Who: Leon and Zelda and NPC!Chris What: Introducing Chris to Zelda. When: Backdated to before Sharon gave birth Where: An ice cream shop Warnings: Doubtful Status: Complete when posted
Seeing the Sun again after the weather of the previous week was something that had really managed to lift Leon’s spirits, and he had been trying to enjoy it with Chris as much as possible since it had re-emerged. He had his car back, and the world hadn’t ended, and he was feeling remarkably cheerful. He had even decided to wear the yellow t-shirt with the tiger wearing sunglasses to really drive home that he could see the sun.
Viv was coming soon, and he was really going to need to find Chris another sitter. It was kind of a bummer, especially given how long it took for Chris to warm up to a person to even speak to them, but he couldn’t just throw his eight year old brother at her when she was dealing with a newborn (even if Chris would probably love to help), and besides, it wouldn’t do Chris any good to just sit around in his comfort zone and not learn to talk to new people, and Zelda had seemed nice.
Seeing a girl who looked like Zelda’s user pictures, Leon grinned and started leading Chris toward her. “Hey, Zelda?”
Ever since switching from waitressing to retail, there were a lot less demanding double-shifts and a lot more time on her hands. Time she didn’t even know what to do with, even if she kept busy with a semblance of a social life - Jonathan, Link, the sudden and very non-coincidental appearance of Midna. Life had drastically changed. Zelda had elf ears, magic developing, all sorts of things that had a tendency to complicate things much more than they already were.
Icecream and meeting a little boy to possibly care for sounded unrealistically mundane, but she’d take it. Leon was nice enough - and had the unfortunate luck of waking up wounded more than once - and they were all on the same boat, weren’t they? Zelda wouldn’t mind helping out a fellow dreamer whose world had turned upside down because of the very location they decided to settle in.
“Oh, hey!” Clearly it was him - he was the only one that would be looking for her anyway - and she still hadn’t gotten anything yet, of course. Just waiting for their arrival, hair pinned up to conveniently hide those elongated ears and her sundress was peach colored, fluffy on the shoulders, but the dirty tennis shoes were a blemish to the whole ‘girly girl’ image. “Leon, right?” A hand out for a proper, polite greet, before silvery blue eyes focused on the boy. “And you must be Chris. You’re tall.”
“That’s me,” Leon said. “Clearly much more handsome than Mel Gibson.” He grinned, gesturing to his face. He took a look for the strange elf ears and was a little disappointed to see that they were covered. Chris smiled shyly at Zelda and gave a bit of a wave, and Leon rested his hand on his little brother’s head. “This is Chris. He doesn’t talk much - not until he gets to know you at least, and then he doesn’t shut up. I think he’s going through a growth spur or something right now.”
“Clearly.” Zelda stifled her laugh with a bite of her lip. Okay, yes, he was more attractive than Mr. Mel Gibson, it must have been such a relief to have that validated. “And no mullet. I’m so glad you’ve adjusted to our century’s acceptable hairstyles. I’m sure it makes your life much easier.”
Time to get in line, though! It was easy to pinpoint the boy’s timid behavior, and she hoped with a little bit of something sweet (considering this particular parlor had every selection and every topping imaginable), she’d at least crack that exterior. Get him a little accustomed to her at least. “And I don’t mind getting my ear talked off much. My na--” Zelda caught her tongue between her teeth. “Roommate,” as she was now a bit too old to continue to call Impa her ‘nanny’ but habits died hard, “is of the very quiet sort. Silence speaks volumes for her. I need someone to hold a conversation with, anyway.”
"I really can't decide if the mullet or the crop tops are worse," Leon admitted. At least he didn't wear crop tops every day in the dreams; the mullet was there all the damn time. "It's definitely nice to dress like I live in the 21st century though."
Leon got into the line, reading the menu above the heads of the people in front of him. "Who the hell needs this many flavors of ice cream?" he asked. "What ever happened to chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry?" He read a couple more and then, "Rose ice cream?" He turned to Zelda. "They can't actually mean an ice cream that tastes like a fu- like a flower, can they?"
