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Link awoke alone in the double cot they had hung up so long ago, back when Link had started to share the house with Revali. The morning sunrays lit the roost a burning orange, beginning to warm up the room. Link was overcome with a wave of laziness, and he burrowed harder on the hammock, trying to get a whiff of the other man’s elusive scent.
Slowly, wakefulness claimed him, and he started to hear some distant noise around the village. He could not quite make out who- his ears twitched trying to hear better.
“That was so good, Kya!”
Ah yes, Revali’s tone had changed lately; his once clear and high voice, now rumbled from somewhere deeper in the Rito’s chest, producing a sound that -when Revali spoke just like that- made very inappropriate things go through Link’s head.
A wide smile spread over his face, and it was enough to get himself out of bed.
Last night had been Link’s birthday. He had officially turned 138. The day had passed without much novelty- excluding Revali complaining about counting years he shouldn’t be counting. Did birthdays count if you were asleep in a shrine? Link didn’t know and didn’t care; no matter what Revali said, he was rightfully 99 years older than him. They had spent the whole day bickering about it, but they had fallen asleep like they did every night: embracing each other, with Link’s head tucked snugly under Revali’s beak, a soft wing resting like a blanket over him.
His fingers combed lightly over the mess that was his head freshly woken up. Revali usually complained every morning about of how much of a hassle it was to braid his bird’s nest of hair, and Link always replied smugly that the nest resemblance was exactly why the Rito secretly liked it so much. Link could never see his expression in those moments, but they had been together long enough for him to know that Revali was smiling lovingly at him.
His blond hair was now streaked with many strands of grey. Link had worried that Revali would find them unattractive when they started to appear, but Revali had rushed to reassure him. He had hurriedly said that he looked very handsome and that it looked like the tips of his feathers were woven in his hair. Link remembered the shocked silence they had both shared only for Revali’s feathers to rise in embarrassment at the implications of what he had suggested.
None of them had ever cared too much about putting a name to their relationship, so Revali had been worried that Link would find it too much, too unnecessary. It had been Link’s turn to kiss his beak and tell him that he would love to have a dark navy-blue feather in his hair.
And that’s when Revali had started braiding his hair every morning, separating the blond from the white and plucking a long feather from his wings to intertwine it in the middle. If Link noticed that the Rito walked with a spring in his step those first days, he never said anything.
Their hair braiding routine was only interrupted when Link slept for longer than usual. Revali preferred to let him sleep in the early mornings while he went to teach the little children.
Link finished tying his braids and stepped out of their home. He walked down the wooden stairs and out of the village, towards the first island connected by the hanging bridge. He could already see a small group gathered in the clearing. They were all facing the tree in front of them, which had a simple target painted in red, and Link took the opportunity to observe his husband.
Revali turned a special kind of patient and kind when he was teaching the kids. It never failed to warm Link’s heart.
He bent to position a little wooden bow in a better grip for a small red fledgeling “It’s much more comfortable like that, see?”
“Yeah! Thank you Master Revali.” She answered with a chirp.
Revali only nodded with a little smile and continued to walk the line of little archers, checking their positions with his wings behind his back. Link had noticed that he took to walking like that more often these days. It was in no way a hunched walk, but it was a noticeable difference from the proud and almost uncomfortable stance Link was accustomed to see.
Ah, they were getting old. Who would have thought?
The changes had been so gradual that Link hadn’t even noticed. He realized now that Revali’s plumage was greyer and duller, the Rito’s navy-blue feathers didn’t shine as much as they used to do in his memories. His once electric green eyes had turned a softer shade, one that reminded Link of the vast Tabantha grasslands in the daylight.
No matter how old he was, Revali would always be beautiful.
Link had been so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn’t seen Revali staring intently at him, with his trademark smirk and a cocky stance. Link softly gasped, and he lifted one of his hands to wave at him, the other rising to scratch his slight stubble in bashfulness at being caught.
Revali’s eyes crinkled around the corners.
“Practice getting to that position again, and don’t fire any arrows until I come back.”
The ex-Rito Champion walked towards him without breaking the eye contact.
They had developed the art of understanding each other perfectly with just looks, as the need for this skill had arisen when everyone had started to learn the language that the famous Hero of Hyrule spoke. Now Link couldn’t sign to Revali the things he wanted to do to him over some formal dinner just to get him flustered, because everyone in the table would know, and well, the Hero of Hyrule had a reputation to uphold.
So instead, he focused his stare on the Rito’s neck.
Revali had donned his Champion scarf when Tulin had become of age, passing it to him with all the ceremony involved in Hyrule Castle, and he had dusted his old white scarf with the Rito crest on it. This one was longer and thicker, it sat so comfortably on his neck. It still left most of his throat bare, a fact that Link used often to his advantage.
When Revali got close enough, Link reached to scratch lightly below his beak, producing a crooning sound from Revali. A drowsiness seemed to overcome the archer, making him close his eyes, yet his smirk never faltered.
“Good morning to you too.”
He bent his head a little to rest his crest against Link’s forehead. Link nuzzled up to him and linked his own fingers through Revali’s own.
“Did you sleep well?”
Link only hummed in agreement, amazed at how he still felt his veins shivering whenever Revali was near. They were both so comfortable in the domesticity of the moment that they forgot they had an audience.
“Eeww! Master Revali is kissing Link!”
Revali separated from Link and sighed, knowing what was about to come. And just as he expected, all of the kids in the clearing echoed little Kya.
“That’s so gross!!”
“They are kissing?? EW, MY EYES” A dramatic kid screamed with his wings above his eyes.
“That’s very gross.” Agreed a shyer one.
Link snickered discretely behind his hand and let go of Revali’s wings so that the archer could put some order.
“I better see everyone practicing their stance when I get back there!”
Some giggles and soft shuffles were heard while the children tried to look as if they had been concentrated the whole time.
“I can’t leave them alone for a second.” Revali sighed again with worry.
“It’s fine. Go.” Link said softly. Revali looked a little pained for a moment, but he relented.
“Alright.” he bent for another quick forehead press “See you after class. Love you.”
Link raised his right hand closed, with his thumb and index finger standing at an angle, and then changed his index for his pinky. “Love you.”
As he watched his husband’s retrieving back, he thought that at another time, Revali would have huffed in annoyance and sent the kids home for the day. It seemed age had softened his character. Or maybe that had just been Link.