Work Text:
Series Title: Our First Year
Disclaimer: Ah, well, I don't own Twilight Princess.
-o-
Shad's Mother's Birthday (Mother's Day): One Big Happy Half a Family
-o-
"She's what?" Link said, after nearly spiting out all his milk over the breakfast table.
"My mother is coming for a visit," Shad calmly repeated as he set his teacup onto its saucer. "Her carriage shall be arriving by noon."
"Are you telling me this so I'll be gone by then?" Link said and jabbed his fork into his sausage in displeasure at the news.
"No, old boy, I am simply informing and making polite morning conversation," the scholar replied, a firm edge to his voice. Finished with her breakfast, Honey padded over and sat by Shad's chair and stared up at him with I-love-you-please-feed-me puppy eyes.
"She thought I was your servant the first time we met," Link said. "She still orders me around."
"I know, my dear, and I apologize," Shad said, ignoring Honey as she rolled over in hopes of being rewarded with food. "She comes from nobility and as such she is accustomed to a certain way of life and view of the world. Since my father passed and she has closed herself off in her family's estate, her prejudices and elitist views have unfortunately fostered."
"Your mother is a noble?" Link said, eyebrow raised at a questioning slant. "I thought your father was a butler for the royal family."
"Both are true," Shad said. "My mother married a man below her station, which truthfully her family's standing has lessened considerably over the years so there was not a great to do made over her decision, but there are many within her family and close friends who have disfavored her."
"Why is she coming anyway?" Link said, through a mouthful of potatoes and bits of green pepper.
"It is her birthday and she wishes to spend time with me. Heaven knows I have not seen her in some time…"
"And I'm needed here because…" Link waited for a response.
"Because I have requested your presence," the scholar said, narrowing his stare. He sighed and rubbed his temple in frustration. "I say, old boy, must you make matters more difficult?"
"You do remember she hates me," Link said, sopping the last of his egg yolk with his toast, as Shad stared at him in disbelief. "I'm just saying if you wanted a nice, quiet, happy visit with your mother, me not being here would help a lot. I can be out on Epona in fifteen."
"I would appreciate it very much if you remained, my dear," Shad said softly, eyes pleading. "I do not wish you to leave."
"All right…" Link reluctantly agreed. There wasn't much he wouldn't do for Shad in the end but once he turned on those puppy dog eyes, he definitely couldn't say no. No wonder Honey was so good—she had watched a master.
"Do be civil with her, will you?"
"Well, now you've crossed the line," Link said and grinned, much to Shad's displeasure. "I will…but it would be nice if she had to follow the same rules."
"I shall speak to her," Shad said and then turned to Honey and said sternly, "No, you cannot have more. It is imperative we do not overfeed you and you have consumed enough."
Honey stared up at Shad with what Link swore were tears in her eyes and whined. She had her tricks and she was very, very good at using them.
But Shad knew her tricks well too. He had inadvertently taught her half of them. Even knowing what she was doing, he sometimes just gave into her anyway. Like now. "Oh, all right," he said and gave her the rest of his sausage. "We shall ensure you receive adequate exercise to curtail any weight increase later on."
"What's wrong with her looking like a sausage?" Link said, snickering. "She'll be so cute rolling around everywhere."
"Corgis are not supposed to resemble sausages," Shad said, very unamused. "Weight management is very important for her breed. We have to be very cautious on how many treats we allow her."
"Figured that out after she ate half a batch of cookies with you," Link said, still grinning, as pink spread across the scholar's cheeks.
"It is not the only reason, however it is a contributing factor," Shad said, quite embarrassed. "Heavens, old boy, we must be cautious for her own well-being."
"I know. I was just kidding," Link said, tossing Honey a bit of biscuit with honey on it and Shad glared at him and pursed his lips in irritation. "It'll be okay. She runs around too much to plump up."
