sunsets of our youth
⚘ ‹ featuring › alhaitham x fem!reader
⚘ ‹ tags › lighthearted, fluff, meeting for the first time, partnerships, banter, they're schoolmates, in my head the six darshans have a point system like in hogwarts, reader is trying to be civil and keeping it together but fails anyway, implied pining
⚘ ‹ note › i'm back from the hell that is uni (sorry for being v ia my priorities are all over the place) with another alhaitham fic to commemorate his arrival in the next update <3 good luck to everyone who will be wishing for him!!
Today will be a good day – this was something you’ve been trying to tell yourself lately as your final thesis defense for the current academic quarter scheduled by the Herbad assigned to your field of study was drawing near. Not only were you plagued with one major academic deadline, but you were also required to participate in a paired final debate for a school event with a guy named Alhaitham that made you question your sanity.
Most of your days were spent inside the House of Daena double-checking if your references were dependable, so with each question asked of you would be answered with brevity and a certainty that your responses would leave no room for further questioning. You weren’t the type of person who would break under the interrogation of your own research. You’ve dedicated time to understand it, cultivated methodologies to achieve near-perfect results. Although your classmates might repeatedly say you were doing too much already as one of the leading students in the Akademiya, you simply would not settle for less, especially when the final deliberation of grades was just around the corner.
It doesn’t help that competition among your peers is as toxic as an unmonitored game of TCG. If you were to simply not go above and beyond, you would hardly be able to hold a prestigious position reserved for Vahumana scholars and have the academic freedom to pursue your own research without having to consider the ethics involved (not that you would do something illegal).
Walking up the stairs to the library, you made your way to your favorite spot in the room: the table near the shelves containing books for Haravatat students. You smiled as you saw your seat was unoccupied, placing the books you’ve borrowed the week prior and the scrolls containing your notes on the empty table.
Today you were unsurprisingly earlier than your habitual schedule. Then again, given that there were only four weeks left until the defense, you wanted not to waste any time dawdling in the comfort of your bed. Being painstakingly neutral with that time limit made you restless. You were glad most of your classmates opted to finalize their work a week prior to the deadline, as you have most of the library all to yourself.
Well, and to the gray-haired man who just walked in, eyeing you distastefully.
You raised an eyebrow and opened your scrolls as he approached your table. Skimming through the unmarked references you needed to check, you took out the books necessary for examination, and was about to get started when an irritated sigh made you turn away.
You looked at the man, tilting your head to the side. “Can I help you with something?”
He pursed his lips, frowning. “You’re in my seat.”
Glancing around the room, you replied, eyebrows furrowing, “There are plenty of empty seats nearby.”
“Yes, and you’re in my favorite one.” He replied like this was public information.
A dazed look of bewilderment crossed your face, and you schooled it into impassiveness, uncertain of your next approach. “You don’t own this library.”
He rolled his eyes as if you were being unreasonable. “Obviously.” He replied, pulling out the seat opposite to yours and placed his scrolls and books with a huff.
Narrowing your eyes, you glanced at your scrolls and pressed a hand to your temples.
Today is going to be a good day.
Remarkably, everything was going well between you and the man. You kept to your side of the table, and he did the same. His gaze was intent on his work, and you found his undoubtedly unpleasant presence to be tolerable than you expected. The sound of rustling parchment from the occasional shift of position and the turning page of a book filled the air between you two, and you felt a sense of relief from the interaction you had with him earlier did not escalate to further unpleasantries.
All good things must come to an end, though, as you surreptitiously eyed the books, he had with him.
“You’re from Haravatat, aren’t you?” You asked as he glanced at you and nodded. “What’s your research all about?”
“Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to disclose that at my own discretion,” he muttered, and you clenched your jaw.
“I can assure you that I’m not someone who would stoop so low and steal the subject of someone’s thesis.” You grumbled, discomfited by the fact that he could just accuse someone of such a thing so blatantly. How rude.
