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When Link first met Ravio it was because the merchant had kidnapped him while unconscious and took him back to Link's own house. Okay, technically Ravio didn't kidnap him, but that's not important.
Now the merchant lives rent free in his house, renting his items to Link for absurd prices, and Ravio had even moved his furniture around so he could set up shop! The audacity this man has!
Somehow, despite the annoyances, Link found himself enjoying the others presence. The house had always felt empty after Uncle passed, having a roommate made the silence quieter.
He'd even call the merchant his friend now. Not to his face, of course. Since meeting the guy, Link's discovered quite a bit about the other and vice versa. He knows Ravio is from Lorule, even knows he's Link's Lolian counterpart.
But even after saving (both) their worlds, though, he doesn't know everything about his roommate.
He's carrying himself home, beaten and injured, nearly crawling on the ground. He'd foolishly thought he wouldn't need potions or fairies and was quickly proven wrong when a moblin's spear managed to stab through the right side of his chest.
Link limps up to the door, staggering through it and leaning on the wall. Distantly he hears Ravio swear, moving through their house to greet him at the door.
"Mr. Hero! You're ba " he cuts himself off with a horrified shriek. "What in the how are you not dead?!"
He blinks. "Wha' do you 'ean..?" Link slurs, sluggishly shaking his head. He wasn't that injured, was he? Maybe it was worse than he thought.
"Oh my Goddess," Ravio exhales. "You I can't even. Okay, okay, think. Mr. Hero, you need to sit down so I can dress your wounds!"
Oh, he can do that. He starts lowering himself to the floor before the other interrupts, "no, no that's not what I okay I'll just lead you there." Grabbing Link's arm carefully, the Lolian drags him to the couch and lightly pushes him to sit on it.
He disappears for several moments before returning with the first aid kit in hand. "Okay, Mr. Hero, I'm gonna have to remove your tunic so I can see how bad it is," he says.
He lifts his arms with Ravio's assistance and the tunic is quickly removed. The merchant eyes the bloody area on Link's right side.
"Seriously, Mr. Hero, I don't know how you're not dead. Wouldn't whatever hit you have hit your heart?" He says as he cleans the wound.
"Wha 're you talkin about?" He asks, shaking his head slowly. "Heart's over 'ere," taps the left side of his chest with his hand, "not 'ere." His right side is only gestured at, as he doesn't want to bother his roommates hands. "Silly Rav," he giggles.
"I huh? No it's not actually we can talk about that later," he shakes his head, reaching into the first aid kit to grab stitches, and threads a needle. "Sorry, Mr. Hero."
Link winces as the needle pierces his skin. He blinks sluggishly, looking at his roommate in front of him. Ravio's hood is down, allowing Link to see his face. His brows are furrowed and his tongue sticks out the corner of his mouth in concentration. Cute, he thinks.
Wait, no. He does not think Ravio is cute. Why would he? The freeloading merchant is a scammer! He basically robbed Link blind with the outrageous prices he charged just to rent items! He can't be cute.
"Okay, Mr. Hero! Your stitches are done," Ravio interrupts, and was he really thinking that long? "Are you injured anywhere else?"
Is he? His knee hurts, but that's relatively normal, and his tunic doesn't cover his knees so Ravio would've been able to see if he had a new injury there. His head hurts too, and his hips.
"Head," he hits it with his hand. "Hip an' knees." Has his tongue always been this heavy? Maybe he's just tired.
"A concussion, maybe?" The merchant asks himself, standing up to take Link's head in his hands. The touch is warm and he sinks into Ravio's hands, who just tilts his head this way and that, checking for any injuries. The hero almost whines when he takes his hands back. Almost.
"I think you just have a headache, Mr. Hero, but I'll grab a heating pad for your hips and knees," is said before he leaves the room. He's back within a few minutes, giving Link the heating pad and taking the first aid kit.
When he next returns Link is nearly asleep on the couch. Ravio smiles softly, approaching the hero and shaking his shoulder lightly. "C'mon, let's get you to bed." Link just nods and allows himself to be pulled up and dragged to their bedroom.
Ravio goes back to the kitchen while he sleeps.
Seriously, how had Link not died? He was grateful, of course, but how? And why was he insisting his heart was on his left side, everyone knew it was the other way around. He paced around in the kitchen.
Sheerow, who had been sleeping, is woken up by his restlessness. The bird squawks at his shoulder. "Oh, Sheerow," Ravio sighs. "I don't know what to do about it. There's no explanation and Mr. Hero's sleeping!"
The bird chirps. He sighs again, "you're right, Sheerow. I'll ask him in the morning."
Link wakes to the sun in his eyes. He rolls over with a groan, squeezing his eyes shut again. Distantly he hears Ravio's bird squawk loudly, and the sound of a pan hitting the floor reverberates around the house.
"Ugh," he squints. The noise really wakes him up, and he can't go back to sleep with it. Sitting up with a yawn, he rubs his eyes. His roommate must be cooking, if the pan was anything to go by, but he can smell toast.
He gets up and wanders into the kitchen. Ravio stands before the oven with a pan of scrambled eggs. Sheerow flaps around his head and shoulders, occasionally chirping in his ear.
When the bird notices Link standing in the doorway, she squawks and dashes over to him. Flying around him, Sheerow continuously chirps. "Mr. Hero!" His roommate greets. "Good morning!"
"Morning," he grumbles, taking a seat at the table as Sheerow goes back to the other.
"We have something to discuss over breakfast," Ravio starts, placing a plate of eggs and toast in front of him. "When you came home last night, you had been very clearly stabbed in the chest." He gestures at Link, who looks down at his torso.
A neat line of stitches run across the right side of his chest, mirrored to his heart. Had that spear hit his other side he wouldn't be here. "Yeah," he nods.
"And when I was stitching it up, you said something about your heart being on the other side?" He sounds confused, as if he wasn't remembering it right.
"Uh, yeah? Heart's on the left side," he shrugs, taking a bite of toast. "Common knowledge."
Ravio just stares at him openly. "No? It's on the right," he argues. Link raises an eyebrow.
"No it's not. If it was I'd be dead."
"Yeah, that's why I'm confused!" He exclaims.
The hero huffs, shaking his head lightly. "Gimme your hand," he holds his own out, palm up.
Ravio gasps, "Mr. Hero! At least take me to dinner first!" He jokes, putting the back of his hand on his forehead. He puts his other in Link's hand anyway, the latter sighing in exasperation.
He takes the merchant's wrist, placing his hand over the left side of his chest. "There," he says. "You can feel my heart beat, so it must be on the left." A foolproof way to show he's right!
Too caught up on his 'victory', he doesn't notice the blush dusting Ravio's cheeks. The merchant huffs and rolls his eyes, but Link's right. He can feel the hero's heart beating under his palm. "Well that's not how it is in Lorule," he protests.
"Really? For everyone it's just the other way around?" Link inquires, and Ravio nods. "I wonder why that is."
"I don't know," he shrugs. It's interesting, the fact their anatomy is completely mirrored. Maybe when he and Link next visit the Princesses they can ask them about it, but for now, he's just glad the hero wasn't stabbed on his other side.