Raising the Stakes; Zelink Coffee Shop AU (The Legend Of Zelda)

Chapter Sixteen

He chuckled. "Fine, I give up... for now," he said then went back to his work.

I sat on one of the steps after I made sure there was no glass on it. As I watched him, smiling, I remembered what I was back there for. Having just formed the question in my mind again, Link interrupted me.

"Would you like to join me for dinner tonight?"

My eyes widened. So I guess that's even more of a 'no' to avoiding me. And dinner again? I'd be dead before I said no to that.

"Sure, if you don't mind." I wonder if my relief showed on my face.

"Mind?" He raised an eyebrow. "Of course I don't mind; quite the opposite."

I smiled, despite myself chanting 'as a friend, as a friend,' over and over again in my mind. "Then I'm happy to."

"I'll just try to finish this quickly," he said. "You can go up and play Legends if you want."

I considered that. "I'm really no help here... will you be long?"

"Quick as I can be," he replied with a smile. "Go on up."

I wanted to stay... but I also wanted to play Legends and pet the cat. With his dismissal, I only nodded and started to climb.

The stairs themselves were as killer as they were the first time, but the reward of Legends, Farore, dinner, and Link made the climb well worth it.

"Farore," I called hopefully. "Where are you kitty?"

With no response, I took the gamepad and turned the console on. I didn't want to deal with figuring out the television settings, so I just played on the built-in screen.

Link took awhile to finally climb the stairs, and by that time I hardly noticed him.

Farore was snuggled up on my lap, and I was happily engrossed in the game.

"Why am I not wearing any clothes?"

I jumped and the cat dug in her claws.

Link had leaned against the back of the couch. He pointed to the screen, where Link was wearing only the shorts he woke up in.

"Oh," I said, then laughed. "Well... I heard it makes you swim faster, and I was just fishing."

He leaned down, his hands brushing against my shoulder. "Right," he said, his smooth voice way too close to my ear. "You're not around any water right now."

"... I forgot to change after I warped."

Link started laughing, and I had to stop myself from closing my eyes and savoring the sound. "Those poor, confused NPC's."

I chuckled at that. "So, did you get all the pieces?"

He shook his head. "I doubt it, but it's good enough, I didn't want to make you wait any longer." Link raised an eyebrow. "Though it seems like you were keeping yourself entertained just fine."

I paused and saved the game, trying not to turn red. Well, redder. He had just leaned over my shoulder and practically purred in my ear. How the heck was I supposed to react.

"What's for dinner this time?"

"You can choose. I've still got all the ingredients from yesterday."

"You decide, please," I replied. I couldn't take that pressure again. 

Link shrugged. "Alright then," he said as he turned to go into the kitchen. "How about tacos?"

"Ooh, sounds good," I said as I stood up and followed him. "What kind?"

"Roast made with honey so it's sweet, then shredded up and used for tacos or burritos. Might sound a little strange, but it's delicious."

I hopped up into one of the tall chairs by the counter. "Still sounds good."

He nodded and started taking things out of the fridge. Then he hesitated. "Listen, since we're going tomorrow for the weekend, I have a lot of food that's going to need to be taken care of so it doesn't go to waste."

"So what are you going to do?"

"Freeze most of it."

"Wha- freeze it?"

"Yeah, meat and vegetables are usually still good when frozen and then thawed. Plus they last about a thousand percent longer."

"Is that math accurate?" I asked with a giggle.

"Totally," he said and rolled his eyes. "So I'll be cooking up a lot of meat tonight. I can make the dinner and you can go, or-"

"Or I can keep you company while you do," I interrupted with a smile.

"Or that," he repeated.

"Unless you don't-"

"I'd love the company," he replied, rolling his eyes again. "Are you a pessimist?"

I laughed. "Urbosa seems to think so."