revalink, 16? :)
16. "Thank you."
"I said I'm fine."
Although Revali doesn't raise his voice more than usual, the echoing walls of Zora's Domain care not for anyone's privacy — Link hears it clearly from the healing pool in which he just woke, dazed and alone, at the very back of the chamber.
Despite his soreness, Link heaves a sigh of relief: if Revali has the presence of mind to complain, it means he's not at death's door anymore.
"You are the farthest thing away from fine!" Comes Mipha's voice, its pitch higher than usual out of either frustration or exhaustion. Or both. Something splashes wildly. "Please Revali, you lost too much blood and my Grace is at its limit. You need rest!"
The splashing becomes gradually weaker, then stops altogether.
"Tch, fine! Might as well linger here since my feathers are soaked through."
Revali's words are met by a heavy silence Link knows all too well; he can almost feel the force of Mipha's glare, so unexpected to those who hardly know her. After a moment, Revali clacks his beak in defeat.
"I won't try to leave, you have my word. Now go take care of yourself for a change. It’d be rather hypocritical not to, wouldn’t you agree?”
When Mipha giggles, it is hard for Link not to do the same.
"I’ll do just that. Rest well."
Link follows the sound of Mipha exiting Revali's pool. She gives someone instructions, far too quietly for Link to make out any words.
"...Mipha?"
The whispers stop. "Yes, Revali?”
The gentle rumor of waterfalls fills the air as Revali gingerly clears his throat. "Well, I wouldn't imagine that pesky kn—" A pause. "Link didn't make it out unscathed, did he?"
Link blinks. Quietly, he shifts and peeks over the edge of his pool, until Mipha's silhouette and the top of Revali's head become visible.
"Indeed, he did not." Mipha says, crestfallen. "He received several blows while shielding you, far more than he should have. It's a miracle he was still conscious when we came to your aid.” She takes a step in Revali’s direction. “But I assure you he'll be alright. He's not in danger anymore."
Revali’s crest bristles. "I wasn't worried about him."
"Clearly not.” Mipha smooths down Revali’s feathers and edges away before he can muster a squawk. She gives him a tired smile. "Recover your strength, Revali. And, if I may… don't forget who saved your life today."
As Mipha retreats, Link lowers himself back into the cool pond, careful to keep his head afloat. Without conversation the chamber becomes eerily quiet, with only the occasional droplet disturbing the peace. Link's eyelids flutter close; a comfortable drowsiness envelops him; his freshly-healed injuries beg for respite…
A sudden, resounding splash rattles Link’s spine, followed by a grunt and the distinct scraping of sharp talons on a hard surface. Not leaving the room or pacing...
...but approaching at the excruciating pace of a stalking beast of prey.
Link's breath seizes in his throat. He keeps his eyes closed, forces himself to exhale evenly as the steps get closer.
Clack. Stumble. Clack.
Cold water drips over Link's cheeks, his eyelids, his nose, and it takes every ounce of his training not to move. He hears labored breaths somewhere above him, feels the burning gaze of the Rito he shielded with his own body as death knocked at their door...
Even if Revali were to kill him now, Link doesn't think he could regret it if he tried.
"This is a debt that shall be repaid, you hear me?” Revali hisses, voice strained and wavering. “I bear little love for unfinished business, and will not stand to owe you a miserable plucking thing, you… you—”
Link does not move, tongue held firmly between his teeth. Revali's shadow looms over his closed eyes, hovering near, and suddenly Link can’t hear anything but the desperate clamor of his pulse within his flesh.
“I will not repeat myself, so hear me now or remain unconscious. Why, perish if you’re so inclined! It hardly matters to me.” Revali’s angry muttering is barely intelligible. Link holds his breath.
“I... thank you.”
What?
The shade retreats, allowing light to filter through Link’s eyelids once more. Link’s hands twitch at his sides, itching to break the water's surface, to bring the shade back, to—
"And never do that again." Revali spits bitterly as he limps away, leaving Link adrift in a sea of his own making.
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Many Sentence Monday
(I'm late and I can't count)
Thanks for the tag @iboatedhere and @marjansmarwani
This damn fic (ALTA) has a lot of flashbacks, which are 50% worth it and 50% logistical nightmare - this is set in the summer between high school and college (making both TK and Carlos 18).
"Why are you nervous?" Carlos asks, squeezing TK's hand. It's late, the dying embers of the early-August sun are dipping below the horizon, dusky hues of orange and yellow splashed across the sky.
They're starting college in a week, the final days of the summer break looming. For Carlos, it feels promising. A fresh start, a new educational institution and an incredible boyfriend by his side – a boyfriend that happens to have received a last minute admission, extended by the Dean personally. As it turns out, having a movie star as your dad can come in handy.
Tonight, however, Owen is at Austin-Bergstrom catching a flight out to a film set in Vancouver. It marks the first time during the summer that they've been left completely alone at the Strand residence, and TK has designs for them. Still, Carlos is a little perplexed by his demeanour. TK is practically vibrating with pent up energy.
"Why are you nervous?" TK counters, squeezing Carlos’ hand back and looking up at him with a smile, leading them across the decking towards the pool house. Carlos has no idea why they're not making a don't-pass-GO beeline towards TK's bedroom, but he's too caught up in his thoughts to verbalise that particular one.
Carlos wrinkles his nose. "Is it that obvious?"
"Yeah," TK grins. "Baby, we've already had sex plenty of times, you don't need to worry."
"Not like that," Carlos points out. "What if I really suck?"
TK gives him an incredulous look. "I honestly don't think you're capable," he says emphatically. "Besides, I've never done this either. What if I suck?"
"You're very good at the other stuff," Carlos replies, feeling heat flood his cheeks.
TK shrugs. "You're pretty good at the dick stuff too.”
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[fic crit, amatonormativity (blogger's own) cw]
revisited a story that i remembered really enjoying, but have had difficulty digging up for a reread because, as it turns out, it's a good 200 pages deep in the relevant pairing tag, and—
turns out that i do still really dig it, and also that the other thing i remembered about it is equally still true, which is that it totally fails to really resolve the emotional side of things! like, it's a fic full of Plot and briefly- but vividly-drawn OCs, and people from the main characters' pasts who show up in ways that work for the story but are also random enough to lend verisimilitude, and we get to see the elements of the foil's day-to-day life—what keeps them busy and burnished when they're not off Adventuring with our protagonist—in generous, engaging detail, and all of that remains really satisfying and compelling to me; but it's billed as a fic ft. a pairing, and yet all we see of that is an established, undiscussed level of ambiguous intimacy that's lovely and warm but queerplatonic at absolute most, and doesn't get tied into any sort of bow by the end, even a friendly one.
and the thing is—there's absolutely nothing wrong with that! if it weren't for the pairing tag i probably wouldn't even find it unsatisfying: it'd just be lovely warm plotty genfic, and i'd enjoy the hell out of it! but i am, for better or for worse, amatonormative enough that when i see a story with a pairing tag, i do personally expect some combination of Romance Feelings and/or sex to appear on the page, unless the author's notes inform me the relationship is queerplatonic or similarly asterisked, and having that expectation go unmet feels like a disappointment even when the fic is on all other fronts the opposite of disappointing. which i'm fully ready to accept is my own failing, rather than the story's! but. idk. pondering and processing. :)
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