Chapter Text
Sidon finished fastening the little yarn tie, and took in his work with satisfaction. By keeping his pen attached to his clipboard, he could greatly increase his efficiency, and serve the new members of his college faster than ever before.
Now he just needed any of them to turn up.
Admittedly, this was still early sign-in. As an international student, he’d arrived alone, long before term started, and had been entrusted with helping the rest of his fellow first-years find their rooms and get settled.
Tapping a rhythm with his feet on the flagstones of the courtyard, he spotted someone around his age wandering through the gate, staring at his phone. Bingo.
He leapt up. “Hello! I am here to help you sign-in. My name is Sidon, I am here from Marseille in France to study Classics, what is your name? Where are you from? What do you study?” He looked down to check his clipboard. Help make arrivals comfortable with some basic small talk; try asking them their name, where they’re from, or what they plan to study. Yes. Perfect. Sidon was doing a great job.
“I’m another international, dumbass, a second-year. I’ve been here long before you.” The dark-haired stranger had been, as many people were, taken aback when Sidon stood over him, but quickly recovered into a sneer.
“Oh, well, hello anyway. It’s so good to meet you! What’s your name? Where are you from?”
“Revali. Italy.”
“How lovely! Where in Italy?”
“North.”
Sidon did not feel in the mood to make Revali narrow down his hometown any closer, especially as the commotion at the college lodge told him that his first real target had arrived.
“Excuse me, Revali, I have a job to do, but I’m sure I’ll see you later!”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Here they came. His first new friend of the day. This was the real start of Sidon’s years at university. The first moments of the rest of his life.
The figure stepped out... but Sidon already knew them.
His messy blonde hair was longer, tied back in a ponytail now. It revealed the blue hoop earrings Sidon had spotted so many times in photographs on his father’s mantlepiece. His hands were balled into fists in the pockets of a denim jacket, now covered in patches. Some seemed decorative, commemorating concerts and tourist traps, others seemed medicinal - it was falling apart at the seams. He was a short man. A strong man.
This was Link, Sidon’s sister’s best friend.
Words were failing Sidon, so when Link’s eyes scanned the two figures waiting in the courtyard, he was pleased to see a light of recognition flare inside them. When Link strode across Farore College’s threshold, however, he walked right past Sidon. The person he seemed to remember was the rude Italian, still engrossed in his phone.
Link clicked his fingers in front of Revali’s face, who looked up and swore loudly.
“What are you doing here?”
Link drew his own phone from a pocket, and typed out a text. Revali’s phone pinged, and after reading the message, he only looked more confused.
“Why would I do that? I’m waiting for Zelda, you egomaniac. What in the hell is someone like you doing at Lanayru University?”
As Link began to furiously type out a response, Sidon regained his composure and stepped in.
“Hello! You there! I am here to help you sign in. My name is Sidon, I am here from Marseille in France to study Classics. What do you study?”
Apparently Link had been so focused on confronting the other man that he hadn’t really looked at Sidon til now. He jumped back a little, and blinked wide blue eyes slowly up at him, removing a pack of A6 cards from his pocket like a jungle explorer confronted by a tiger might reach for his tranquilliser darts. Sidon took a card, curious.
“Hello, my name is Link. I have Selective Mutism. This is a severe disorder that makes me incapable of speaking in many situations. I promise I can hear and understand you, and will try to answer with gestures as well as I can.”
Revali was snickering from Sidon’s question. “Study? No, this is Link. All-round tough guy and perpetual leech to the upper classes. Just look at him, he isn’t a student here.”
Sidon was shocked, “There’s no need to make judgements based on appearance. I’m sure Link deserves to learn here just as much as -“ Link was making a cutting motion at the neck to Sidon. “You-you’re not a student?”
He shook his head.
“Could you, uh, could you tell me why you are here?” Sidon unsheathed his pen, and prepared to take notes.
Link thought a moment, turned over one of his cards, and motioned for Sidon to hand him his pen.
