A Couple of Trials (ZeLink)

Chapter 17: Late Night Practice

Zelda didn't respond. Her gaze had once again gone downward with her green emeralds glossed over. Raising an eyebrow, Link once again lightly nudged her arm before calling her name. Though less surprised than before, Zelda again jolted before looking up into his eyes.

"I'm sorry, what did you say, Link?" she asked.

"Poultry pilaf and warm milk?" he repeated.

"That sounds nice, thank you," Zelda nodded before looking away, allowing her eyes to gloss over again.

Keeping his gaze on her for a second longer, Link placed the glass of milk into the wooden basket he was holding before putting another inside. Adding a few Hylian rice bundles and some eggs into it, he made his way to the counter.

"Four eggs, two bottles of milk, and two bundles of rice," he listed off to Pruce.

"Twenty-four rupees," the older man responded. "Pleasure doing business with you, Link."

"It's a pleasure paying you a visit," Link replied, handing over a red and blue rupee. "You can keep the extra green. Come on, Zelda."

Noticing her glossy eyes, he took Zelda's hand and waved back at the general store owner as he guided her out of the building.

"Zelda... Zelda, " Link repeated as they walked down the road, keeping a firm grip on her. Finally, her ears perked up.

"W-what is it?" she asked, meeting his eyes before blushing slightly, feeling the warmth of his hand wrapped around her own.

"Well, you seem just a tad bit out of it," he said. "I guess I'm not one to talk these days, but is everything alright?"

"O-oh, yes, I'm fine," she answered. "I apologize, I'm just... I'm a little nervous about tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Link asked. "Oh yeah, you'll be working over the weekend. I guess you'll really be put to work then, knowing how the villagers get when they drink."

"Have you drank with them before?" Zelda asked, but Link shook his head.

"I haven't," he answered. "I'm not old enough, but maybe after my birthday, I will. After seeing what it did to you, it looks like an... experience that I'd like to try at least once."

"Please don't remind me of that day," Zelda groaned. "I'm still embarrassed with how I acted..."

"It was Jules's fault for giving you so much," Link chuckled. "I'm sure if you had less you would've been alright."

"Still," she mumbled. "From the little I remember, I know I gave you quite a hard time."

"In the moment it was, but looking back, it was pretty fun. You were cute—" Zelda groaned even more, "—and I got a nice kiss out of it."

"I hate that even more," she sulked. "That was my first kiss— our first kiss— and I was drunk . I can't even remember it..."

"Well, you remember the one after that, right?" Link asked with a raised eyebrow. Zelda's cheeks burned even more.

"I... I do..." she said quietly. "It's... it's one of my favorite memories..."

"Even though we smelled like the inside of a molduga?"

"Please, why must you always make our nice moments sound so awful?" Zelda huffed. Suddenly, she tried pulling away from his hand. "Let me go, I don't want to hold your hand anymore."

"Yeah, sure," Link answered teasingly, yet his grip on her hand remained firm.

"You still haven't let go," she huffed again.