Rose ice cream, how interesting. “Lavender ice cream exists,” Zelda quipped, though she wasn’t particularly feeling all that bold today. She’d stick with something familiar. Salted caramel it was, then! With a waffle cone, yum. “California’s known to have an interesting selection of food - you’ve never tried the fruit that tastes like barbecue? It’s supposed to taste like pulled pork, I hear. Don’t be too devastated.”
Leon seemed like a ‘manly man.’ A meat and beer sort of guy. Simple - as shown with his stubborn tastes of the generic shades of ice cream. Then she blinked those azure eyes down at Chris. “If you let me buy you an ice cream, I’ll show you something cool.”
"Please tell me someone prepares it to taste like meat and it doesn't just grow that way," Leon said, making a face. Because that sounded beyond disgusting. "I've never had fruit that tastes like meat before, but in my Dreams this guy, D, took me out for dinner at this Chinese restaurant, and I had no idea that the meal was vegetarian until after the fact. Tasted exactly like meat. It was a little weird. Delicious, but weird." And then it turned out that the chef was a serial cannibal who had been looking for a delicious vegetarian to eat, but that was something Zelda and Chris probably didn't need to know
Chris positively beamed at Zelda, and then tugged on Leon's shirt. Leon dutifully kneeled down so that Chris could whisper what he wanted into his ear, and then made a face. "You're kidding right?" and when Chris shook his head, Leon rolled his eyes. "He says he wants bubblegum ice cream." It really wasn't a weird flavour, that had been around even when Leon was a kid, but it was way too sweet for him. It baffled him sometimes how they could have such different tastes when they were related.
Awww! Well, she’d take that enthralled look from the boy as a good sign, and maybe he wasn’t talking to her directly just yet but Zelda was determined to get there. The ‘something cool’ would be a show of her very real elven years (not yet - when they sat down!), hidden by a curtain of gold hair in one of those styles Wendy had taught her. Soon glamour would spark from her fingertips and she knew she’d be able to cast some sort of illusion for the public eye, so styling wouldn’t always be this tedious priority every morning.
“See? He likes the bizarre flavors,” she giggled and ordered up for him - and Leon too, she might as well. Ice cream wasn’t an expensive treat anyway. “There you go, Chris - good choice, you’ll have to tell me how it is, okay? Did you guys mind sitting outside?” California climate was hot but dry, with a nice breeze to sing through the air - it was actually fairly pleasant at the moment.
"You're supposed to be on my side, traitor," Leon said teasingly, ruffling his kid brother's hair and eliciting a giggle from the boy. He ordered vanilla, himself. "And naw, outside is perfect. It would be a waste to spend a beautiful day like this rotting inside." When Chris had first came to California, all he had wanted to do was sit inside and read or play video games or watch Netflix. Leon had been having him go outside and be more active, and he was pretty sure Chris had grown to love playing outside with Leon almost as much as he enjoyed playing video games with him.
Leon really wasn't one for idle chit chat though if there was something he'd rather talk about though. "So, you do much babysitting?" he asked.
Zelda would have to show him that ‘something cool’ in a minute, as promised - but right now it was time to get comfortable on the black iron benches outdoors, legs crossed, spoon scooping up the bits of peanut butter cups mixed with the soft serve. “I used to, actually. Did a lot of traveling, and babysitting jobs were always open - helps that I have an almost infinite well of patience,” she chuckled. It was good income when she wasn’t technically of age to get into the work force, and she had the temperament for it. “Though I’ve usually babysat younger ones. The kind that colored on walls and decided diapers were excellent hats.”
Chris seemed self-sufficient for his age, albeit shy. She reached over, nudging him with an elbow. “Did you want to see that something cool, by the way?”