The yarn was tied too efficiently. Sidon had to hand his whole clipboard over.
I am the bodyguard of a high profile new student. College security is aware of the situation. I need to become familiar with the premises and secure our flat before her arrival.
Revali got bored while Link was writing, and had walked away into the common room with an eye-roll by the time he was done.
“Oh wow! You must be a very good bodyguard to have such an important job at such a young age.”
Link tilted his head, but Sidon couldn’t decipher the silent question. He asked instead to see the key the lodge had provided, and referred to the map on the last page of the college welcome pack to work out where the guard and his charge should go.
As they set off, Sidon wondered to himself why he still hadn’t tried to tell Link who he was. Who his sister was. Perhaps because part of the appeal of university was the idea of fresh faces and new experiences, and hanging out with an old family friend didn’t fit into that. Maybe because he was still somewhat in shock.
Maybe it was because, even though they had only met a few times, many years ago, he was secretly hoping Link would suddenly remember him.
It occurred to him, in a hopeful little thought, that perhaps Link knew exactly who he was, and that his sister Mipha had talked about Sidon to her best friend as often as she had done the reverse, but Link just didn’t want to make things awkward. Yes, that worked. How thoughtful of him.
“Here we are, 6, 7, and 8! Woah, this is a nice flat. I’m just in a big communal dorm. Ok, we have three bedrooms, here, here, and here. They all have doors opening to the communal eating and kitchen area. Rooms 6 and 8 also each have a door that opens out into the hall, I guess if you don’t want to walk through the dining room to leave. Room 7 has a little balcony, but also you’d have to share a bathroom, so if I were you I’d dibs 6 before your flatmate gets here.”
Link nodded, methodically examining walls and testing door handles. Then, he took out the ring of keys he’d been given at the lodge, and went around locking things. He locked Room 6’s access to the hall, then the main door from the communal area, and finally bolted the glass and wrought iron doors from room 7 to render the balcony useless.
“Ah yes. Security. Quite right. How are people supposed to get in?”
Link motioned for the clipboard again.
Room 6 will be Lady Zelda’s. She’ll have a key but it will also be latched and bolted so it can only be used from the inside in an emergency. The main door and balcony will also be bolted and heavily re-inforced. Then I’ll be in Room 8, so anyone coming into the flat will have to go past me.
Link considered Sidon as he read this breakdown, then added a postscript.
You’re very patient.
“Am I?”
I’m not the fastest writer.
Sidon scrunched up his face in concentration, and moved his hands clumsily in front of himself; if you don’t like writing, I can sign, a little.
Link’s face lit up.
Why didn’t you just do that earlier? he signed back.
Wasn’t sure if you could. This was a lie. The only reason Sidon could sign is because Link had taught Mipha, and in his brief trips home from boarding school she had passed it on to him.
Nice to know I can talk to someone easy. Lady Zelda hates this.
Sidon wasn’t sure what Link meant by ‘this’, but he found the animation signing brought him very charming. Sign names are generally made out of someone’s initials or one of their attributes, to save on spelling them out each time. The British sign language for ‘princess’ looks like someone lifting a little crown off the corner of their head, which Link had replaced with lifting the letter Z off his head to refer to his mysterious noble client.
“So when is ‘Princess Z’ arriving?”
Link winced and his face became detached once again. Tomorrow.
There was a strange tension in the common room when Zelda walked in. She’d seen faces peering from windows as her driver pulled up, and had waved the Rolls Royce away as soon as possible. The damage was done, though.
Her mother had worried her wealth and status would go to her peers’ heads, and she’d be surrounded by fatuous false friends. Zelda was wiser, though. She could tell that wasn’t how things were done here. Everyone seemed so determined to act like they hadn’t noticed her arrival as anything special, that they were bordering on actively ignoring her.
It didn’t help that the one person she’d had by her side since stepping out of the car would never speak to her either.
