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ghoultramp · 4 years ago

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patience [link x reader]

▷ loz

↳ pairing: link (botw) x f!reader

↳ content: fluff, first kiss, cuddles, mutual pining, comfort for inadequacy & self-doubt

↳ words: 2k

⇢ summary: you and link have been traveling and training together for months. with your insecurities baring down on you, you let him know just how bad you feel.

also available on ao3

⇢ note: i had a lot of fun writing this, i got my start writing with loz fanfiction -- haha! i like to think that gremlin boy botw link is a huge softy, it made me want to write more between link and this particular reader.

With the way the sky was beginning to glow with hues of pinks and oranges, you concluded that you weren’t being dramatic, you really had been here for hours. Your arms were feeling heavy bearing the weight of your sword and you were unsure how much longer your legs would be able to hold you upright.

You tried to steady yourself wholly as you watched the young man in front of you; he seemed calm. He always seemed calm. You tried desperately to ignore the doubt that was creeping in as he circled you.

Your eyes darted from his feet to the ornate sword held between his hands, to his bright, focused eyes and back again, you really were losing focus.

I have to get him this time.

You planted yourself on the heels of your boots, the ground beneath you dry from the day’s heat, and you scouted the gap between you; it was no more than a few feet. You applied effort to ease your uneven breathing, just like he’d taught you, even if it was just to listen to his footfalls.

You were sure he was smirking as he closed in on you, slowly and deliberately. It was agonizing and you wanted nothing more than to strike.

That’s just what he expects.

His words echoed in your subconscious: patience… you just need more patience.

His sky blue tunic fluttered in your peripheral vision. He was ridiculously quick, he wasn’t holding back now. You exhaled, emptying your lungs of air, before spinning on your right foot. You yelped as your left shin made contact with the butt of his sword as it swung out.

An unfortunate mistake that he’d easily countered and would no doubt reward you with a bruise.

Stumbling backward, you let go of your weapon as you tripped-up over yourself, hoping you might break your fall with your hands. Your fumbling was in vain as you fell on your rear with a soft thud. You stared up in horror, the tip of his sword directly in your line of sight as he stood over you.

“I’ll never get this right!” you protested, balling up your hand and hitting the ground.

Your cheeks burned bright and hot when he laughed.

“You’re a terrible teacher, Link,” you told him, pouting rather playfully as you folded your arms. “Goddess knows why I asked you for help.”

“What?! Come on!” His eyes widened, mortified at the accusation. “That’s hardly fair.”

You watched as Link took his sword in one hand, sheathing it in the worn scabbard at his side. He reached a slender, weathered hand out for you, motioning with a nod of his head for you to take it.

Appreciatively taking his hand, you let out an uncontrollable groan as you stood up. Even with Link taking some of the strain from you as you eased yourself upright, the sudden weight of your efforts bore you down. Link held you steady, but he was trembling as his hands held onto your biceps tightly.

“Maybe you’re right,” he began. You felt your bottom lip quiver and your eyes sting with the threat of tears. “You’ll never get this right if you continue to push yourself like this.”

Your beaten body deflated with a heavy sigh when Link let go of you. You watched as he knelt down.

“It’s been months,” you murmured, feeling ashamed, “I haven’t--”

“Stop,” he interjected, you were taken aback by his abruptness. You watched as he took your weapon into his hands. “I hear the way you talk about yourself,” Link confessed as he stood with ease, but you heard a sense of sadness in his voice, “about your training and this and that.”

He presented your weapon to you on two open palms, his arms stretched out. You grasped your sword by the hilt and let it hang rather unenthusiastically at your side.

“You have improved, you just don’t notice it because I’m so hard on you,” he enthused.

You didn’t have to look at him to hear that he wore a grin on his face, the pride he held for you was almost overwhelming.

“You have to understand,” he continued as he gently placed his palm on the small of your back, urging you to turn around, it was a gesture he probably thought nothing of but made your heart leap, “I was easy on you when you needed me to be easy on you.”

You nodded, beginning to understand, but maybe not believe him.

“But now, well,” he let out a chuckle, “I think you’re starting to give me a run for my rupees.”

You let out a hearty laugh at the audacity of his claim as you strolled in the direction of your shared camp, you felt the warmth of his palm that was still firmly planted at your back.

“I’m sure I would, Link,” you responded, overexaggerating the rolling of your eyes.

Your hands were busy while your eyes focused on something else entirely, hypnotized by the shadows that danced across his features as he tended to the fire. Your eyes slowly inspected each and every detail, from the way his own azure eyes were fixated on the flames, jostling the logs, to the way his dirtied, unruly blond hair framed his face, the way it had unraveled from his ponytail. You watched, utterly entranced as he lifted a hand to his face, somehow graceful as he gently tucked those stray strands behind his pointed, Hylian ear.

Beyond the crackling of flames and the creatures that sang their evening chorus, you heard the unmistakably soft hum of Link’s voice. Your gaze drifted down to his lips where he wore a soft smile tinged with a faint sadness. You felt a heaviness in your chest.