"In that case, Chris'll be a cinch," Leon grinned. "He doesn't draw on walls and only sometimes needs diapers." Chris pouted and smacked him in the arm, and Leon couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Relax kiddo, she knows I'm joking," he said to Chris, giving a light push on the shoulder before turning back to Zelda. "But seriously, he's the best behaved kid I've ever met, and I'm not just saying that because he's my little brother." Of course, most of the kids Leon met, he met through work, and when you were a police officer, you didn't always meet kids with great attitudes or home lives, nor did you meet them under the best circumstances. Even still, he was pretty sure that Chris was less of a handful than Leon was at his age, always helping out if Leon was doing chores or playing quietly if Leon had brought work home that he needed to concentrate on. He was a bit of a crybaby and Leon'd probably need to mention that to Zelda so she didn’t think she did something wrong the first time Chris burst into tears over something or another, but he was pretty sure that bringing it up when Chris was around would just embarrass the kid.
At Zelda's question, Chris nodded excitedly and scooched closer to her.
Awww, the two of them were cute - and seemed awfully close! Zelda knew their mother had been deceased (it was one of their first exchanges over the network), didn’t ask about their father. Seemed like something much too personal to pry into, and unfortunately every family - even hers - had baggage, big or small. “I can’t see him being anything else otherwise; he hasn’t stuck gum in my hair,” she quipped, always looking on the brighter side. Like all kids she’d just have to get to know Chris, and if he could live in a place like this? He had courage.
But, yes! That something ‘cool.’ Clearing her throat, she set the icecream cup aside and then undid the bobby-pins that were so strategically placed - and then tucked some hair behind those revealed ears, elongated and pointed. Elven. Though the technical term for her race was Hylian, it was just the easiest to go with the generic term. “They’re real, promise. You can touch them if you want.”
Chris’ eyes widened at the sight of the ears, and when she said he could touch them, he reached forward and did exactly that, running his fingers along the top until he came to the tip. Then, he broke out into a wide grin. “Those are cool,” he exclaimed, not loudly but obviously very excited. Leon couldn’t help but break into a smile that he quickly covered by taking a bite of his ice cream. No point in making Chris feel self-conscious about speaking to people by acting like it was a big deal, but Leon was pretty happy about it. Back home with his parents, Chris had apparently not spoken a word to anyone for months, but he was definitely coming around to talking to new people quicker here.
Oh - he spoke! Zelda tried not to make it seem like a grand ordeal though she beamed, leaning into Chris’ curious hands. She didn’t know how much he knew about the dreams, and probably explaining she was a princess of an entire land would spin his head a bit much, but he’d at least see these, and she figured anyone his age would think it was very ‘gnarly.’ “One of the best compliments I’ve heard. I’m still getting used to them.”
Though she could make them sort of wiggle. Faintly, like now!
Parading them in public wouldn’t glean the disgusted kind of attention, but more like how Leon had wisely said before, she’d be a magnet for the strangest kind of nerds. “See?” A gentle bop to Chris’ nose. “I told you.”
Leon hadn’t really talked much to Chris about the Dreams, other than asking if Chris ever dreamed of a man named D once his kid brother had shown up in his dreams, but Chris tended to take everything in stride anyway. The boy giggled when Zelda’s ears moved, and then again when she booped him on the nose, and Leon couldn’t help but smile gently while watching the two of them. “Well, Chris seems to like you,” Leon said, and turned to Chris. “Right?” When Chris nodded in agreement, Leon turned to Zelda. “You’re not a convicted felon, are you?” Leon usually had a pretty good gut feeling on these things, and his gut told him that Zelda was alright. But on the other hand, his gut hadn’t been entirely reliable lately when it came to sussing out ex-cons.
A convicted felon?! Well, that was a bit of a sudden question. From elf ears and ice cream to prison time, but she supposed she couldn’t blame Leon for making sure his little brother was in capable, non-dangerous hands. “One time I used an expired coupon to buy a burger and didn’t even tell the cashier, and I felt really bad about it?” Really, she spent her times doing some extreme couponing and didn’t even have the heart to kill a roach. But, no, a record didn’t exist - last time she checked she was pronounced ‘missing,’ then they smeared Impa’s reputation by accusing her of killing her and her father.
But that was in another country, across the waters, and nothing from that had chased them over yonder.
“I’m clean,” she insisted, grinning. “I promise. You can check for yourself. Do you often meet people that surprise you like that?”
Leon burst out laughing at her coupon comment. "I think the coupon thing is fine," Leon managed eventually. "But since I have your permission I'll run a criminal record check just in case. It doesn't happen too often, but you never know what weirdos you might meet on the internet, you know? Especially in our little corner of the internet."
