New Home - BotW Link x Reader (Undergoing Revisions)

Chapter 10 - Beetle, and a Beedle

Link, having heard the startled sound that fled past my lips as I finally reacted to what had terrified me, reacted quickly - quicker than I ever thought possible, with reflexes so finely tuned and trained that in just one smooth motion, he had his slate in his right hand and his sword in his left.

Further, he was on his feet only feet from me, and was busy scanning the clearing already, his body perfectly still. With my hands clapped over my mouth, I could do nothing in my fright as Link, in one more impossibly smooth movement, had clipped his slate back to his belt then guided me to stand behind him.

For a long, silent moment, he was silent.

For a long, silent moment, I was silent.

For a long, silent moment, Epona watched us, munching peacefully on a mouthful of grass.

And for several tense, astonishingly awful moments, that was how we remained. Link's eyes scanned the clearing before and around us, not daring to turn his head - because, I surmise, if something were to track us, any movement would give our position away - though his eyes, stunningly blue and seeming to glow in the filtered sunlight of the clearing, had this intense focus.

"I think we're safe now," Link said, and all at once, all that intense focus was settled on me. "What did you see? Or did you hear something?"

Now that I was calm, I was able to recall what I had seen, and was still buzzing around. Even now, the culprit was just now flitting to a nearby tree, one thin and young. It landed against a branch, and the branch bent and leaned against its weight as it tucked its wings back into its shell.

It was a beetle.

Dear Hylia, it was a beetle.

Well, if my heartrate had begun to slow with the security that came with Link's attentive protectiveness, it elevated right away as my body flooded with embarrassment. My cheeks burned among other things, and I turned away, hoping he might not see how flustered I'd suddenly become.

Unfortunately, Link seemed to take that as a fear response, because suddenly he was in front of me, his gloved hands on my shoulders, admittedly making it hard to focus on anything but him.

Somehow, within that moment, all my embarrassment flooded away and was replaced with warmth; instead of my cheeks burning, my heart did, and instead of embarrassment flowing through my veins, warmth overflowed in my heart and spread all the way to my fingers, my feet, and everywhere between.

To be the sole center of that intense focus, to be all that he saw right now, to be all that he was concerning himself with... To see him so closely, his eyes alight with courageous fire and his gentle strength guiding me to stay here...

It was... Actually, it was kinda...

No. I needed to get those thoughts out of my head. Focus!

"(Y/n)," Link said gently, "are you alright?"

"Yes," I finally said, as surely as I could force my voice to be. "I am now, anyway. I was just spooked, that's all. It's nothing."

Link shook his head, his eyebrows furrowed and concern clearly eating away at him. "No, don't say that," he told me. "Don't say it's nothing when something clearly scared you."

Somehow, those words alone mitigated any last remaining trace of embarrassment left in my system and with it, chased all shame of the situation away as well. Something about the way he was looking at me, coupled with the gentle way he was keeping me grounded, and the concern with which he clearly regarded me.

I was all he was caring to focus on, and all he was focusing his care on.

And something about that had my heart skipping a beat or two or... maybe even three, actually.