"See to it that she does not, old boy," Shad said, his voice insistent. "Now make haste. There is much we have yet to accomplish before my mother arrives. We shall begin cleaning promptly."
As the scholar rose and collected up the dirty dishes from the table, Link was pretty sure he would rather let a baba serpent chomp down on his head than get ready to welcome Shad's mother.
-o-
Apartment scrubbed, dusted, organized top to bottom to a level of cleaning that was stringent even to Shad's standard, Link and Shad waited outside and watched for his mother's carriage to roll across the cobblestone. While he was glad to see his scholar so happy and eager, Link couldn't share his excitement. He had only met his mother twice, once formally and briefly another time, and just thinking of both those times made Link bristle and scowl. She hadn't thought he would've been smart enough to get her backhanded compliments but Link wasn't stupid.
Even if he wasn't at all looking forward to seeing her again, he was going to be nice to her, for Shad's sake. It was her birthday and because she was born, Shad was eventually born too so Link had reason to celebrate her simply because she was his scholar's mother.
Watching her carriage—it had to be hers, very few carriages rolled through this part of Castle Town—approach and come to a stop in front of them, Link put on a smile as her driver served double duty as her footman and opened the carriage door for her and helped her down, as Shad helped as well and greeted her warmly.
Link knew exactly where Shad had gotten his everything-just-right-and-absolutely-clean, by the book, picky down to smallest details ways from and that was his mother. Under her small black hat decorated with white lace, white roses, and mockingbird feathers, her strawberry-blonde hair was pulled into a tight bun and not a hair was out of place or a line unstraight. Like her son, she refused to show the slightest flash of bare skin—wearing a close-fitting, full-length, sleeved and buttoned, wine-colored dress, ankle-high boots, and even wore blindingly white gloves.
"Oh darling, it is so great to see you. How have you been? Well, I hope. Come here, sweetheart," she said chipper as she hugged Shad, laying her hands first on his shoulders and then cupped his face in her gloved hands and gazed at his smiling face lovingly. "Ah, heavens, you grow to resemble your father, rest his soul, more and more each day…"
Her smile grew thin as she looked up at the single curl on Shad's forehead that refused lay anywhere else. "Ah! That blasted curl… Never has fallen in line, has it? Please, darling, permit me to rid you of it."
Shad softly laughed. "I must to admit to having grown accustomed to its presence and fear I will sorely miss it if I granted you permission to snip it," he said. "My barber may also object as I have allotted all my hirsute matters to him."
"Nonsense! It is perfectly acceptable for me to cut your hair if you will allow me." Shad still said no and Link was glad because he liked that curl. "Ah! Just like your father. Always tolerated such imperfection."
"How was your trip, Mother?" Shad said, trying to move their talk along. "You seem in good spirits."
"Only now that I have arrived and seen you, my son, has my spirit lifted," she said and then lifted her hand against her brow as if she was about to faint. "The roads were dreadful, not a smooth path once I departed the estate grounds. They bounced and shook my constitution all the way here. I could do for a cup of tea and a biscuit to settle me."
"Of course, I shall ready the kettle as soon as we are inside," Shad said. "Link, old boy, if you would ever be so kind as to bring my mother's trunk inside, that would be most appreciated."
"He is here?" Shad's mother was surprised and apparently hadn't realized he had been standing nearby the entire time. "I thought you said he was not your servant."
"And Link is not my servant," Shad explained, taking his mother by the hand and leading her inside. "He happens to be a very dear friend of mine. We have been friends for quite some time now—"
The door closed behind them and cut off the rest of whatever the scholar said as Link climbed up and grabbed the great wooden clothes trunk off the top of the carriage. Link didn't think he liked Shad saying they were friends—sure, they were but they were also more than friends and Shad liked to be absolutely precise in his choice of words so why did he not say they were boyfriends? He found that a little strange for the scholar.
The more Link thought about it as he heaved the hefty trunk—there had to be more than a day's worth of clothes inside—up the steps to Shad's apartment, the more he decided that no, he didn't like that at all.
