Dance With A Detective | BoTW ZeLink

Chapter Two: Topaz

The lectures seemed to take forever in those days. Ever since she had met that wonderful stranger, Zelda hadn't stopped thinking about him. She struggled to focus on those long, boring lectures. How long can you talk about law? It's not that complicated, right?

Yeah, right. She sighed, and tried to focus her mind on her professor. The 15 minutes remaining in class dragged on and on. It went on...
And on...
And on.
Until finally, the professor dismissed the class. She felt just like she did in school, excited to leave class on a Friday afternoon, just like when she was younger. The moment she was out of the room, her phone was in her hand and she was burning a hole in her keyboard, writing yet another email to her handsome stranger. She was getting to know him better.
Link was a detective at the Central Hyrule Police Department, which explained why he was so overworked that night. With the rising numbers of cases, it was no wonder he would be exhausted. The moment Zelda had put those dots together, she felt terrible about accepting a ride home from the poor man who just wanted to go home.

She kept tapping as she walked down the hall, finally pressing send as she rounded the corner. Coincidentally enough, it was at that moment when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Zelda turned around to face a purple haired girl, slightly shorter than her with the same topaz TriForce necklace as her. It shimmered under the artificial white lights of the corridor.

"Hey Hilda!" Zelda smiled. She quickly slid her phone into her hoodie pocket, hoping her friend wouldn't notice her blush. She was not so lucky.

"Ooooooh, who're you textin' Zellie?" Hilda teased.
Zelda winced."I'm not texting anyone." This was partially true. She was emailing someone. Big difference. "Sorry, sorry. Who're you emailing?"
Darn. Hilda knew her far too well. She giggled, and picked up her pace, trailing by the embarrassed Zelda, who was trying to dodge the topic. "C'mon, Zellie! I'll tell you who I'm talking to if you tell me who you're talking to..." she said with a smirk.

Hilda was always good at hitting her weak spots. Curse her gossip-loving heart!
"Okay, okay. You first, though."
She stuck her tongue out, and then chuckled. "Okay, his name is Ravio. He's like, weirdly cute." Hilda put her hands together and clicked her knuckles as she spoke. "He's in my Wednesday psychology class."
Zelda nodded wisely, and listened. She loved to hear Hilda happy.

"Okay, your turn. Who is he? Or she! She? They?"
"He. His name is... Link. He's a detective."
Hilda's smile widened as she gasped. "Really?! That's so cool! Don't you wanna be a detective too?"
She nodded. "Well, we met... weirdly. Remember my phone broke a few weeks ago?"
Hilda simply stared, with a small nod. She was listening almost too intensely. "W-Well, um... I bumped into him while I was walking home and, I, um... I dropped it, and it broke. So he... he offered to pay for some of the damages?"

She took a deep breath. "I didn't want to take it, by the way! But he insisted. I only accepted half. And, well, we talked for a while. I kinda realized I needed to leave after a bit, and he... he drove me home. And I gave him my email when I got out of the car. We've been talking since."

Hilda's eyes were wide.
"This is like... this is like that destiny thing they used to teach us about... that's so cool..." she whispered, awestruck. Zelda giggled, and then snapped out of her trance. "Hey, the... the halls are empty. We should probably leave."
"Yeah, you're right. Will I see you tomorrow? We can meet at that cafe near here!" Hilda said enthusiastically.
Zelda nodded in approval. "Of course. Goodbye, Hilda!" She called as her friend jogged off. She waved her off, and then got to work at unlocking her bike.

Just as she had put her key away, her phone chimed from her pocket. She pulled it out, and began to scan over the email she had received. Link was nearby, and on break, and did she want to go for lunch?
Absolutely she wanted to go for lunch, but she refused to come off as desperate. Or... would that really matter? She decided to just go with "Sure, how does the Hyrule Fantasy Café in 15 minutes sound?"
He responded almost instantly. "Sounds good. I'll be there soon :)"

~*~*~*~*~

Zelda cycled to that café like she'd never cycled in her life. She was absolutely not being late for this. Not even those old myths like Ganon could stop her.
She was at the café in around 2 minutes. Quickly she found the bike racks and locked hers into the rightmost one. Acting as cool as possible, she smoothed out her hair with her hands, took a few deep breaths, and walked into the cafe.
It was actually quite empty, in comparison to what she had expected. She quickly found a cozy corner booth, and sat down, waiting for Link to arrive.

