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It had been some months now since Calamity Ganon had been defeated and Link rescued Zelda from her 100 year battle. Shortly after going with her to Zora's Domain to check on Vah Ruta, Link had returned to his home in Hateno. Zelda had been staying with him and she'd often visit Purah up in the lab on the hill near the village to research ancient tech with her. This left Link with his own time to kill. He would occasionally visit Paya back in Kakariko, the two had become pretty close after a while. Now he's decided to take her around Hyrule now that it's safer without Ganon.
She was hesitant at first, scared for her grandmother's well being while she's gone. Link assured her that Impa will have everyone in the village to keep her company and to check up on her. After a while of thinking she agreed and they packed a few essentials. They figured they could buy more as they ventured. They had gone a long ways, eventually passing Serenne stable and making their way to Rito Village. Unfortunately.. they'd have to go past the Tabantha Tundra. The cold there was unbearable if you weren't prepared for it. They could feel the air get cold as they traveled up the cliffside. Link could already feel Paya shivering behind him. They approached the stable, the night had arrived much faster than they expected. Perhaps it didn't help that light seemed to be blocked with all the snow and fog. Paya held on to Link tighter, trying to get some kind of warmth. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to bring her around Hebra without a proper coat on. He felt terrible that he had changed into his own warm clothes at the last stop while she didn’t have any. He promises her that he'll buy her the proper gear once they get to Rito Village, but they'll have to spend the night at the Snowfield stable for now. He stops their horse in front of the stable and hops off, turning around and helping Paya down.
After walking up to the counter Link greets the owner of the stable, Varke. Greeting back he waves and flashes a smile. "Welcome! How may we help you on this fine night?" Link turns and gestures to their horse, then looks back at Varke. "We’d like to board our horse and rent a bed for the night." Varke looks at him, then to Paya. After another moment he looks back at Link. "Just one bed?" Link nods. Behind him Paya was still shivering, he hoped Varke wouldn’t take too long so they could finally get out of the cold. Varke grins at Link and goes to get things ready. "Sounds good!" After a couple minutes he asks Link to come inside so he can pay for the bed. "Thank you for staying with us! Enjoy your rest!" Link nods once again and holds Paya's hand. It's freezing, but his is warm in comparison. Her face flushes at the contact. He leads her over to an empty bed and gestures to it. "We'll be sleeping here for tonight. Once day breaks we'll grab a meal and we'll continue our journey to Rito Village." It takes a moment to realize what he just said. Once she replays it in her head, her face warms up once again. "Y- You mean we're sharing a bed?" Link nods at her, and sits down on the bed before taking off his boots. "That's... not a problem is it?" He looks back up at her. "No! I- I mean.. I-" She looks around, there were other people inside the stable who had already long gone to bed. Some were still up reading a book by a small lantern. And one man had a large backpack, he wasn't wearing anything fit for the weather and it seems that he had fallen asleep sitting down. She looks back at Link, then to the bed. "It's just that.. there's so many people here.."
He gives her a reassuring smile and stands up. "Don't worry, everyone else is asleep. And the ones who aren't won't even pay attention to us. They'd much rather do something else." He pulls the cover down, and pats the bed. Paya walks over nervously and slowly slips her own boots off, setting them beside Link's. She sits down on the bed and Link moves beside her. He pulls the cover over them and smiles. "See? Nothing to worry about. Now we should get some sleep so we can finish our trip up the cliff. I promise that I'll make us a hot meal when we wake up." He lies down completely and turns on his side. Paya does the same, pulling the cover over her more. The bed was pretty soft and comfortable. Were they all this soft? The pillows seemed extra fluffy too. Everything was deathly quiet, except the sound of the snowstorm outside and the occasional crackling sounds coming from the lamps. After another moment of silence Link spoke up. "Goodnight, Paya." She turned her head towards him slightly, before smiling. "Goodnight, Master Link." He chuckles. "You know you don't have to call me that anymore." He was right. They were together, it wasn’t necessary for her to be calling him that now. "Sorry.. Goodnight, Link." She corrected herself before closing her eyes.
Link wasn't asleep for long, he woke up to the feeling of her shivering beside him. He turns to her and gently taps her shoulder. "Paya? Are you okay?" She jolts a little at the touch. "Y-Yes. I'm f-f-fine.." She says, stuttering from the intense cold in the place. Link looks around for a second, and then moves his arms carefully over and under her to pull her closer to him. Paya flinches and looks back at him. "Link! What are you doing?!" Her face was warm again, she covers it with her hands. Link laughs a little at her action, and holds her close. "I'm warming you up. You're obviously still cold, so I thought I'd help with that." He feels so warm against her, while she felt almost as cold as an icicle instead. She was so cold and flustered that she could only manage to mutter a single word. "O-Oh.." Link smiles, and closes his eyes again. She felt so tense for the first few minutes; She didn’t know how to handle this contact at all. They hadn't cuddled like this before. She stopped and took note of his breathing, it mixed nicely with the sound of the wind outside. Eventually she felt her body relax, no longer afraid of how comfortable it felt to be held by him. And he did what he said he'd do. She was feeling warmer already. At one point she could have sworn he nuzzled his face into her hair. She pondered for a second about moving, finally turning herself around after another minute had passed. Link's eyes opened at her movements and he saw her looking straight at him, a noticeable blush on her face. "H- Hello.." She whispered shyly. "Hello." He said back as a blush of his own appeared on his face. "What are you doing?"
Moving as close as she could, she gave a shy smile. "I was getting more comfortable." He smiles back, nodding. "Are you feeling better? Still cold?" She nods back at him. "I feel better now." She rests her head against his, their foreheads touching. "See? I told you everything would be fine." She hums happily, and closes her eyes. "This is nice, you're very warm.." Link responds with a single "Mhm" and he could feel her face heat up against him. "Link?" She opens her eyes to look at him again. "Yes, Paya?"
"Can- Can we do this again sometime?" Link nuzzles his face against hers. "Of course, we don't even need to be in a stable to do it." She smiles, and completely relaxes against him. It didn't take long for either of them to fall asleep, and before they knew it the sun had already appeared in the sky. They both woke up to each other still snuggled close together. They smiled and Link gave her a quick kiss on the lips. She's flustered for a moment, then giggles. They get up and put their boots back on. Afterwards they walk up to the counter and check out, then go outside next to the lit fire with a cooking pot over it. The weather had cleared up a bit since last night, and they could now see more clearly. He took out some ingredients and began to cook. He made sure to add some heating effects so she wouldn't have to bear the cold anymore. After their meal they retrieved their horse and continued the journey. "As I promised, I'll get you some warm clothes at Rito Village." Paya rests her head on his shoulder. "Okay.." He turns his head to look at her. "I'll still cuddle you if you want me to." She buries her face in his shoulder, once again flustered. "Thank- Thank you."