The countless times she and her father had argued about going to university, her security was the largest sticking point. Eventually, she had whittled him down to an ultimatum. She would accept a single bodyguard, if, and only if, they were her own age. Someone who could look like any other student.
She had thought she could reason with a younger employee. Get some leeway. Make a friend. She should have known, when her father laughed and agreed right away, that whoever he picked wasn’t going to be that easy.
“Do you know who I’m supposed to talk to about keys and things?”
Link pulled out a ring of keys that was attached to his belt, and took one off for her. The room number had been sanded off, in case she lost it, and replaced with a small engraving; for emergencies.
“Alright, well, where do I get my map and timetable?” She peered over the gabbing heads of her fellow freshers. There must be someone who was assigned to introduce people, to make them feel welcome. Link pulled a folder out of his backpack. It had all the information in it she could possibly want to know. “Great. That’s perfect, really great, thank you.”
Link didn’t react to the impatience or sarcasm in her voice. She’d given him enough of it over the summer, as they ‘got to know each-other’. And he gave her nothing, positive or negative, in return. He just kept scanning the other students, the windows, the doors, with no indication of what fantasy dangers he was shielding her from.
Luckily, her old friend Revali finally walked in. “La mio principessa! I looked for you yesterday, but I only found, well, you know,” he flicked a lazy hand in Link’s direction, who scowled. “How have you been, since the science residential?” Revali was another physics and engineering student. They’d been going to the same summer schools since they were teenagers, and now she was finally joining him at the university they’d always dreamed of.
She was just a year late. And burdened with a little surplus personnel.
“I’ve been good, just at home, really. Getting ready for first year!”
“Oh, it’ll be easy for you. You practically tutored me for my first set of exams. They should have let you accelerate your course.”
She wished.
As time went by, she saw a few more familiar faces they had met at the residential program. The young scientists were friendly, excited to talk about all the fresher events, and best of all not curious about Link, who had lost his novelty to them back in August.
The same couldn’t be said for everyone else. Occasionally a new arrival would spot him hanging at the edge of their group, clearly not a part of the conversation, and try and engage him. Most of them made an excuse to wander off soon after he gave them one of his little cards. Some of them hung around to try and glean some information from him. The first couple of times, he looked to Zelda for help, but when he realised she was too engrossed in her classmates to speak for him, he resorted to simple gestures until they lost interest. He was doing just that to a shy girl with snow-white hair, when a loud call cut across the room’s hubbub.
“Link! Link, my friend! It’s me, Sidon!”
Zelda’s entire group, and most of the surrounding students, stopped and turned to the source. It was a red haired boy nearly a head taller than anyone else in the common room, who had somehow spotted Link’s little gold mop peeking out between everyone else, and was wading through freshers towards him.
The other students got back to their conversation after a moment, but Zelda and the scientists openly stared. Zelda had never seen Link with a friend. As far as she knew, he’d never tried to make one.
“Isn’t it so much nicer having lots of people everywhere?”
Link lifted his hand, and signed out a few words. The stranger laughed. Link had made a joke? Then, his friend signed back, and something even stranger happened. Link laughed too.
Zelda was struck with a sudden, sickly, and unfortunate awareness. Maybe she was the arsehole here.
“Link, are you going to introduce us, to your… friend?”
“Oh, no need, I can do it myself! I’m Sidon, I’m starting Classics this year.” he said, as Link raised an eyebrow at her. “I’ve already met Revali, and Robbie, and Paya,” he pointed at the girl who’d been trying to talk to Link, who seemed excited to be included. “What’s your name? Purah! How lovely. And what do you study? Wow, what a smart group!”
Sidon was like a gale force wind. He left things pointing a different direction than when they’d started. Conversation turned to their college’s reputation for physics, then to its ongoing library renovation, and somehow to the upcoming rowing tryouts Sidon was keenly prepared for.
“You’re a second-year, Revali, are you in any societies? Which are the most fun?”
