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“Goddesses above, why did he have give me the hardest questions he could find?!”
Papers were strewn across her table, filled with mathematical constants and half-finished solutions that she realized didn’t work. On the board, written in a messy script in chalk, was a list of problems that he told her were meant to ‘be harder than they looked.’
Zelda blew a strand of hair out of her eyes, cursing under her breath. “‘Harder they looked’, my ass.” She picked up a slice of pizza, not caring that her hands were covered in chalk dust and smudges of ink. She almost moaned at the taste of cheese, tomato, and chicken, fighting away the urge to roll her eyes in the back of her head. “At least he got my favourite.”
Her mind wandered to the thought of him. Of his brown hair that fell in front of his glasses, eyes sparkling like sapphires as he smirked at her while they worked together. Academic peers that became friends, tearing apart problems instead of each other’s throats.
I wonder what it would feel like to kiss-
Her eyes widened as she choked slightly on the pizza in her throat, coughing and quickly reaching for the opened can of soda, wincing slightly at the feeling of the carbonated drink burning its way down her throat before slamming the can back down.. She could feel the heat on her cheeks, and clapped her hands over them, shaking her head as she screwed her eyes shut. “No! No, no, no! Stop that right now!” She whisper-shouted at herself, her boots softly stomping against the floor.
Eventually she stopped, slumping against her chair and looked straight up at the ceiling. She let out a sigh, physically deflating as she melted into the seat. She turned back to her latest sheet of paper, writing down the equations once more. She stared at it, swearing that it was branding itself to her brain. “I swear, I’ll be seeing this when I go to sleep.”
She didn’t even know where to start, all of them looking like a mountain she had to conquer. The same variables used in each one, taunting her. Two pesky letters that spelled out her downfall.
Z and B. She had no idea what they stood for, and when she asked for even a hint, Link had just smiled and said, “You’ll figure it out, I’m sure.” When she pressed him further, he just shrugged and mentioned that the original letters used for the variables were boring, and he really just liked the two letters. She muffled another scream, venting out her frustrations.
He’s not even majoring in anything related to maths! For Hylia’s sake, he’s taking culinary classes!
And just like that, her mind wandered back to him. She would never have met him if she didn’t decide to take a fun elective to break up the monotony of an extremely academically exhausting semester. He had laughed at how she barely knew how to handle a knife, and she shamefully admitted she had been subsiding on nothing but packs of ramen and microwave dinners.
It was as if he had taken that personally, and would always bring a meal to their study sessions. Ones that he had made himself, shyly admitting that he was trying new things he hadn’t done before and he wanted her opinion (as well as to ‘eat something healthy for once, for Hylia’s sake Zelda, you’re gonna get your stomach pumped eventually!’).
And those meals were like blessings from Faore. She almost cried at the first fruitcake he ever made her, a gift for her birthday.
It really was no wonder why she fell for him.
But does he like me back? I’m literally just a nerd, who can’t even cook!
She sighed, feeling her phone buzz in her pocket. She perked up at seeing a notification for a package she ordered having arrived at her dorm, and she needed to sign off on it. She opened the webpage and signed in, and scrolled to her order. She smiled at the photo of it sitting in front of her dorm door, mentally reminding herself to ask her dormmate to grab it.
-Please sign with your initials to confirm the drop off.-
Her fingers automatically moved, only to freeze just above the confirm button. She looked at her initials once more, and let out a small gasp.
ZB. Zelda Bosphoramus. Z and B.
They were her initials.
“I just really like Z and B, okay? They mean a lot to me.”
Her heart pounded deep in her chest, her eyes never leaving her phone. What did that even mean?! Was this a sign? Was she reading too much into it? WHAT DID IT MEAN?!
She almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of a knock at the door. Her head snapped to look, and her eyes locked onto his. He stood there, with that same smirk, holding a small box in his hands.
“You figure it out yet?” She didn’t respond, just staring at him. His smile slowly melted away, turning into concern, and he quickly made his way to sit next to her. “Hey, Zel, you okay?” His hand gently pressed against hers, and her breath quickened slightly.
Too close.
Not close enough.
“I figured it out.” She saw his eyes widen at that, before they relaxed, and a small smile appeared on his lips.
Oh Hylia preserve her, he was beautiful.
“Did you now?” His voice was no louder than a whisper, and he leant in close.
Oh, Din take it.
She shot forward, her lips crashing into his. She felt his hands against her waist, and she fell into him. She had to let the yelp she had in her throat out into his mouth as they fell backwards, his body cushioning hers from the small fall to the floor. He grunted, and Zelda immediately filed that sound away for future thought.
What am I doing?!
They laid there for a few seconds, the only sound she could hear was his breathing and the beats of his heart. Then, slowly but surely, he began to laugh, and she joined him.
“Oh Hylia, you have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this.” She looked up at him at that, seeing his lips curled into the widest smile she’d seen on his face.
“Wait, what? How long have you been waiting? How long have you been waiting?!” He merely smiled back down at her, and whispered out.
“Since the day you pointed at me in class and said that you’d be my partner.”
And oh, did her heart melt at that. She hummed, laying her head back down on his chest, and sighed. “So what are the answers to the questions? I’m completely stumped.”
“Uhh…about that…” She looked back up at him, her eyes narrowing.
“Link…”
“You remember that book you gave me when I asked what the hardest math questions looked like?” She blinked, before she spoke.
“You mean the textbook with all the unsolved math theories and questions? You had me trying to solve impossible problems?!” He laughed, and she puffed out her cheeks, looking away from him.
“Zel…Zel c’mon I’m sorry! I needed a way to stump you and I couldn’t think of anything else!” His hand ran through her hair, and she shut her eyes.
“You owe me. Fruitcake, lots of it.”
“Anything for you…can I kiss you again?”
“...Fine.”