While Link had certainly softened during the long months of traveling and the countless hours of training, you found yourself craving these rare moments of vulnerability from him. You knew there was so much more than he might ever tell you, but it was in these fractures in time that you truly noticed how tragic his kind-hearted eyes were.

You watched as he threw his stick on to the make-shift fire and wipe his hands together on a rag tucked into his belt. You didn’t hear him when he called your name, only startled out of your daydream when he frantically waved an arm at you.

“Are you alright there?” Your cheeks reacted voluntarily to the concern in his voice, feeling them grow warmer by the second you quickly averted your eyes to look at your feet. Your heart fared no better when he quickly jumped to his feet. “I said, are you okay?”

He took hold of your wrist and shook it up and down. His face suddenly came into view; Link had bent down, awkwardly twisting his neck and torso to look up at you.

That damned cocky smile of his.

“Or are you just hungry?” he asked, followed by a toothy grin.

Link’s laugh was so care-free and childlike, even after you swatted his arm, but you felt nothing less than blessed to hear him laugh like that.

“I may take my time,” he reminded you, returning to his seat by the fire, “but I can be sure it’ll taste good.”

You watched as he sat down, patting the ground beside him.

“I’m not so sure about that, Link,” you mumbled, pulling a face at him, “I don’t want to eat Moblin guts again and you can’t make me, either.”

Link chuckled half-heartedly, shaking his head, as you settled down next to him. He watched as you pulled your knees to your chest, as you clutched your arms around your shins and your shoulders heaved with a rather heavy sigh.

You thought yourself silly for hoping Link might start humming again; you wished for anything that might relax you, relieve you of your burdening inadequacies. You felt the uncomfortable sting of tears, far too exhausted to halt the rampancy of your thoughts, you set your chin in the dip between your knees.

You felt indifferent when Link presented the roasted vegetables and meats in a large serving bowl. Under different circumstances, he might playfully wave it about in front of you, tonight he saw just how upset you were.

You heard him shuffle beside you, afraid that if you moved to look at him your tears might fall, you kept your stare low and ahead of you. A gentle weight fell around your shoulders and you realized that Link had draped a blanket over you; you finally felt a tear fall as he tucked it around you.

Link reacted quickly when you heard you sniffle, his hands placed firmly on your shoulders while he moved his head to look at you. He caught the sight of the wet trails your tears were making as they glistened in the light of the fire. When you saw yet more concern on his face, you wanted to let go and bawl.

“I’m sorry,” your voice was small, trembling.

“Excuse me?” he asked, his brows furrowed with genuine incredulity.

“I’ll never be--” you choked on your words as you pushed back your outburst. You appreciated Link’s patience as he waited for you to continue, “I was so foolish to think I could ever be good enough.”

You felt your shoulders shudder beneath his hands as your sobs came freely, you wouldn’t know if he would ever understand just how loaded your statement was. You wanted to tell him that it wasn’t just about today. There was too much to say, too much you felt, it was crushing and overwhelming.

“Good enough?” his voice was soft as he brought one of his hands close to your face, gently brushing tear-soaked strands of hair behind your ear. “Maybe I was too hard on--”

“It’s not that--” your words escaped your mouth quicker than your brain could process, the immediate regret showed in your wide eyes.

Instead of backing away from you, as you had so expected, you felt Link’s hand brush along your jaw to hold your chin between his thumb and forefinger. You didn’t resist when he gently lifted your face to look at him, your arms relaxed to your sides and you let your knees rest in front of you.

You watched his eyes as they danced across your features.

“You’ve always been good enough,” he told you, you were barely able to make out his words as he let go of your chin.

You felt yourself relax as his fingers danced across your cheek, up to your eyebrow where he gently brushed at it with his thumb. He caressed your face as he brought his hand back down where he rested his thumb on your bottom lip.

Your lip quivered, his unexpected, but welcomed touch made you more nervous than you had been in a long time.

“And you’ve always been enough,” he continued, the slightest bit closer to you.

You felt the pull of your instincts as you moved with him, ever so slightly, feeling dizzy as your lips finally met. You felt Link’s thumb gently brush at your tear-sodden cheek, wiping under your eye; his gentle gesture almost made you burst.

Softly taking either side of your face in both his hands, he gently relieved your lips of his. You opened your eyes to meet his face looking as flushed as yours felt but his eyes appeared serious as he looked at you.

“You’ll always be enough,” he meant it.

You felt the tickle of a smile at the corner of your lips just before he pulled you into an awkward hug. He made an unintelligible sound before returning to his original seat in front of the fire, you let the smile beam, rubbing at your now-dry cheeks as he began patting the space in front of him.

Pulling the blanket with you, shuffling as best you could, you curled yourself in between his legs. Link gave a soft chuckle when you lay your head against his broad chest, pulling the blanket into place around the pair of you.

You both sat there, basking in the warm, amber glow of the fire, lost in the pools of each other's eyes.

Neither of you spoke, neither of you had to.

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