desert flower

thee perfect pair - pre-botw

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The sun was hot, her forehead sweaty, and atmosphere very awkward. The white leggings under the simple, knee-length black skirt she wore stuck to her skin. It was all a deadly combination.

"So..." She started, awkwardly clicking her tongue and patting her legs with her hands.

"You're mute?"

Silence...

[Name] didn't have the slightest clue as to why Zelda thought leaving her alone with her most loyal and mysterious knight was a bright idea. As handsome as he was—the girl was very much intimidated by him.

[Name] was no Champion of Hyrule or even a real fighter; she had not one single bad bone in her body.

   She wasn't even royal either.

Her closeness with the princess stemmed from childhood, back when she had been the only little girl in the palace to seem fascinated by little Zelda's rambling of science and technology, at times sneaking out with her to the gardens to examine the bugs and creatures that crawled on the walls of the castle. They'd run back inside with dirtied skirts and knees, freshly picked flowers in their hands as they stained the newly cleaned marble floors with mud and then get scolded by the maids.

[Name] had been lucky enough to be the daughter of one of the palace maids, granting her access to many things that the normal civilians of Hyrule didn't get to experience. It seemed like the frivolities of seeing royal life firsthand and her friendship with the princess didn't get to her head, however.

   Zelda was still Zelda—and she was still [Name].

...Which meant she had to listen to Zelda complain about her familial problems and other headaches in her life as a best friend should, and one of those current headaches was Link—the stoic knight that King Rhoam had appointed for his daughter for her own, quote on quote, "safety."

But really, he just wanted to keep Zelda in check.

   [Name] clicked her tongue as she held eye contact with the dirty-blonde sitting in front of her, his blue eyes unmoving and expression serious.

Scary...

   How was she supposed to talk to this guy? They had only run into each other the few times she'd meet up with Zelda to chat—and even then, he'd stand a handful of feet away and just...watch.

   Sometimes she'd greet him, waving in his direction out of politeness and he'd only nod his head in recognition.

   Once he hadn't answered her question, [Name] wryly smiled.

  He was definitely mute.

   "Alright," she started. "I'll take that as a yes."
Her smile was strained, cheeks glowing a soft pink from the heat of the sun and also her embarrassment.

   Damn Zelda, she thought. The princess had probably only left the poor [hair color]-haired girl with him to catch a moment of respite while she traveled up the mountain to pray and such.

   As [Name] formulated her next words, Link kept his gaze on her, watching as she fidgeted in her spot. She glanced back up at him and cleared her throat, clasping her hands together.