We all are animals anyway

The sound of a heavy roar of laughter is heard inside the castle, it started joyous but it ended sounding malevolent. The origin of it was King Daphnes, Nana kept cooking trying to distract herself from what was happening, she was silently praying for her son.

"What do you say then? Do you accept the challenge?" the King asks Pepe, whose face is drained from all of its color.

"Of course he does, he will put all your stablehands to shame" Link answers confidently.

The King stares with disapproval at Link "Don't answer for him" He returns his attention to Pepe.

José felt like he was about to piss on his pants, he definitely could not muster the courage to answer verbally, but also felt he was in no position to back down now… he nodded at the King and extended his hand for a shake.

LINK POV

Well look at that, Pepe managed to look like a secure and confident man right now… but I know he is shitting his pants hahahahaha. He can act, I will give him that.

The King shakes Pepe's hand firmly and proceeds to finish his meal.

"You used wine to cook this didn't you?" Daphnes asks Ivanna.

"I was told beef heart tastes good with it my lord" Nana answers hiding her hands, since they were shaking still.

"IT DOES, or at least I liked it, I will be back next week, don't forget to inform Zelda that I am following her feeding schedule" The King stands, rolls his shoulders and sights as he marches out heading to the throne room.

"Well, that went better than expected" Link exclaims happily.

"I will kill you" Pepe tells Link menacingly.

"Why? I landed you a GOOD job" Link retorts.

Pepe opens his eyes wide in anger "YOU FUCKING GOT ME ON A BET WITH MY KING"

Link chuckles "Amazing right?"

Pepe stomps his way to Link in anger.

"Wait, wait, hold your horses… haha, I completely intended that pun because I am hilarious, but hear me out first. He named you Stable Master, are you prepared for that? Of course not, nobody here was prepared for their own job, there is no special course for anything, you have to learn on the go by reading, observation and firsthand experience"

"He gave me A DAY to learn as part of his challenge" Pepe says with exasperation

"SO WHAT? Is more than enough time for YOU. I was not lying when I told my King that YOU are smart, he is just testing your steel so don't let him scare you, Daphnes is the one who should be scared. Just get hold of the notes the previous SM left behind and study them, observe how the grooms handle the horses and practice it yourself. And you will be good to start tomorrow"

Nana was paying attention to everything that was said, she smiled proudly at her son, knowing that everything Link said was true. Jose was TOO SMART for his own good most times, he could pull this off no sweat.

"That actually sounds easy, my King heard what Link said about you being trustworthy and is willing to try you out, I say you should give it a go" Nana encourages her son

"Sounds easy right? but in reality, ITS NOT. That's why my King has not been able to find a replacement for the previous SM, but your son here can put to sleep the harpy inside of YOU when it awakens" Link winks at Nana then turns to Jose "or instigate people to violence if he so pleases" Link says holding Pepe's stare, making the teenager look away "If he can do that with people, he will do GREAT with the horses" Link finishes his statement smiling at Nana.

Link starts to walk out of the kitchen when he feels a hand on his shoulder, he turns to find Jose looking sad. Link signals for him to follow. Once out Nana's earshot, Jose wastes no time.

"Why are you doing this?" asks Jose suspicious, he doesn't believe people to spontaneously do good deeds, there is always a gain for them, he needed to know what his Prince is gaining with this.

"I love your mom and I hate having debts, you helped me once and gave me your trust without knowing me, I am just returning your kind gesture, favor is paid with favor" Link says

"That simple? Really?" Pepe says a little incredulous

"Sounds like that doesn't it? but it wasn't simple. I noticed you were in trouble, and just now you told me you are in pain" Jose rolls his eyes, disregarding himself, he is not lying but…how can the Prince believe him since he is OBVIOUSLY not hurt or wounded? 

"NO, NO, STOP THAT CRAP, don't disregard yourself, physical or emotional, PAIN IS PAIN. And I'm sure having direction will slowly get rid of the pain. But direction should not be given by a superior, since you refuse to follow orders. That only leaves ONE option, the person in charge HAS to be you. To be in charge you need to have discipline, or in other words SELF-DIRECTION. Took me a few days of pondering to come up with this, but I finally did and can help you help yourself, just accept it and don't fuck this up."

Jose looks down, pursed his lips and pulls Link into a manly hug giving him two pats on the back, he then runs off to the stables. Link chuckles and gives himself a pat on the back.

*What was that for?

I deserve it, Jose did not trigger a violent response with his hug… I am getting better at this family shit. I should find Chacha, and text Carla.

Link draws his cell and sends a text, then runs inside hoping he can find Chacha still cleaning his room, mid run he accidentally pushes to the floor an unlucky maid that happened to be on the way. He helps the maid up apologizing, then continues his way to hell. He went up climbing two stairs at a time and soon Link was in front of Zelda's dormitory watching Chacha, she had a basket with dirty clothes and sheets on her hands.

"PLAT… CHACHA, I need to ask you a favor" *you fucked up*

"And I need you to NEVER use my name, you already know that I hate it, why would you tr-"

"Because I am a moronic forgetful man, but do believe that I hold your wellbeing as one of my priorities, will you help me?" *Well, you DO have a way of getting out of shit by sweet talking*

Chacha sighs "what do you need?"

"I need you to measure the princess's bust and buttocks"

I should have said that differently.

