Link is the stong, silent type (heroingreen) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-10-19 12:01:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, hermione granger, link |
Who: Link and Hermione Granger-Kirk
When: Mid-October
Where: Baxter Bakery
What: Milk delivery and random meeting
Rating/Warning: Low/None
Status: Complete
Link still made regular deliveries to Baxter Bakery. In fact, he made them more frequently now, and with larger quantities of sparkling milk, thanks to the beverage’s popularity and the introduction of fall-themed drinks. Sparkling pumpkin lattes… things like that. Stuff that was too sweet for him, but always reminded him of Zelda.
He carried a crate high on his shoulder as he walked through the front door, looking all kinds of farm-boy strong. Link was a walking advertisement for his own product.
Hermione was inside Baxter Bakery, with some books open in front of her on the table. She’d just had a study session with one of her classmates, and this was where he’d wanted to meet. She knew that this place got its milk from Link’s farm (who else had Sparkling Milk, anyway?) but she wasn’t expecting to see her friend the farmer come in carrying a huge case on his shoulder. All macho.
She bounced up from her chair to cross to him and say hello.
Hermione with a pile of books seemed about right. Link set his crate down on the counter, ready to greet her with a hug. Their friendship had reached that level, hadn’t it? “Hey, what are you doing here?”
Hermione reached forward and gave him a big hug. She was glad to see him. “Studying. And you? Making deliveries, I see.” She said, feeling a bit sheepish for asking what he was doing. It was obvious. “Business is booming, I take it?”
“Yeah. This is my exclusive buyer.” He looked around for Audrey. “The sparkling milk is popular.”
“It’s delicious. I’m not surprised it’s popular.” Hermione said, giving him a little nod.
The red-head came out from the back room and broke into a bright grin at the sight of Link. “Oi! My Milk Guy’s here!” She said, grinning ear to ear, and then came over to say hello. “Delivery! Good timing, we ran out yesterday. I had to send some people away empty handed. Reminds me, I’ll need to up the order by a few gallons?”
“No problem,” Link replied. There was a little form inside the crate, which he pulled out and set on the counter. It was just something for Ms. Baxter to sign and confirm the delivery had taken place. And she could update her next order there, too.
He turned back to Hermione. “What are you working on?”
As Audrey started filling out the forms, Hermione gave Link a grin. "Just homework. Trying to catch up with some of the folks in my department who didn't just switch majors. There's a lot more science in science than pre-law."
Link nodded, because it made sense, although how was he to know. He scratched the back of his neck, glancing back at Audrey to make sure she wasn’t too close. Still, he lowered his voice. “Listen… how’s your guy? Husband. He was sort of acting weird for a bit, wasn’t he? Dream stuff, or something like that.”
Audrey was taking stock and double checking numbers, so she wasn't listening in. Hermione gave a shrug of her shoulders, the grin falling into a more serious expression. "I don't know what it was," she said. "It's over now, though. At least, I think. He's back to normal. Whatever that means."
She didn’t seem convinced at all. Link realized he felt nervous talking about it. He’d still never met the guy. “He really thought you and I…? Dot dot dot…
Hermione nodded. “So far as I could tell he really did think it. But he doesn’t anymore. I think something was affecting him. Not sure what, though, why or how.” Hermione was glad that was over, even if it felt like it’d led to other things. “He’s… different lately, though. Restless.”
Link wasn’t sure what restless meant, especially in the context of the kind of man Jim was. He felt restless, too, sometimes, but his dream life satisfied that. Overall, Link was a pretty content, easy-to-please guy.
“Is he... okay?” he asked, unsure how else to phrase it. He wasn’t too comfortable asking if their marriage was okay.
“I think so.” Hermione said, nodding. “I think we’re okay.” She gave him a smile. It was nice that he cared. It was nice that he was concerned for her. “...he’s just a bit depressed, I think. The Dreams aren’t easy for him. His life here is a lot different, it must be hard trying to reconcile two existences that are polar opposites.”
“He dreams of space, right?” Link also dreamed of a very different existence, but space seemed to trump running around with a sword. Besides, he had Zelda and Navi in his dreams. He knew Jim and Hermione didn’t get to share that bond.
“Yes.” Hermione nodded, moving back over to her table to take a seat. She motioned for him to come sit with her for a couple of minutes, and started to tidy up the books and notebooks she was using to study. “He’s the Captain of a spaceship. He travels a lot, and he’s…” She swallowed. “He’s a bit promiscuous in his dreams.”
Link swallowed, too. That didn’t sound like a good thing. “Er… does that bother you?” There was no was it wasn’t weird.
Hermione hesitated. "No. Not really. I know he's not like that in this world." At least she assumed. Though she was a little nervous about it, admittedly.
“It would bother me,” he replied. The words had more or less slipped out. Link didn’t say much, but he also didn’t keep a whole lot in. He was always honest about how he felt.
Hermione didn't to talk about that too much. "How about you?" She changed the subject. "How's your billionaire girlfriend?" She asked, breaking into a playful smile.
Link wasn’t sure how much he believed that people could be so different from world to world. It wasn’t that was at all, in his experience, but saying so would have been a bit too blunt to be helpful. “She’s awesome. And things are going really well. Thinking about… asking her to move in.”
Hermione had lifted her tea for a sip. She coughed into it when he mentioned moving in. “Into your farmhouse?” She asked, looking surprised. It was hard for her to imagine someone like Zelda Hyrule living in a farmhouse.
Not the reaction Link was hoping for. The fear that the farm was a deal-breaker still worried him. A lot. It showed on his face. “Yeah. I mean, I won’t know until I ask.”
“Well, she loves you, right? You guys could make it work out.” Hermione said, now feeling bad that she’d reacted the way she had. She hadn’t meant to be discouraging, she’d just been surprised.
“Right… well, I won’t know until I ask,” he repeated, not sure what else to say on the matter. Navi had told him to ask, but he still hadn’t, even though he and Zelda had gone so far as to talk about having babies one day. Sharing a living arrangement usually preceded that. What Link really wanted to do was marry her.
He looked over his shoulder. He still had to collect papers from Audrey. “I’ll let you get back to your studying,” he said to Hermione, with a polite smile that wasn’t forced, but still a little awkward.
Hermione did feel rather awkward. She hadn’t meant to hurt his feelings, or rain on his parade, or whatever. She sighed softly, and looked honestly sorry for reacting the way she did. “I’m sure it’ll be great. She seems really nice.” She said, sounding completely lame. “Good luck with it.” She added, lifting her hand to wave to him. “Nice seeing you, Link.”
He got out of his chair and touched Hermione on the shoulder before saying goodbye himself. “I’ll see you later.”