“Well, I don’t know about fun, but I’m in the OTC.” The Officer Training Corps. They paid university students to learn military drills alongside academia, and fast-tracked them through the ranks once they’d graduated. Revali was planning to do a masters in aeronautical engineering, then become a test pilot someday.
While the freshers cooed, impressed with his commitment, Zelda heard a little noise at her right shoulder.
Link had chuckled. It did not escape Revali’s notice.
“Got a problem with that?”
Link kept smiling, and signed something to Sidon.
“Um. He said ‘that’s cool’.”
Link narrowed his eyes.
“He didn’t say that, did he?” said Revali.
“No he, uh... he said ‘that’s cute’.”
“Oh? You think dragging yourself through the mud, under barbed wire, for hours every week, is cute?”
Link signed again, no longer smiling. Zelda couldn’t understand the instinctive vitriol between them. She’d first noticed it over the summer, and it had only gotten worse.
“He says that for a real soldier, yes, the OTC is cute.”
“Real soldier? Is that what you call nannying adults for extortionate prices? You’re a bodyguard, not a fucking marine.” Little Paya looked horribly confused, and everyone else looked nervous.
Zelda had to to step in. “Link actually was in the army, Revali. From when he was 16 until last year.” Her tone was deliberately sunny, like she was sharing a motiveless piece of trivia. “He’d just made Corporal, before his injury brought him home. At least, I think I’m remembering that right.” She looked at him, questioning, and he nodded.
Revali tsked and changed the subject, and the ship righted itself after a few minutes.
Zelda tried to stay as engaged as possible with her new and old friends, but she couldn’t help glancing now and then to her right. Link and Sidon were signing to one another. Occasionally Link would take the taller one’s hands and shape them into a new word, and they would practice it for a moment. His smiles were small, but more frequent than she’d seen in months.
She decided, then and there. All was not lost. Link would be her friend too.
“Alright you lot, I know you can do better than that! And pull, and pull, and pull, heave ho, there you go- hey buddy you’re doing great!”
Link smiled down at the scene of the rowing tryouts, and the tiny girl whooping and hollering at her new recruits. Three rowing machines had been dragged out onto the deck of the crewhouse, as the current members of the squad timed each fresher’s best rep rate.
It was his first day off the job since arriving, and he was ready to see some old friends.
The current round of hopefuls tapped out, and everyone took five. From the ridge above the riverbank, Link put his hands to has mouth and whistled sharply down at the crowd. Three of the members looked up straight away, and beamed.
“Well look who it is! Get down here, dude!” called Bazz, running his hand through his buzz-cut hair. “Damn. Long time, no see.”
Rivan, an equally tall and broad-shouldered man with long hair tied high in a bun, ran up to Link as he sauntered down. “You didn’t tell us you were coming today! Man, we were so psyched to hear you got a job here,” he signed the end of his sentence; because most of the people at Lanayru are boring as shit.
Link snickered, and let himself be enveloped in a hug by all three. The freshers who were here from Zelda’s college, Farore, were looking at them with great curiosity. Word had gotten around that he was her ex-military bodyguard, rather than another student. To some, that meant it was fine to gawk in open fascination at everything he did.
Gaddison punched his arm, “Man, how long has it been? When did we last see you in the flesh?”
Link shifted uncomfortably.
Marseilles. Five years ago.
Bazz playfully clipped Gaddison around the ear. “Yeah, she woulda remembered that if she’d thought about it for more than a second.”
“No I really thought we’d seen you at- aw, wait. Yeah, no, you’re right. Sorry.”
Link shook his head. He wanted to shake the memory of being 16 and playing on the beach with his friends right out of his ears, but he knew that Mipha wouldn’t want that.
No, it’s fine, I’m sorry it’s been so long. Do you guys remember you were rowing back then too? We all nearly got swept out to sea in those dumb kayaks.
Rivan protested, “I don’t think they were dumb! It was a great idea. Mipha rescued us, anyways, we were fine.”
