Ah, the night. The worst possible time of the day to those who chose to stay awake late. Filled with bad people with bad intentions, and two individuals who actually thought the night was peaceful, quiet and mysterious.
Link didn't mind the night, neither did his chaotic kitten Midna who was always active during the night, rather than the other animals he kept, Fi and Navi who always slept usually after 9 o'clock. The kitten usually kept him company while he drew, walking behind the couch and curling up on his shoulder before he had to get up to put on his uniform. Certainly, one of the more jobs he disliked but strangely couldn't get out of. Maybe it was because it was during the cool night or because of the outfit he had to wear. But God forbid anyone catching him admitting that.
Though it was strange, Link found the idea of hiding his identity mysteriously fun, silence becoming more apparent rather than he worked his day job. Actually, he was advised not to speak at all as he worked and ignore all the stares he got from customers, his main focus was to work and that's all he did, but with a strange liking towards it.
Changing into the Gerudo Palace's uniform, Midna made a sound almost similar to chuckling, nudging Link's hand for a soft pet before he had to go. Link gave more than a sot pet, a nice little hug with a kiss on her nose before he left properly. Deep in his gut, he knew it was a terrible idea to walk in such a revealing outfit, so he had to drive. Unfortunately, someone had noticed him leaving while he was returning home after errand he ran at the grocery store. Quickly putting the groceries down inside near the door, they decided to follow Link, wondering what he could possibly be doing at such an hour.
Much to their surprise, they noticed Link go into a place called The Gerudo Palace, having a good look at Link's outfit and what part of his face he could see before he went inside. They squinted, wanting to believe that Link really didn't just go in there since usually they employed women. But perhaps with Link's smaller and softer face, he was able to bend the rules a little bit. To confirm this, they went inside and looked around, a pale pink light illuminating the almost dark room. Half of the people who were in there were women as well, the other half were.. Either drag queens or just guys waiting to hit a home run with either the women or each other. Mostly, from what he could tell, was each other.
They sat at the bar after noticing Link tend to someone there, brushing some of the hair out of his face while he waited until the blonde came over. Link noticed, a very deep shade of red forming on his face when he noticed whoever sat there. Kearn. And it was the worst possible way he could've found him as well. He quickly looked around for someone else to serve Kearn, but he found no one available so he had to suck it up and talk to him.
"Greetings. Can I get you anything?" Link leaned against the counter, though he was really looking away from Kearn so he wouldn't see his embarrassed face.
"Yeah. An explanation." Kearn narrowed his eyes, more curious than he would be angry. Sure, everyone's gotta do what they gotta do to make money around here but, why out of all places would it be here?
"...I didn't have anywhere else okay? Now what'll it be?" Link asked once again, his blue eyes avoiding Kearn's gaze just in case the glare might be overwhelming.
"Fine. What do you have?" He asked when Link pointed down at the counter, conveniently a menu being laid down on the counter, various others scattered all over it. "Uhh.. A glass of milk?" Kearn squinted while staring at it, wondering if it was an awful typo but Link didn't seem to question it, so maybe it wasn't.
"Can I see your ID please?" Link asked, taking a small glass from the counter and turned around, meanwhile Kearn revealed his ID and slid it across the counter for Link to approve of before he poured the drink.
"And please.. Don't tell Pit or Zelda about this.. This is our secret, okay?" Link mumbled, leaning forward to mumble it to Kearn before he backed up, a bit of worry in his eyes.
"And it's our secret that I even came in here, Pit would start screaming his head off if he found out I went out drinking." Kearn mumbled back, taking another shot before deciding that was enough. Whatever was in the milk was incredibly strong, wondering how others could come in, take multiple drinks and keep walking it was nothing.
"You got it." Link took a sigh of relief, Kearn sitting and watching him serve others while the milk was slowly starting to hit him, somehow the pink lights becoming brighter and brighter as he felt himself get more and more intoxicated.
An hour passed before Kearn yanked onto Link's sleeve, another worker noticing the yank and quickly coming over.
"Is this man causing you any trouble, Linkle?" She raised her eyebrow while standing there with a rough glare staring right into Kearn's face.
"That's not Linkle that's-" The drunken male was cut off by Link placing a hand over his mouth, nodding his head in response, signaling: 'He was just asking for a ride home, you don't mind do you Ashai?' He gave the puppy dog eyes to her, earning an eye roll in response.
"Fine but hurry back, I can't keep stalling for you all night." She warned but with a chuckle, Link giving her a quick thank you before escorting Kearn out by his hand, taking him to his car to drive him home to his apartment.
The entire ride home, Kearn kept asking questions and saying random things, almost as often as Pit would. In his mind, Link wondered if the two changed personalities whenever they were intoxicated, so Kearn would become the softer annoying one and Pit would become the cold and blunt one.
Whenever Link had to drug Kearn everywhere, his smaller figure made it at least a bit easier to carry back to his apartment, luckily remembering their room number A12. Kearn didn't hesitate to give Link the key whenever he asked for one, placing a hand over Kearn's mouth once again to they wouldn't wake up Pit in the other room.
"Okay.." Link whispered as he rolled Kearn off his arm who had been curled up like a koala, a soft whine in response.
"You aren't leaving me, are you friend?" Kearn asked sadly as Link looked down at him sadly.
"Unfortunately, I have to." Link chuckled, ruffling his hair up while Kearn pouted with his arms folded before quickly pulling the blonde into a tight hug, seeming like he was going to cry.
"I'll see you tomorrow, I promise." The taller male reassured the quietly sniffling man in his arms, rubbing his back until he let go.
"Promise." He repeated before Link closed the door behind him, chuckling quietly.
"I promise." Link smiled then shut the door, leaving to head back to work.
