Chapter Text

Strangers in the Night

Toss — only 20 hours now until he left the country.

Catch — one evening left.

Step — tomorrow would start the biggest project in the history of the National Museum of Hyrule.

Toss — with him as the manager.

The cuff links flew in the air and landed in Link’s hands again with practiced ease.

Catch — a little odd to leave all the people, the habits, and the places he knew behind.

Step — if he could do that? Leading a team? Running a project?

Toss — of course. He had worked all his life for this chance. Everything would go well.

The little studs sparkled in the last rays of the midwinter sun. ‘Blue like luminous stones in the night’ — had his childhood friend Mipha beamed, when he had unwrapped her little parcel a few days ago — ‘to match your eyes’.

Stop — he teared his gaze up from his fruitless task to notice only now that he had reached the French window of room 303. He leaned against the frame of the window and twirled the little pieces of jewelry in his fingers. They radiated warmth in his hands, and he didn’t care that it was his own body heat that had warmed them up.

Enclosing the farewell gift in his hands, he let his gaze travel over the courtyard below his feet. This time, his HR-manager Urbosa had outdone herself. The party he was peeping at served as much as a kick-off as a farewell party and the location itself was magnificent. The patio was dominated by a floating panorama glass roof to keep the harsh cold of the winter outside. Through the brightly polished glass of the top, he could see the little stage that had been built. Large speakers stood at every side and when he touched the toned glass of the window with his palm, it vibrated in rhythm with the subwoofer. It looked like he had to stay until the party was over, if he wanted to get some sleep tonight, he smirked.

On the left and the right side of the courtyard, the hotel staff of the ‘Castletown City Hotel’ had put up a bar and although the sun hadn’t set yet, many of his co-workers, business partners, and other people had already joined the party. Link got on his tiptoes and tried to spot Daruk. A grown-up Goron shouldn’t be too difficult to detect, but perhaps he was still running errands for Urbosa.

He leaned his head against the glass, the vibrating pulse filling the emptiness that he had pushed back the whole day, for once. The moment Urbosa had appointed him to the new project, he would have bounced from one leg to the other and clapped his hand like a toddler if he hadn’t been in the office of his HR-manager. A project with leading responsibility, building up a base in Termina from nothing, finding the artifacts of the Hero of Time — it was an extremely important project for the National Museum and Urbosa had truly chosen him.

He was still thrilled about the new task, but now with only hours left until his departure, his hands had become restless and his stomach uneasy. The glowing evening sun basked the whole courtyard in orange light, every ice crystal on the glass surface sparkling like diamonds on a luster. Perhaps the sun over Hyrule was giving its best to gloss the farewell over for him, he smiled with thin lips.

Finally, he dragged himself up, put the cuff links on, and went downstairs. The party was for his new team, after all, so he wanted to show his face. Spending his last evening moody would be a terrible waste of time when there was a party to attend.

At the same time in the courtyard, Zelda squeezed herself through sweaty bodies, her figure and her long blonde hair attracting the attention of several men and some women, too. She didn’t pay any of them mind. Shielding her green eyes against the harsh light of the low sun with her hand, she flinched every time someone stepped on her foot. Her appearance at the party was a personal favor for her godmother (and HR-manager) Urbosa and she hadn’t found the Gerudo woman yet. The glass roof caught the warmth of the setting sun like a greenhouse and the body heat of the crowd glimmered over Zelda’s head. She intensely hoped that it was not her body-odor that tickled her nose.

Promise or not, the next time she had an elbow in her back, she would go home. Urbosa had insisted that socializing would do her good after all that she had been through, but she should have known better to agree to meet with her here. Of course, it had been impossible to find a party animal like her at an event with hundreds of people. Zelda clicked her tongue. Why in Hylia’s name hadn’t she said ‘no’?

Behind her, a fit of booming laughter drowned the music out. She spun around, nearly spilling her soda, and spotted the source. Daruk — finally a familiar face. Smiling fondly, she basked in his chit-chat for a while, hoping Urbosa would join them on her own.

It wasn’t Urbosa who joined them.

While the good-natured Daruk was busy introducing his two Hylian friends to each other and retelling the stories of his particular meeting with both, he was completely unaware of the magnetic pull, when ice-blue met emerald-green.

Link wasted no time guiding Zelda in the direction of the bar, his hand on her smaller back to avoid losing her in the crowd. Zelda blinked several times, but the only thing replaying behind her eyelids was what she saw with open eyes — blue, blue, blue. Daruk turned towards his other co-workers, very pleased with himself that he had helped his friends connect.

Link released her hesitantly at the counter, not wanting to press his luck. Nonetheless, he knew too well that he wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to touch her much longer if she continued to step closer and closer. Her tender gaze washed over him and the tips of her hair tickled his neck, while the words and smiles danced around them like fireflies. They chatted and laughed the hours away, both of them hyper aware of the constantly reducing space between them. Daruk, Urbosa, being moody or irritated, everything and everybody long forgotten in the whirlwind of teasing jokes and lingering touches. Zelda didn’t even try to hinder her cheek from brushing his, his beard stubble leaving the ghost of a scratch on her blushed cheeks, as she attempted to speak with him over the loud music. Next, he caught her staring at his mouth, and before he could blink, he tasted the champagne he had ordered on her lips. Link gasped and Zelda took the opportunity to deepen the kiss. Catching up quickly, Link tangled his hand in her hair like he had wanted for the last hour already and wrapped the other around her waist to close the remaining gap between their bodies.

