The Seeds of Love, Well Worn

At first, Zelda thought nothing of it.  After all, Link was entitled to some eccentricities.  He couldn’t be the legendary hero if he were ordinary, could he?

Certainly, his renewed desire to play hide-and-seek with the koroks struck her as odd.

And yes, his sudden willingness to spend time away from her also seemed odd, especially as he’d clung to her so fervently since her fall from the sky—why insist on leaving her behind now?

Perhaps he wished to give her uninterrupted time to pursue her studies.  She’d shooed him from her well and atrium often enough, though always with a smile.  And yes, she’d been busy with concerns in all corners of Hyrule, leaving her less time to attend to her new garden, and she’d been frustrated with her efforts to populate the lovely pond Link had built into their plateau—had she been short with him?  Had she seemed distant?  Perhaps she’d hurt his feelings.

“I apologize sincerely, Link,” she blurted that night over dinner.

He blinked at her, all blue-eyed owl.  “Huh?”

Apparently not.

His spectacular grin an hour later as he tossed her on their new bed confirmed it.

Definitely not.

Chef Lonk

-----

Zelda loved listening to Link cook.

With the sweet, warm spring weather, he'd taken to using the cookpot outside more often than not.   Then he'd built a firepit.  Then he’d surprised Zelda with a sudden desire to visit Goron City for a few days (“It’ll be fun!  The Gorons love the warmer weather!” “Link, for goodness’ sake—it’s hot up there even in the depths of winter.” “Come onnn. Yunobo’d love to see you."  “Yunobo is terribly intimidated by me.” “Eh, he’s intimidated by everyone.”  “You don’t seem to frighten him.”  “True.  Huh.  That’s weird.”  “It’s not weird at all, Link.  You have a way with people.”  “Maybe he just thinks I have mind powers.”  “I doubt it.”  “Ooh.  Maybe he feels bad for me because he thinks I think I have mind powers.”  “…That… seems more likely, now you say it.”  “Great!  When do we leave?”  “Link, I’m in the middle of documenting the life cycle of these irksome ricemeal moths-“  “Yeah, I know.  Jerks.  Quit eating our stuff!  Hey, do slugs eat moths?”  “They don’t hunt.”  “Aw.  Oh—maybe we shouldn’t go.”  “That was sudden.”  “Our slugs’ll be having slug babies soon, won’t they?  They need us!” “Heh.  Link, they’ll be fine for a few days in their terrarium.  They need plenty of water and food available.  The moss will help retain the moisture.”  “Cool.  So, we can go, then!”  “Ah- oh…”).

<adventure log- 000000000019- error: invalid function handle- please update and recompile- contact your system administrator if this problem persists.>

"I have a nice butt!"

Oh for goodness- this is becoming ridiculous. Link!

"I DEFINITELY was a worker-outer."

<adventure log- 000000000018- error: invalid function handle- please update and recompile- contact your system administrator if this problem persists.>

Link.

"I almost didn't hear you. Why're you suddenly so quiet?"

Head for the point marked on the map in your Sheikah Slate.

"Oookay. Didn't answer my question, though..."

<adventure log- 000000000016- error: invalid function handle- please update and recompile- contact your system administrator if this problem persists.>

It really is absolutely drop-dead gorgeous beautiful pretty.

Wow, what happened to that mountain? It looks like a giant chopped it in half with an axe!

It's always been that way in living memory.

"Are you alive?"

What?

"I mean, you could be a ghost or something."

<adventure log- 000000000015- error: invalid function handle- please update and recompile- contact your system administrator if this problem persists.>

Ooooh, a volcano!!!!

Eh- well, yes, but-

Significant Sluggles

A sequel to the 3-sentence fic "Snissing and Sluddles" - both fics co-authored by @newtsnaturethings - who still has the absolute best ideas and the scoop on slugs. 😄 (If you want to read this fic, I recommend reading "Snissing and Sluddles" first so you know what in Hyrule's going on here!).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Zelda manages to tear her gaze from Link’s mating-slug-laden shovel to look at his face, her expression shifts from an excited grin and glittering eyes borne of all-things-nature-enthusiasm to raised-eyebrows and mouth-oh of empathetic shock (very nearly reflecting Link’s expression, though his surprised-mouth makes more of an ‘ah’ than an ‘oh’).

“Don’t panic!” Zelda shouts.

“SHHHHHHHHH!” Link hisses.  “You’ll disturb them!”  If he was a slug about to mate with his slugnificant other, he would be so mad if someone disturbed them.  It’d be so rude!

At least he isn’t freaking out.  Much.

Adventure Log-

List of Adventure Log- posts (- is a minus sign, not punctuation 😂).

Summary: I hesitate to call this an AU, because it's what happens in the game, but it is based on the personality and pre-Calamity origins of the BotW Link in my Adventure Log+ AU. I'm using my screenshots from BotW as prompts for mini-fic posts.

This is not a sequel to Adventure Log+ (it's not a spoiler for the ending of that series). It's just an interpretation of the game through that version of Link's thoughts (with the same backstory as from that AU), which are being received by the Sheikah Slate in order to generate the adventure log we see in game. I figure we don't see all the logs in BotW.

(Teaser)

Shrine of Resurrection: 01 Please? - 02 She's calling me - 03 This... - 04 Ceiling brains - 05 No door handle - 06 Denial - 07 Good at this - 08 Barrel Skills - 09 Boxes - 10 Clothes - 11 Pedestals - 12 ...Friends - 13 Puddle 14 - Spelunkerrr

Great Plateau: 15 - Volcano 16 - Stick 17 - Shrooms 18 - Map 19 - Tight and Lovely 20 - Backup 21 - Tree Punching