“Let me know if anything interesting pops up,” Zelda giggled, though she knew nothing would - she was very much a straight arrow, kept to herself, tried to be fair and abide by the law as best as she could. She never wanted trouble, never wanted to leave a traceable link back to her and Impa. Not after everything they struggled for themselves. “It is the responsible thing to do though. I think the most criminal thing I’ll do to your brother is force feed him vegetables and make sure he drinks enough milk for his bones.”
Her brows waggled at Chris teasingly. Didn’t she just sound like oodles of fun? Well, okay, maybe not, but she was mostly just kidding!
Chris made a rather unimpressed face at Zelda, and Leon couldn’t help but laugh loudly, not even feeling the tiniest bit bad about the fact. “And you thought you’d get away from all that healthy eating crap when Viv gets born,” he teased his brother. It wasn’t that he didn’t make vegetables when he cooked supper, it was just that Leon was always more focused on the meat side of things, the vegetables being more of an optional side. He made Chris eat some of them, but he didn’t really force the issue because Leon himself didn’t always want vegetables and it seemed unfair to force Chris to eat them when he didn’t have to.
Chris gave his brother a bit of a glare, and then turned his attention back to the ice cream that was melting over his hands.
“When works best for you for watching him? I mean, my job’s got some pretty long hours so I wouldn’t expect you to watch him all the time. And I wouldn’t make you watch him overnight unless that was something you were up for.” Luckily since becoming a detective Leon didn’t have the frequent overnight shifts. They only came around when he was working a case that needed them, but, well, there were still some nights when he had to work.
“I’m kidding,” she smirked. “Well, mostly, anyway - vegetables are important if you want to stay healthy, but anyway, I’ll quit preaching like some vegan Mother Theresa.” Which she wasn’t - but she just didn’t indulge in too much meat, and kept her diet fairly healthy. More so now that Rose had been kicking her ass (literally) into shape, and lately it’d been more ‘what has the most protein’ than anything. Fish, soy, protein shakes. All to fulfil the image of Sheik, the lithe and illusive Sheikah impersonator.
Leon’s questioned caused her to hum in thought as she wiped the bit of ice cream from the corner of her mouth. “Cindy’s pretty flexible, but nights would probably work best - just let me know when you need it and I’m most likely available. And if you have emergencies, just let me know and I’ll tell you where I stand.” Night was when she’d usually see Midna, but it wasn’t like they were technically a thing yet - and she couldn’t always distract her at the club, not all the time. “I’m an early bird and don’t ever need much sleep to function, so.”
Leon laughed. "You should hear some of the vegetarian preaching I get in my dreams if you think that counts," he said, grinning. Really, D wasn't so bad about it. He let Leon eat meat and occasionally even had some in the shop for him (more often now that Chris seemed to be living with D instead of Leon), but D had tricked him into a couple of vegetarian meals and was always going on about killing animals so it usually seemed more preachy than it probably was
Leon nodded. He'd have to find another sitter too for the days, but maybe having more than one would be best. He wasn't sure exactly how this sort of thing was supposed to work but he imagined not a lot of babysitters wanted to work the hours cops did. He wondered how some of the single parents on the force got by, especially when they didn't have someone else paying the babysitting fees for them. "Well, that should work," he said. "Shar's due to give birth at the end of the month, so that's when I'd expect to start getting calls, but if you wanted to watch him a couple times before that happens then that can probably be arranged."
“I don’t mind at all! I’m sure we can figure out something to do, right?” Zelda gave Chris a wink - he seemed like a good kid, easy, and he was mostly independent. Still, she’d take the responsibility seriously. This place wasn’t a joke; disasters could arise left and right, and it showed that it wasn’t afraid to take a life. Maybe if she couldn’t outright help fight against whatever the next wave was, she’d focus on helping those who couldn’t help themselves, didn’t have weapons or magical powers to assist them through it. “We’ll do boardwalk rides and go on the roller coasters until we throw up, hm?”
What kid didn’t want that? Zelda looked forward to it, anyway.