Leaning back, he pursed his lips in thought, then sighed. “I’m defining how the approach of Haravatat and Vahumana on the study of history has its consequential influence on the interpretation of the universal rules and various ruins.” He answered, raising a brow expectantly. “I’m certain you’re well-acquainted with this argument, seeing as your school is part of my study.”
You shifted in your seat at his scrutiny of your presence, contemplative. “How did you know I’m from Vahumana?”
“You are Y/N, aren’t you?” He cleared his throat and rested his chin on his hand. “Part of the Akademiya’s Top 10? You’re practically famous.”
A flush crept across your cheeks and he avoided your gaze. “That’s not relevant. Those records are purposefully concealed to the public for confidentiality, unless there are exceptions.”
He leaned away from the table, suddenly resuming his work. “Yes, I’m aware of that.”
“So?”
“So what?”
You sighed heavily. “How do you know me?”
“I hardly think that information is valuable. After all, the Akasha Terminal exists, and I’m clearly wearing one right now.”
Touché.
Grimacing, you turned on your Akasha Terminal. You didn’t really like using it because it often provided you with headaches in the morning, but you felt foolish for not trying to know who this person was while he knew all about you. Apparently, even from the moment he saw you. Despite your negative sentiments towards the technology, you accepted the fact that you might be plagued by a migraine tomorrow for a solitary question.
Your vision swam as the words appeared in front of your eyes, and your mouth went dry as the man’s face emerged beside it.
“You’re Alhaitham?”
“Congratulations.”
“How is that possible? My Herbad said you were the most pleasant student he’s ever had to work with, and I’m supposed to–” your mouth fell open. “Oh, god.”
“Ten points to Vahumana.” Alhaitham mumbled, stealing a furtive glance at your flustered appearance. He looked away again, clearing his throat. “Would you want to discuss the terms of our partnership for the debate, or do you need a day to compose yourself?”
Today was not a good day. Today was not a good day at all.
Clasping your hands together, you straightened in your seat, taking note of Alhaitham’s inconspicuous way of hiding his unease at the thought of being your partner. You couldn’t blame him. You also would have preferred to meet with your partner professionally than whatever both of you did.
To be fair, you weren’t the one spouting claims for probable theft.
“Let’s strike a deal, then.” You declared, gathering your composure, and Alhaitham finally looked at you, appearing relieved. “We work on our sources for the debate and practice for the next two weeks, and then we’ll leave each other alone once we’ve won. You won’t ever see me again unless certain circumstances arise.”
He pondered for a moment before nodding slowly. “Yes, and I want my chair.”
“No, I get to keep the chair, and you’ll get to have the seat you’re on right now,” he crossed his arms, about to retort. “But we get to keep this whole table. Well, at least for as long as we cross paths unintentionally.”
“You do realize that is highly improbable considering that we go to different schools.”
“Yes, I do.”
“You don’t own this library.” He echoed your words at you, and you see the quick upturn of his lips.
You hid a smile of your own, forcing your face to remain stoic. “Obviously.”
For a moment, you wondered if he’ll reject you as his face scrunched up, but then he nodded. “I agree to the terms of your deal.” Standing up, he reached his hand out. “I hope we can work together professionally.”
You highly doubted that. You shook his hand, and it enveloped your whole hand. “I hope so, too.”
The sound of more people coming inside the House of Daena made you glance at the entrance, and Alhaitham followed your gaze. He gathered his scrolls and books. “That’s my cue.” He said, and you watched him disappear from your sight.
