Tempore Regis- 6: Things to Chew On
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Link looked through the Purah Pad, flicking down through his many, many fuse materials to the meal ingredients portion of storage. He hummed thoughtfully, allowing himself to get lost in dish planning (totally wasn’t avoiding memories from, like, almost a decade ago, no sir).
“What do you think, Nightshade?” He asked the wolf— the Hylian— the wolf. “I’m leaning towards something savory, and no tomatoes, since they’re a pretty subjective taste.”
Nightshade cocked his head to the right. Link laughed.
“That’s right, you don’t know what a tomato is. Well, until a few years ago, we thought they were weeds, but then Zelda found them in the Hateno School garden and ate one on a whim… For science, you know, like it is with her…”
His voice died as he realized that Nightshade didn’t know.
“...I’ve got a lot to tell you,” he finished lamely. “But that’s a thing for after our bellies are full and a campfire’s been built, huh?” The wolf nodded. Link pressed his index finger into the Pad, wiggling the page up and down. What to make... Nightshade pressed his snout into Link’s palm, damp nose shoving past his fingers to poke one of the ingredients.
“Pumpkins, huh?” Link looked down at him. Snapped his fingers. “That’s right, you like that stew! I don’t know—” He glanced over to the others, who were circled up, discussing something loudly— “Do enough of them like it for me to make it?”
The wolf poked his way into the Meals section of the Pad, selecting a simmered fruit and then a roast drumstick.
“Multiple courses?” Nightshade shook his head. Hmmm… “Oh! Alternative dishes— I don’t know why I didn’t think of that. You’re a genius, huh?”
He nodded vigorously, and Link laughed. It was nice, in a way, to know that there was Hylian intelligence behind the wolf’s actions. There was no need to ask if he understood.
Now, for the alternative dishes. He agreed with Nightshade, some simmered fruit would be a nice, lighter option to go with the stew, and the scents together wouldn’t turn anyone’s stomachs. But he kind of wanted to serve people something a little more gourmet than just a roast leg of meat.
“Meat pie?” He offered. “With some Spicy Pepper in there. That sound good?”
Nightshade shook his head, and on second thought Link agreed. The spice wouldn’t really go well with the warm, fruity smells. Then, what else…
“Fowl and truffle skewers?” Finally, something they both agreed on. Link stood, smiling, ready to go and tell his guests about their decisions, only to be jumpscared by a young teen with serious eyes.
“You and Twi get along really well,” the blue-shirted kid offered. “I’ve only really seen Time understand him like that.”
“I’m honored, I’m sure,” Link answered, still smiling. “I don’t think we’ve introduced ourselves— I’m Link Bosphoramus Hyrule.” He offered a hand; if he knew teenagers (and he’d had his fair share in Hateno), then this kid would want to be respected like anyone else. He was right. The grip was strong, but not suffocating, and allowed him to get the feel for several burn scars all over the kid’s palm.
“I’m Link as well,” the kid answered, a grin spreading across his face. “But call me Wind. We’ll have to figure out what to name you, right? You don’t have a musty old hero title lying around you’d like to share?”
Link just shook his head. Hero’s titles… “Wind, I’ve got so many of those, I couldn’t even decide. Just don’t call me a bad cook, and we’re good.”
“Got it.” They shared a laugh, prompting the others from Wind’s party to give them a look.
Link relayed the meal choices, watching their faces crease up in concern. Was something not sounding good? Did anyone have dietary restrictions? He should have asked before planning everything out—
“You can cook, correct?” Scarf Man asked, then backtracked swiftly. “No offense to you, but we haven't really experienced good tastes from anyone in our Chain, and… well, we didn't expect that to change…”
“How about you set up camp,” Link suggested, smiling with relief. “In the meantime, I'll be chef, and you can smell for yourselves why people love the stuff that comes outta my cooking pot.”
Most of them nodded along. By popular vote, it seemed, they would follow Link’s plan.
He strode off to the fire. Nightshade followed him, along with Wind and Four. They said it was fine, since their duties were to get wood and cook that night, but Link had already done that for them.
“We’re glad for the company,” he grinned, sitting down and ruffling Nightshade’s fur. “Aren’t we, Shade?”
Four frowned. “About that— Why are you still in that form?” He asked the wolf, who was almost chest height with him. “I thought you’d… I don’t know. Want to be Hylian again, after three years or however long you said.”
Nightshade wuffed, laying down. Sulking. Link almost laughed; he had been guilt-tripped out of many an inane plan back in the days of Calamity Ganon by that look alone.
Wait. Three years? Only— only three years?
“Here,” Link handed Four a pumpkin hastily. “Get the seeds out. I want to dry ‘em as a snack later.” Then he busied himself with the ostrich legs, cubing them as uniformly as possible to avoid his own racing thoughts.