Link smiled.
Yeah, she was good at that. Who drags you out of the water these days?
Gaddison raised her arm, “that would be me, the little dipshit- hey!”
The two started play-wrestling as Bazz rolled his eyes. “Fucking children, I tell you.” He clapped Link on the shoulder. “Glad to see you again, bud. We have to get back to running the trials, but you’re welcome to watch. You could even try out, you know. We’d love to have you.”
The other two stopped messing around for a moment - somehow, despite her diminutive size, Gaddison had Rivan in a headlock - and looked at him.
No thanks, you know I’m not a student. I’ll get out of your hair. I just came to say hi, and to let you know I met someone who’s trying out today - huge guy, red hair, you’ll know when you see him. Not asking for favouritism, but he’s soft-hearted, so go easy.
“I don’t go easy on anyone! This is war!” Gaddison let Rivan go, and blew the whistle round her neck three times. “Right you lot, break’s over. Jump in this river and give me a width. Yes I know this isn’t swimming tryouts, but I’m not finding out one of you can’t swim by having you capsize and drown on me, got it?”
Bazz smiled at Link with a twinkle in his eye. “We’ll keep a lookout, but like she says, nobody gets off lightly. We’re here all afternoon if you change your mind.”
“Or hey, you’ve got our numbers, meet us for dinner sometime, okay? We won’t take no for an answer.”
Then I guess I have to say yes.
Bazz ruffled his fringe. “That’s right, you do.”
Sidon was tapping his foot nervously as he approached the front of the queue in the crewhouse. Rowing was a big deal - in Lanayru university, and in his family. He wasn’t sure which had come first. His 16th century ancestor Dauphin Rutah had been a noted seafarer, and one of the first donors to the university, bequeathing the large gallery at its centre. He mustn’t rest on the laurels of his forebears, though. He was ready to prove himself.
That included not resting on the laurels of his sister, whose childhood friends he knew were big rowers too. She should have been one of them.
He hadn’t told them he was coming, because he wanted to be treated just like anybody else. When he walked out onto the deck that plan fell apart.
“Oh wow, is that- hey there! Sidon! Hi! What a day for reunions, huh?” It was Bazz, a third-year who was almost as tall as Sidon. His grandparents had a villa near Sidon’s family on the coast, and he had summered there until a couple of years back.
“Ah! Ça va Bazz?”
“Bien mon ami, mais n’embarasse pas - you know my French is rusty.”
“Oui, parce que tu ne visites jamais tes grands-parents,” said another third year and family friend, Rivan, who came over and pinched Bazz’s cheek.
“Oh man,” said Bazz, “you’ll never guess who you just missed!”
“Um, who?”
“Link! You remember Link, right?”
Sidon’s stomach dropped.
“I guess maybe you didn’t ever hang out,” Bazz continued, “but he was your sister’s best friend, you must have heard of-“
“Yes! Yes. I have spoken with Link. It is nice to see so many familiar faces here.”
A short girl that Sidon had met less often - Goddering? Gadfly? Some strange name like that - bounced over after dismissing a group of puffed-out freshers.
“Hah!” she barked, “I guess this is Link’s idea of a joke. You’re Sidon, right?”
“Yes indeed, I am. What do you mean by a joke?”
“Oh no offence bud, no our friend Link he ah- oh you’ll know him, he was Mipha’s best friend,”
“Yes, we’ve met!” Maybe it wasn’t so nice to see familiar faces after all. He had wanted to make a fresh start, and he hadn’t stopped thinking about the past since he’d arrived.
“Anyways, he was just here telling us to go easy on you. As if!”
Sidon’s heart fluttered. So had Link remembered who Sidon was, or had he just found out?
“He talked about me?”
Bazz slapped his forehead, “oh, duh! No, he said a huge redhead would be coming, and we’d know when we saw him - haha, I guess he meant you.”
“I see. Well, I certainly don’t expect any special treatment.”
