warm. He's bringing all sorts of thoughts to her mind that she shouldn't be having-- thoughts about what his skin would feel like against hers, how the coarse texture of his hands might feel on her body.
What he might taste like...
When he speaks, his tone is lower than it was before. Lower and... inviting. Her body reacts to his voice, a certain discomfort building inside her. Oh, she should not allow herself to get immersed in this feeling. Bad enough that she did last night. And with him here in her apartment, she doesn't have the option to alleviate herself of her needs. She has to get control over herself.
... But she doesn't want to. No, she... she wants him. Still. And that want is swiftly eating her alive.
She parts her lips just slightly, a silent, breathless pant escaping from between them. She leans in towards him, towards the invitation the heat of his breath offers... ]
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... Oh Goddess, that's right-- she hasn't fed him in two days. ]
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[That's not to say that Darin doesn't find people attractive. He has no trouble objectively stating if someone was 'sexy' or 'hot' simply because that his how he perceives them as fact. Some people might find it too bold or inappropriate but to Darin...they're just observations.]
[But all at once all of those repressed urges begin to reach the surface like boiling pitch. Zelda's warmth, like sunshine on his skin. Her reserved voice whispering intimately between them. What would the rest of her feel like? How strongly would she cling to him?]
[How wonderful would her voice sound as it reached a fever pitch? Would she call out his name or breathlessly whisper it into his ear?]
[He could feel the pressure building from his heart as it pumped blood like a piston and he felt his restraint start to recede.]
[He had every intention of buying Zelda a new bed today anyway.]
[His eyes flutter shut and he can almost...feel her lips...]
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๐