Linkās hands worked at the fake leather strap of his satchel, knuckles turning white and then flushing pink again as he tightened and loosened his grip.
He looked at the picture, and felt his heart lurch. Was it disease or mild emotional heartache? Link wasnāt entirely sure.
The picture, to put it simply, wrecked Linkās entire plans for this outing. He had fully intended on intimidating this girl, butā¦ She was beautiful. He just caught a glimpse of pixels, and yet he was still stunned by those jade eyesā¦
Heck, if those two got married one day, with Judeās gorgeous onyx tresses and this girlās emerald eyes, theyād have a kid that looked just like-
Whoa whoa, nowās not the time to be thinking. Just get on with your outing and donāt ruin Judeās relationship.
The blonde smiled at the photo and turned his gaze on the glorious fountain they were beside. As Jude droned on on the phone, Link tightened the strap of his satchel and walked right up to the fountain, stepping up onto the ledge and staring down into the water.
There were a lot of pennies in thereā¦
The blonde walked the perimeter of the fountain, watching the people walking by as he circled it. On the opposite side there was a homeless man playing tin cans like drums.
Link stepped off the ledge and checked to make sure Jude was still on his phone before rushing back to the man and sitting on the ledge to listen.
Old dude had some rhythm!
Link edged closer, and the man made eye contact with him, pausing to smile with crooked teeth. But despite its flaws it was a beautiful smileā¦
The blonde grinned back, sneaking to the fountainās edge directly next to him and just listening.
Nobody else was stopping to listenā¦ this was so sadā¦
Link pulled out his wallet and looked at the change he had there.
Shitā¦ only two singlesā¦ but he did have a fifty dollar bill!
Noā¦ that was too muchā¦ But was it really..?
Link considered it for a moment before dropping the large bill into a metal bucket by the homeless manās foot.
Link was about to regret this decision, when the manās entire face lit up in gratitude. The guy.. he even started crying! Link felt his heart swell with sudden compassion, waving his hands in dismissal when the man tried to give the money back.
Nope, this moneyās not mine anymore its yours, pal. Just keep on playinā¦
He didnāt say this, of course.
The old man asked if he was a lover of music. The only people that ever gave money to music, he said, were the ones who loved it just as much.
He asked if Link played an instrument.
And so thatās how Link ended up in a flute/drum jam session with a homeless man in the middle of his āsort-of dateā.