They made it still fully clothed to Link’s room somehow, which was a miracle in itself, regarding how quickly their kisses had heated up. Zelda pinned him to the door frame, peppering his neck with kisses and pulling his white shirt out of his belt, while Link fumbled with the keys. Unable to get the lock open at this angle, he freed himself by pressing her in the coffered door with another hungry kiss, causing them both to stumble when he finally succeeded in his task.

He caught her easily and changed the rhythm in a slow, measured dance of tongues, allowing his hands to roam over her bottom, along her back, before he found her waist and her nape again and pulled her in. Zelda hummed in response to the kiss, grabbed his backside to buck her hips into his, rubbing against his growing erection.

Link stopped and traced her lips with his thumb. “Do you want?”

“I thought, that’s why we came here.” She snorted, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

Link pressed a kiss on her forehead and cupped her cheek. “Of course, but I don’t want to assume. Better safe than sorry.”

Zelda took a long moment to look at him before she slowly said, “Yes, I want. Very much actually.”

“Good.” He captured her lips in a soft, long kiss, still enraptured by the intensity of her gaze. “Me too. Very much.”

Turning his gaze towards the large windows, through which he could still see the party goers, he frowned. “I should probably close the curtains. None of us wants to be the center of the rumor mill tomorrow, I suppose.”

“Don’t you know?” she asked with raised eyebrows. “The hotel is not only famous for the panorama roof but its opaque windows, too. Very popular among the paparazzi.” She chuckled and dragged her finger lazily over his chest. “I thought you rented the room for exactly why we are here.”

“Nope. See my stuff? I’m going to leave directly from here to the airport.” He laughed and pulled her close again, “I swear, I just wanted to spend my last evening with Daruk.” Trailing wet kisses down her neck, he murmured, “Who would have thought that he knows such a gorgeous woman?”

Sliding his jacket from his broad shoulders, she deadpanned. “I already agreed to sleep with you, no need to charm me anymore.”

He took his time to explore the cleavage of her cocktail dress with his lips, sucking, licking, and biting the smooth skin. “But it’s true. I really could get used to this. To you.”

“It’s a good thing that you are leaving for Termina tomorrow then,” she answered flatly and loosened his tie.

“Oh, so eager to get rid of me?” He chuckled into her neckline, before he squeezed her breasts up to suck at the soft flesh, leaving a purple mark on the sensitive skin.

“Nothing personal.” She sighed and unbuttoned his shirt with quick hands, pushing it from his shoulders as well.

He let go of her to allow the piece to fall to the ground and sneaked his hands under her arms to reach the zipper of her cocktail dress. He opened it in one swift motion and breathed against her nape, “Bad luck with men?” causing a shiver of pleasant anticipation to run down her back.

She tugged his undershirt over his head and took a moment to take his toned, well-built chest in. Since he was working as an explorer, she had expected him to be fit, but that he even had abs was a pleasant surprise. “I would rather not talk about my ex now.“

“Fine by me, Zelda.” Link chuckled and couldn’t take his hands of her newly exposed skin. He cupped her butt, relishing the haptic contrast of her soft skin and the textured lace of her Brazilian briefs for a moment before he pressed her against his erection.

Zelda, who had been busy nibbling at his neck, moaned in his ear, causing him to rock into her again. She let her hands wander over his hard body, beginning at his shoulders and went on to his pectorals before she retraced his abs with her fingers and brushed over the fabric of his trousers. He leaned his head against her shoulder, eyes pressed shut in pleasure, savoring the tingling sensation her touch left on his body.

Running out of patience, she tried to fumble his belt open, tugging at the buckle when it refused to obey. He raised her chin for another kiss, slow and deliberate at first, but quickly growing hungry and hurried again, while he shoved her hands aside and got rid of his pants and socks himself.

Link pressed further into the kiss, walking her backward until her knees hit the edge of the bed, and she let herself fall on the Kingsize Bed, pulling him with her. He flipped them, so they laid in the middle of the bed now, she half towering over him, the tips of her long hair tickling his shoulders. Her kisses grew more urgent now, clear in intention, her hands sliding over his chest, pinching his nipples. After opening her strapless bra with practiced ease, he threw the piece in the general direction of the pile of their clothes without bothering to look after it. He pulled her gently against him because he needed her skin to skin, deepening the kiss once more.

The lack of oxygen forced them to break the kiss, and he nibbled at her earlobe instead, murmuring hardly audible, “Protection?”

“On me,” she breathed and sneaked her hand under the waistband of his boxer shorts, and soon he had forgotten what he had asked at all.

When the fireworks high above the glass roof announced the peak of the farewell party, neither of them paid attention to the colorful stars in the sky.

They had their own.