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i would love to hear how youd want to do a botw manga
YEAAAAAAHHHHH ok ok ok so. i would have the manga follow largely the same structure as the game, beginning with link waking up on the great plateau. he would go through the opening segment almost the same as the game, but with a little more emphasis on the physical toll that the shrine has taken on him (notably i'd frame the old man's baked apple as his realization that he's HUNGRY, that his body feels physically weak and untrained after 100 years of sleep.) i would also place a lot of emphasis on the eeriness of the plateau and the fact that link feels he SHOULD remember these locations but doesn't. the plateau segment would otherwise be very game-compliant, including the shrines, tower, temple of time, and the old man's cabin as spotlighted locations. the key difference here would be that instead of the gameplay mechanic where shrines give link something physical that makes the game easier for the player, they would instead be framed as training exercises which, while lacking material reward, would help him retrain his body and regain the strength he lost in the 100 years he was asleep.
after leaving the plateau the general structure of the game would be loosely followed, (impa > purah > divine beasts & memories > ganon) with a few key pieces of worldbuilding/side quests spotlighted along the way. the first major event after leaving the plateau for link would be his discovery of the dueling peaks stable, the first real indication of human society he's seen since waking up. this would be an important introduction to the society of hyrule post-calamity, and link would also get his first horse here, finding that he's strangely good with horses and perhaps getting a quick flash of a warm feeling, almost like an old friend :)
The memories would still be initially revealed to link via images within the sheikah slate, but unlike gameplay i wouldn't have link specifically seek out memories, instead i would have him stumble upon familiar locations while exploring, which i think is closer to the original intent of that feature. he would find each memory in order and they would play out very similarly if not exactly as they do in canon. the divine beasts and their quests would also play out largely like canon, with the exception of me retconning the transphobia out of the gerudo quest line. I also might like to spend a little more time on the legacies of each champion and how their losses are felt in their respective communities. they all have very strong characterization already and i would love to take the time to expand upon it a bit more!! the same goes for the NEW champions (sidon, teba, yunobo, and riju) i'd like to take some more time to expand upon their characters as well!
the sword-claim is the one thing that i don't fully know how to deal with. i think logically, it either has to come before all of the divine beasts, or after all of them. if i put it in before all of the beasts, it would require some gratuitous shrine training montages to convey how much work it takes link to get to the point where he's able to handle the master sword, which would break up the flow of the story and imo isn't very true to the gameplay which usually just has you explore shrines as you find them during your journey. the only other option, though, is to put it in AFTER the divine beasts, which may lessen the impact it has on the story if the only time he ever ends up using it is to defeat ganon. it sort of makes it into a deus ex machina instead of a pervasive element of the story in the way it is in the game. the way that i think i would deal with this is to have link hear about the master sword's legend from npcs as early as that first stable, and have him stumble into the lost woods BEFORE he has trained enough to be able to handle the sword. he finds it, learns what it is and that it's waiting for him, but he isn't able to claim it in his current state. this gives him a tangible goal to work towards for the rest of the story--a reason to continue entering shrines and growing stronger while he's doing divine beast quests. it also allows the master sword to remain present and active in the narrative without forcing link to get too strong too fast. THEN, when he's finished all the divine beasts, he can have a moment like, "i think i'm strong enough now. i'm prepared" and he can go BACK to the lost woods and successfully pull the sword and then go straight to ganon.
aside from the main quest line there are a few really good side quests i want to include as well, notably the kakariko yiga shrine quest and the hylian homeowner/tarrey town side quests. the former i just think is a very impactful storyline and nicely sets up the yiga as villains later on in the gerudo quest, and the latter is imo thematically important as a physical example of link rebuilding his life and watching hyrule continue to grow and heal despite the wreckage of the calamity. ideally this would be the last thing link does before facing the calamity; the wedding scene would end with link deciding the time has finally come for him to face ganon again, having found hope and community, knowing that no matter what happens hyrule will never be broken beyond repair.
the final battle would go similarly to canon, with callbacks to pieces of training link would have received earlier in the story--perfect parries, aerial archery, shield surfing, and all of the champion abilities would be highlighted during the battle, which would come to a triumphant end with ganon finally defeated and link and zelda reunited.
sooo yeah! largely canon-compliant but with certain aspects adjusted for readability. botw has such a strong narrative that it would actually be super easy to adapt imo but that might just be my opinion because i never think about anything else lol
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