Between the Lines || Link x Mipha

Chapter 35: Nidres

Liana slumped back into the dining chair as Tayli washed the table with a wet rag. She looked around at Valik's now spotless room. She almost couldn't believe how messy it had gotten during the past few months. Tayli had always wanted to give it a deep cleaning, but she could never find the motivation to with all of her princess duties. Luckily, since the two had the day off, Liana was able to help pitch in.

"This is looking good! Now all you gotta do is wash all of Valik's clothes!" Liana made a sour face as she looked at the closet.

"Oh, definitely," Tayli finished wiping the table and set the rag down. "I can't tell you how many times I've told him to do his laundry. He always says that he'll do it the next day."

"Classic Valik. Do you want to take a break? You've done quite a bit of work."

"I'd love to, but we're so close to being done!" The pregnant princess walked over to the closet and opened it. It was a mess with some of Valik's clothes piled on the floor and some barely even staying on their hangers.

"I don't want you overworking yourself!"

"I'm fine, Liana. OH—" Tayli hunched over and held her hand to her belly.

Liana hurried over to her, "Tayli! Are you alright?"

"Yeah, the baby just kicked me in the ribs. My goodness..."

"Here, let me do this. You go sit and make yourself comfortable."

"No, Liana. It's fine," Tayli scanned around at all of Valik's clothes. She took in a big sniff and shook her head, "Let's just wash all of this."

Liana began to stack the clothes into a big basket, but the more clothes she put in, the more she realized that the single basket wouldn't be enough. "Do we have another basket by chance?"

"I can see. If not, we'll just have to make multiple trips."

"Actually I think you can use my laundry baskets. I'll go get them."

As Liana ran over to the door, a single knock sounded. Valik opened the door. A small gasp escaped his mouth at the sight of the clean, welcoming room. Liana waved to him. He only gave a confused look.

"What are you doing?" He stepped farther into the room.

"What does it look like?" Liana folded her arms. "You're welcome by the way. Me and Tayli worked all day to clear up this wreck."

"You and Tayli? You didn't make her do anything too rigorous, did you?"

"It's literally just cleaning, Valik!" Tayli laughed as she folded more of his clothes into the basket.

"Yeah, but cleaning could involve lifting heavy things like the chest next to the—" Valik pointed next to the dresser where the chest would have been, but it wasn't there. "Hey, where is—"

"I moved it to the front of the bed."

"You moved it? Tayli, you can't be doing that stuff!" He dropped his weapons to the side and hurried over to her, his hands on his hips. "That chest is heavy! We can't be taking anymore risks. You've got two months left!"

"Hey, things need to get done around here. It's why our room became such a sty in the first place! Anyway since you're here, help Liana find some laundry baskets so that we can wash your clothes."

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

Evening glared through the windows and reflected off of the blue-glazed floors and walls, revealing hints of purple and green hues. Tayli was sat at the table finishing some paper work while Valik hung up his clothes in his closet.