Work Text:
He never could figure out what exactly caused his problem. It could have been all the Minish magic, still clinging to him even after Ezlo had ceased to accompany him, or an effect of being split in four for such a long time. Perhaps it was even a combination of the two, the different types of magic interacting in strange ways. Whatever the cause, the effect was obvious for all that it had taken him a while to notice. Somewhere around the time of his second adventure, Link had stopped growing entirely.
If it’d just been his height, it would have been annoying but tolerable. Sure, he was short, never quite hitting a proper growth spurt, but that didn’t make him any less capable. However, that was not all of it. It seemed like his body was truly stuck to that age in every aspect, for all that the magic coursing through him made him much stronger than he seemed. Which also meant he’d not hit proper puberty, hadn’t presented. At twenty years of age he was well past a late bloomer and clearly a hopeless case.
The only small blessing was the fact his instinct were also stuck in that juvenile stage. It made it easier not to miss the more physical aspects of adulthood. It would have been torture to feel the urge to get intimate with someone while knowing that only a monster would be interested in him in such a manner. As it was, he only had to deal with the inconvenience of his lacking height and the utter indignity of
Honestly, sometimes dealing with other races was just easier.
He’d only had limited contact with them before this latest adventure, of course, but even his sporadic interactions with the Goron and Gerudo were a relief from his fellow Hylians. Goron understanding of gender was rather spotty in general, and all Hylians looked very small to them. As long as he knew what he was doing and told them he was old enough, they took him at his word. It wasn’t like they could tell either way. Gerudo on the other hand cared little for either dynamics or age; if he could fight, they tolerated him, and it wasn’t like he would be considered as a potential sire for their children even if he had been fully grown. Zora were a new acquaintance for him, but they were also much more likely to believe him if he told them he wasn’t a child, just short.
Hylians were not so easy. He might have been able to explain away his height, but anyone who got within smelling distance of him could tell he had not hit either puberty or presentation. The people around where he lived could be reasoned with, since they had known him since his actual childhood, but nobody else would take him seriously. Forget being shown the respect owed to a hero, he’d lost count of the times he had been asked where his parents were.
Of course, even with people who knew his actual age he was seen as different. He probably would have anyway, being the hero with more than a couple of quirks that followed from that, but this certainly didn’t help the matters. It was like nobody really understood how to deal with him. Their first instinct was to view him as a pup, maybe a juvenile at best, and everything that came with that. When he inevitably protested at that, they seemed to flounder at what to do because he didn’t fit into the pre-determined boxes in their minds. The simple solution, it seemed, was to keep him at an arm’s length. The only pack he had was his grandfather and a tentative bond with his Zelda, and he never expected to find more, not as he was.
Yeah. Dealing with non-Hylians was just easier.
Obviously, he’d been wary when he first ended up with the other heroes. It was bad enough to be cast aside by people who never had a chance of understanding him, but he hadn’t been sure how to deal with that sort of attitude coming from the only people in all the worlds who by all rights knew what he’d gone through. So of course, the first time he caught even a hint of a parental chuffing sound aimed at him he snapped.
“I’m not a pup,” he ground out, wheeling on his heel to glare at the culprit, who happened to be Time. “Yes, I’m short. No, I haven’t presented. Regardless, I’m an adult, whether my body agrees or not. I’m twenty years old, I have a job, I’ve saved Hyrule more than once. Just think of me as something other than a Hylian if that helps, but I. Am. Not. A. Pup.”
There was a moment of silence, everyone’s eyes on the two of them. He half expected to be dismissed, maybe even scolded, and braced himself for once again feeling like an outsider even among the people he should belong with.
“Wait, really?” Wind blinked, staring at him with something like awe rather than the disbelief or suspicion he was used to. “How’d that happen? Er, well, not happen?”
“Damned if I know. Something to do with my quest, probably; I was dealing with a lot of weird magic stuff.” He gave an awkward shrug, not too happy about all the eyes on him. “I’m not going to be arguing that I should be able to drink myself under the table or anything, because physically my body is the age it appears and that would be a bad idea. Just, I’m not going to be the pack pup or something, no matter what I might smell like.”
“Okay.” Time nodded, as though it was that simple. “I can’t promise not to make unwelcome sounds or the like, since those sometimes go right past the thinking brain. However, you’ve got my full permission to call me out on any such instances.” This was followed by similar comments from everyone else aside from Wind, who grumbled something about not having a fellow juvenile after all.
“Are we still allowed to scent you?” Sky asked, giving him a plaintive look. “As pack, that is, not like a pup. It’s totally fine if you’d rather not! Just, I get attached easily; if we’re going to be spending time together, I’ll definitely start considering everyone pack soon enough.”
“That… should be okay.” Link gave him a small glare. “Just don’t start giving me a bedtime or some other bullshit like that.”
“Oh, please.” The rancher snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’re a Link. None of us would expect you to follow a bedtime even if you were actually a pup.”
Perhaps, he didn’t have to be alone forever.