Work Text:
Zelda stirred from her sleep, feeling warm, golden sun on her face and a gentle tug on her clothing. Glancing down, the sight of Link’s matted and messy blonde hair, free of it’s lilac hair-tie sprawled over her chest caused her to smile drowsily. Following his arm, she saw it lightly scrunching a part of the nightgown, the blue, champions tunic inspired design ensnared in Link’s dozy grip. The man in question continued to sleep peacefully on her chest, his head nestled just atop her breasts.
Her hand felt compelled to move toward Link’s own, gently caressing it, and she watched as the grip on her dress gradually loosened with each gentle movement, eventually unfurling entirely giving her the perfect excuse to lace her fingers in between Link’s own, savouring the warmth.
Her other hand decided to make refuge in Link’s hair, gently stroking and sorting through the golden blonde hair she had gotten so used to seeing next to her each morning. Now that her own hair didn’t fan out on her pillow every day since she’d cut it short, it was nice to know what blonde was without having to get up and look in the mirror.
Zelda’s hand brushed against the back of his right ear completely on accident, and something caught her eye- a twitch, a slight movement of his ear as it jutted down for a split second before resuming its normal position. Zelda’s mind wandered to something she read in an anatomy textbook back what seemed like a lifetime ago…
Hylian ears, much like those of the Sheikah and Gerudo tribes, are pointy, with an elongated helix. In ancient times, it was believed that this trait allowed Hylians to hear the voices of the gods themselves.
Hylian, Gerudo and Sheikah children all possess looser cartilage and can move their ears around liberally. However, during puberty, mostly during growth spurts, calcium build-ups cause the ears to ‘set’, limiting movement to small wiggles. In rare cases, this calcium build-up never starts, giving certain children the ability to continue to move their ears more freely even during adulthood. This condition has been dubbed “Aural Flexia” and is a topic of high debate among scholars. In most cases, individuals with Aural Flexia have increased nerve endings around the ears, leading to increased sensitivity or discomfort.
So that’s why Link hated wearing helmets so much- she remembered before the Great Calamity the way that he ever so slowly put on his knight helmet and only when he absolutely needed to. Indeed, Link’s ears were moveable and quite expressive- when he was sad, they drooped at his sides, when he was prideful, happy, or angry they rose, going stiff. When he was aroused, love-drunk or even as a gesture of trust, his ears often drooped as well, though not as much as when he was melancholic. She never thought it was anything rare or special- It was just another part of him, another little quirk in a sea of others that made her Link so uniquely Link.
Instinctively, her hand brushed up again behind his ear, causing it to twitch once more as Zelda’s mind ran elsewhere.
She remembered one time how, when the two were returning from destroying Ganon (for the second time) that they had stopped by at one of the many stables across Hyrule for the night, how a grey Hylian Retriever had padded up to her and, how when she scratched behind it’s ears the dog seemed to melt into her, relishing in her touch.
A toothy grin erupted from Zelda’s face as she got to work- slowly but surely, she began gently rubbing the area behind Link’s ear, occasionally using her fingernails to scratch at the area, though not enough to hurt. Almost immediately, despite being asleep, Link leant into her fingers, his head attempting to get more of this feeling. Allowing herself to indulge, she applied a little more pressure to it, rubbing and scratching at his ear, causing the Hylian man attached to it to let out a contented sigh, nestling his head into the crook of her neck.
She observed as his ears quivered and could only imagine how his dream was adapting to this sudden but very much welcome influx of pleasure.
I wonder what would happen if I did this with my mouth? Hm… I must try it later, perhaps when we have-
She put that thought to the side for now, trying to ignore the blush creeping onto her cheeks and making temporary residence on her face as she continued to rub and scratch behind Link’s ear, applying the perfect amount of pressure it seemed, as the Hero of Hyrule, the man who felled Ganondorf not once but twice practically whimpered under her touch, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her close. She halted momentarily, bringing the occupied hand up to her mouth to suppress a giggle.
Beneath her, Link whined slightly, his hand moving out from under her waist to reach for Zelda’s, aimlessly pawing at the blankets underneath him due to him still being half asleep.
“Oh alright, you glutton...” she yielded under her breath, resuming her duty as she gently scratched behind his ear once more, catching the slightest hint of a smirk on his lips, causing Zelda herself to break out into a smile.
“You adorable man… you have all of Hyrule wrapped around your finger and you still wish for more?”
A slight murmur escaped his lips which sounded suspiciously like a hum of agreement, causing Zelda to giggle quietly as she continued to scratch and rub at his ear. Another sensitive spot for her to play with.
Shifting slightly, she pressed a gentle kiss to the top of Link’s head, her lips buried in his nest of hair, cradling his hand in her own. Feeling him nuzzle his face into the side of her neck, Zelda ran her fingers over the ring on Link’s hand, watching the sapphire crystals refract the incoming sunlight from the window. Taking both of her hands and interrupting her scratching, she traced gentle circles on his palm, lifting it up and pressing a soft kiss to his knuckles.
“Zel?” he murmured; his voice barely coherent.
“Yes?”
“Why’d you stop doing that?”