*Yes, you should have, she is going to kill you*

Chacha stood there frozen in place, she just stared at him with a blank expression that slowly morphed into a grimace, she drops the clothes basket.

"YOU FILFTHY DO-" 

Zelda opens her door and watches Chacha about to pounch/kick the Prince and just looks at both of them quizzically.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Link quickly starts speaking "Carla can help us buying undergarment for you, will you let my beautiful and trusty maid measure you?" Link asks Zelda almost pleading.

Zelda immediately understands what may have happened, and smirks at Link.

"Right now? I still need to go buy the clothes I need for tomorrow. And also, I really want to see what was about to happen right now, it will easily be the highlight of the week for me" Zelda says cynically.

Hahaha this wench… the apple doesn't fall far from the tree right? [Queen Claire's face smirking]

Chacha realizes she misunderstood the situation and sighs heavily "If you approve of Link's request, I will just need a moment to get the measuring tape, the measurement itself won't take longer than a few minutes" Chacha says.

Zelda nods at the maid "I will wait for you in my room then" Chacha bows and walks away, Zelda turns to Link and crosses her arms.

ZELDA POV

"Why are you not leaving?" Zelda asks Link.

"Why would I? I need to know those measurements for Carla, she is buying you some undergarments for tomorrow morning" Link says calmly.

"Wait… what do you mean by TOMORROW MORNING? I thought tomorrow I was starting my exercise, are we still doing that?"

"Yes, tomorrow you are running early in the morning, after that you eat your breakfast and take a bath before we leave Hyrule, blame the rush on Carla, she insists I should give you a whole afternoon to shop for clothes" Link answers rolling his eyes, obviously bothered by the prospect

Fucking Din, Nayru and Farore. ITS HAPPENING TOMORROW.

"Why blame her? You make it sound like rushing this is a bad thing, I think it IS a great idea, I need the extra time to choose good clothes… I want to look good for my dad" Zelda says giving a small timid smile.

"Of course you think that, you are female. For the record, males despise the idea of taking more than an hour shopping… hence why you are STILL running tomorrow, the more tired you are, the easier you are going to settle for any type of clothes, meaning you won't be dragging me from store to store"

Zelda's jaw dropped in disbelief "you are trying to manipulate even THAT to your convenience, just because you find the experience unpleasant… as if this was about your comfort, well ITS NOT, as my guardian you are supposed to take my needs and comfort on high account, but you are clearly not doing that, it feels like you would even dress me in a potato sack if you could" Zelda says disgusted by the idea.

Link smiles and nods agreeing with her statement, Zelda's jaw drops.

"Oh, my goddesses, you ARE evil" Zelda exclaims in surprise.

Link answers smirking "you were not aware of that? I guess we haven't been introduced then" Link approaches her extending his hand "Raziel Link Nohansen, active SWORD agent, and the only survivor of the terrible fate that befell on Kokiri Forest, a pleasure naïve princess"

Wait what? I heard of that a year ago… people claimed they could hear the screams from the children of the forest, and suddenly there were no Kokiri anymore. Was he involved in that?

Zelda frowns at him, and swats his hand away from her. Link raises an eyebrow at her half smiling, she turns around in anger and confusion. Chacha is heard approaching them.

"Oh, ok… you want this to be done out HERE and not in your room, I don't mind that if you don't" Chacha claims as she immediately starts using the measuring tape on Zelda.

The Princess feels flustered by this happening in front of the Prince, but then notices Link retreating to his room

"HEY!!! Where are you going? Get back here… my Prince" Chacha says… suddenly ashamed of her outburst at Link in front of the Princess.

This is how these two relate? It's so unprofessional, it lacks basic respect… as if there is no social status difference. Is this friendship? I WANT MY OWN CHACHA.

"She does not want me there, just yell the measurements for me" Link answers without stopping.

"OF FUCKING COURSE NOT, I will not ventilate personal data from my Princess" Chacha screams at Link.

"I am going to steal your maid" Zelda informs them both, thinking the Prince was already too far away to have heard… she was wrong.

 Link stops dead on his tracks, turns 180 and walks back.

"Hahaha, the fuck you are, I struggled to have her and I am capable of exerting physical pain to you over this, SHE IS MINE" Link states angrily inches from Zelda's face.

I… won't back down on this, I have never had a friend, she could be my friend… I hope, I don't want to give this up, I have given up so many things already.

He sounds different… kind of scary when he gets angry, it's the voice. His voice sound different when he gets angry, like with a weird eco effect? But I should not fear… he wants a strong Princess, I will show him how strong I can be, I WONT back down on this.

Chacha pushes Link back to get in between them and gets on her tiptoes to whisper Zelda's measurements on his ear.

"Would the both of you stop being toddlers and just learn to share? I know you ARE trying to leave a dirty room for me my Prince, but I still have a lot of time on my hands… I could use that time to take care of the Princess's room too. Just let me know if you manage to agree on this to make a schedule I can follow" Chacha picks up the basket of clothes she originally dropped and goes down the stairs humming.

Link and Zelda stare attentively at the retreating figure of the maid, and then at each other squinting, Zelda closes her eyes and sights before opening her eyes and smiling at Link.

"Sharing is caring you know, and I care… do you?" Zelda tells Link extending her hand for a shake.