“And you won’t get it,” grinned the short girl, blowing hard on her silver whistle. “Ten hup! Form ranks! Other military references! I want the next round out on the rowing machines now - Toby, Jack, and Sidon!”
It was the end of his free day, his first week on the job, and Link was feeling pretty good. Zelda’s father wouldn’t be dropping her back at the college for a few more hours. He’d seen some of his childhood friends for the first time in years (yeah, they’d only talked for a few minutes, but still a success). He'd gotten a workout in, which always cheered him up, and now he was doing his favourite activity: eating.
Someone once told him that he came off as a deep, brooding, lost in thought kind of a guy, but truth be told most of his needs were straightforward and biological. Sure, he had some reasons to brood, and there was the whole crippling inability to talk in public thing, but give him a hot meal and he was great at forgetting it.
He was devouring fish and chips in the college quad. As the early twilight faded, he became aware he was being watched. Squinting across the empty square to the movement that had alerted him, he saw the red glow of a cigarette. Like the dot of a sniper sight.
He whistled across the quad, and Revali stepped out of his shadows to saunter over.
“I’m not a dog, you know. Why not just say hello?”
Link chuckled under his breath and handed Revali one of his little explanation cards. The Italian knocked it out of his hands.
“Yes, I know, you couldn’t possibly say a word to me.”
Link just looked at him, trying to work out why he was dressed so fancy. He’d picked out a dark shirt and blazer just to mope around the college on a Sunday evening. It matched his black, feathery hair, and looked good against his pale skin in the waning light.
“Forget it. I don’t know what Bospharam sees in you.”
Link got out his phone and tapped out a text. Didn’t realise u and Z’s dad were on first name terms?
Revali scowled at the text as Link snickered again. “Fuck off.” He took another drag from the cigarette. “You don’t realise anything about me.”
Guess we’re even then.
“Oh I know you. I get your whooole thing. You’re trying to weasel and charm your way into wealth and indolence, and Zelda’s your meal ticket. And that’s why you don’t like me.”
Link screwed up his face in genuine confusion. Even if I was using Z as a ‘meal ticket’ (gross) which I’m not, why would that mean I wouldn’t like you?
Revali gestured with his right hand, creating a little spiral of smoke, “because you’re threatened by me, obviously.”
Link signed, but aren’t you- in shock, before remembering Revali wouldn’t understand him. He texted; You like Zelda?
“I didn’t say that. I said you do.” Revali stubbed out the cigarette on Link’s table. “Forget it. This is beneath me.”
Yeah it is. Also, you’re wrong. About 2 things.
“Oh? And what are they?”
1. I don’t like Zelda like that. 2. I don’t dislike you.
Revali looked at the text for a few beats. It was getting too dark to tell, but Link thought he seemed flushed. “You certainly have a funny way of showing it.”
Because I don’t talk to you? He offered Revali another another explanation card, with a smile.
“That’s not- whatever.” He flicked his cigarette butt on the ground. “It doesn’t matter.”
Link looked Revali up and down considering for a moment, before typing out; If you really want to hear my voice, I sometimes find it easier to talk in private.
The pause while Revali read that text was even longer than the last. Link put a few more chips in his mouth and licked the grease off his fingers while the message sank in. Revali shifted his weight right and left, and cleared his throat.
“Well. I admit I’m curious.” He looked over his shoulder either side. “Where would we go?”
Doesn’t your room lead off of the quad? You just came out that door. I have 2 hours to kill. Link folded the paper over the remains of his meal, and stood up to chuck it in the bin. He slung his bag over his shoulder, and gave Revali a questioning look. Closer up, he was definitely flushed.
“A little… forward, don’t you think?”
You’re the one that gave me your number.
“Yes, when we met in the summer, before I realised you were…“
Link raised an eyebrow at him.
“… that you were someone I was going to see again.”
Link was done with texting. He started to walk across the quad, back the way Revali had come from.
“Hey- hey idiot, wait for me”