As she waited, her anxiety set in. What if he didn't show up? What if he did show up, but he didn't recognize her? What if-
The little bell above the door tingled as a tall, blonde man walked in. His eyes scanned the room, until he noticed Zelda, who was waving very subtly. He smiled, and walked over to the little corner booth she was sat in. "Hey! How've you been, Miss Zelda?"
She breathed a sigh of relief, knowing he hadn't forgotten her. Her fears finally let themselves be forgotten as she replied. "I've been good, Detective. What about you? I can't imagine work's been easy."
He chuckled. "You got me there," he said as he gave her a finger gun. She blushed slightly. Cool guys like him used finger guns?
"I'm sorry it's been tough. I... I finish my degree soon, actually, now that I think about it. Huh." She put her finger and thumb on her chin as she pondered on where the time had gone.

There was no sound for a moment, except for a couple of hushed conversations and a few whirring sounds. Neither of them wanted to break the silence. She was fiddling with her necklace, looking at the beautiful gemstone that sat in the casing.

"Is that topaz?"
"Oh, uh.. yeah. My friend got me one a while back. She wears one too. It's our thing," she smiled. It wasn't a full smile, more just a little grin. She could see her face in the gem, reflected in hundreds of yellow-tinted shapes.
"I used to have a topaz necklace too. I don't know what came of it though... I should try to find it again," he said. She looked up at him. For a moment, they made eye contact, though he looked away quickly. Zelda didn't feel the need to tell him she could see him staring into her eyes while she looked at the necklace.

"I didn't take you for a jewelry person, Detective." She teased. He tucked a his hair behind his ear while laughing. "Yeah, I really like jewelry. It reminds me of my sister. She bought me my first ring."
Zelda instinctively looked at his hand, but there was no ring.
"Oh, I'm... not really meant to wear jewelry at work. Safety hazard, you know?"
"Ah." She nodded, fingers interlocked.
"Um, hey, not to ruin the, mood, or anything, but... should we order?" He asked. "I'm a bit thirsty, if you wouldn't mind. I'll pay, if you wouldn't mind."
She was shocked. Why was this man so sweet? She couldn't let him pay for her again though. "Actually, I'll pay for this one. What do you want to order?"
He smiled to himself. "Just a latté please.... Actually, a chocolate muffin would be nice too, if that's not too much of a hassle."
"No, not at all. I'll be right back."

A few moments later, she was walking back to the table with a little tray. She placed Link's drink and food in front of him, and then put her hot chocolate down on the table. She kept her donut in the napkin.

The two of them chattered away for his entire lunch break, meaning Link had to quickly chug his drink when his alarm to get ready to go back to work went off. He ate the muffin carefully, though. Just as he finished up, his second alarm went off.

Zelda's cheeks were warm as she spoke. "Thank you so much for this, Detective."
"It's not a problem, Miss Zelda. I'll speak to you again after work." He got up, but Zelda grabbed his wrist.
He turned to face her confusedly, wondering why she had done it. She quickly handed him a scrap of paper, trying to hide her face, and turned around quickly to begin cleaning up their mess. "I-It's my number. You can... you can call me later if you'd like."
She couldn't see his smile because she was still gathering the same 4 dishes.
"Of course. Have a great afternoon, Miss Zelda. I'll call you later."

The bell tingled again as Link left the café.
Her heart was pounding hard enough to escape her chest. Why couldn't she calm down? They were friends, right...? Right..? Or...

She was falling for him already.

~*~*~*~*~

Hi besties! Quite a long one today :)
Please stay hydrated! Also remember to close your window and check your drink for bugs.
Digi 💕