I Live to Serve

Chapter #15: Take It Easy

In a witty gesture from nature, Link encountered two more deer during his escapade through the forest. Now that he knew of Paya's affection for the animal, he couldn't possibly justify shooting one and dragging it back to her. Instead, when a stray woodland boar crossed by his line of sight, he took his chance and fired a string of arrows.

They'd have bacon with their breakfast for the next couple of days.

He didn't want to leave Paya for too long, even if she wasn't any more than a few hundred yards away at any point. His mind was still fixated on the abrupt kiss. It had been exciting, spontaneous, and completely foreign to him. He couldn't remember ever thinking about something so benign yet thrilling before. It had been an unbidden whim with implications that he didn't take the time to think through. What happened now that the moment had passed? How did normal people under normal circumstances go about things? Surely marriage wasn't the next logical step? He didn't have anyone to ask about that sort of thing, so he'd have to improvise. He'd grown accustomed to learning things along the way.

He went back to her with the meat from the boar and a few birds cleaned and stored in his bag.

She was pleasantly preoccupied when he found her again. She was sitting down, leaned back against a tree, fondling with a string of something colorful. As he approached, he made out a chain of wildflowers that she was fastening together.

"I got a boar," he reported, eyeing the streak of colors in her hand. "What's that you're making?"

Paya looked up, a whimsical look hanging on her features. "I've never seen so many different flowers before!" She held up the braided strand with great enthusiasm. "We had them in Kakariko Village, but this is like... a rainbow!" She tucked one end into the other, forming a loop.

"There's different flowers all over Hyrule," he said, smiling at her. "Even some that grow up in the mountains. They're beautiful."

"I can't wait to see them!" Paya enthused. She lifted the flower circlet and placed it on her head. The agrestal crown formed a halo around her joyful face. Link couldn't look away.

"...I can't wait to show you," he managed. The pink petals brought out a low flush in her cheeks that he hadn't noticed before.

"We can head out again tomorrow," she decided definitively. "I'm feeling better already."

"We'll take it easy for the rest of the day at least," he advised gently. He finally tore his eyes away and back towards the direction of the stable. His sense of direction was well honed.

The pair spent the afternoon resting as Link had proposed. Paya had evidently been more tired from the riding than she had let on, and he filled the time she spent napping with going through the requests saved on his Sheikah Slate. He tried to approximate how much time it would all take. Some things were simple, like fetching restless crickets or wheat. Others would be more complicated, like mining various ores and helping build Tarrey Town. He'd be lucky to have everything done in under a year.

In some ways, it was a relief to know that he wouldn't have to think about anything past errands for the foreseeable future. There was some amount of stability that he'd found in chaos. A sort of rest in running.

When Paya woke up again, they spent the spare hours of the afternoon lounging around the stable. Evidently, the pair of them weren't well versed in being sociable. While other visitors quickly caught one another in conversation, the two exchanged few words as Link cleaned their dirtied clothing in the pond and hung them off a tree branch to dry.

The swelter of the summer air loosened as the evening sun slowly took shelter underneath the hills. After they shared dinner together, Link and Paya took to people watching as the patio outside the stable grew more populated. More visitors were coming with their horses and gossip. The stable began to come alive as meals and haughty criticisms were shared over supper.