Coming through the open doorway and setting her trunk just inside the kitchen space, Link arrived just in time to see Shad's mother gasp in horror and lay a hand sans glove across her chest in shock as Honey padded over to say hello.
"What in heavens is that tiny beast doing inside? Does your landlord not have rules against harboring creatures indoors?" Immediately, she looked at Link (and not at all in friendly way) and snapped her fingers at him. "You, boy, animals belong outside. Remove your mongrel immediately."
If Shad had said anything to his mother about being nicer to him, it sure hadn't stuck yet. "Now is that anything to say about your granddaughter?"
Shad's mother stared confused at him and then looked at Shad for answers.
"Mother, she is my pet," he said, crouching down to Honey's level and petting her. "Her name is Honey and she is as sweet as her namesake."
"I see," she said, recovering her harsh stoicism. "Finally got that dog you always wanted, didn't you?"
"Indeed," he nodded. He then told Honey to shake hands and she gave him her paw. "See? She is such a smart, charming pup. I am positive you will warm up to her quick enough."
Her sigh promised that she wasn't about to, ever. "At least, I understand why your apartment possesses a stronger odor than usual…" Link caught her staring at him before she made her way—head raised, nose upturned, her shoulders perfectly squared, and her back so straight Link swore she had a metal pole rammed up her behind—over to Shad's sofa and sat down, but not without performing a white glove test for any dirt or dog hairs on the cushions.
"Ah, yes, you requested tea," Shad said, heading over to the cupboard that housed his kettle.
"Wash your hands vigorously with plenty of hot water and soap, darling," his mother said. "Animals are filthy."
"Yes, of course," Shad said, smiling. He seemed to find amusement in his mother's firm ways. Then again, Link considered, he was used to her.
As the water heated up, Link did as he was told and put her trunk in Shad's room so it would be out of the way. He noted as he walked past her once more that she seemed to briefly stare at him and wrinkle her nose as if at a bad smell. She wouldn't have done it if her son was facing her. Shad was much too observant and would have caught her. Whether he would have said anything, Link wasn't sure.
Tea and tiny cakes served, Shad's mother graciously thanked her son and praised his perfect brew by the color of the tea alone. Trying to be as sociable and yet remain out of the way as possible, Link stayed in the kitchen and leaned against the counters. He was technically not in the same room as Shad's mother but he was close enough to hear and respond if he wanted to.
"Why in blazes is that beast staring at me?" she asked as Honey stood beside her and eyed not Shad's mother but the delicate cake in her hands.
"You have food," Link said matter-of-factly.
"And she has had plentiful treats for one morning," Shad said. "Link, if you would, please take her outside and occupy her in some healthy vigorous activity."
"Can do," he said and was happy to do so. Shad's apartment was hardly as warm and inviting as it usually was to him and Link wasn't keen on standing around and leaving himself open to being insulted. Besides, Honey was great company.
So Link took Honey and Epona out onto the eastern plain for some herding lessons. There weren't any goats around but the bulblin's bulbos were left to roam long after Link defeated Ganondorf and King Bulblin ordered the bulblins back into the mountains. The giant boars were pretty tame still and they mostly left merchants and travelers alone so long as they left them alone. Every once in a while, Link saw bulbos meat for sale or on as a special.
After a couple of hours of Honey trying her best to run and bark at the same time without planting her face into the grass and running the giant boars—frightened of a little yappy, stumbling pup no bigger than their manure—all around the eastern plain and a late lunch of grilled bulbos skewers for the both of them, Link decided to return to Shad's apartment and make sure his mother hadn't convinced him that Castle Town had gone to the dogs and that he should return to her family's estate with her or put some other bad thought in his head. Wouldn't have really surprised him at this point. He was happy to see his scholar still at home and sitting with his mother when he arrived.
"Hey, Shad," he said, opening the door and whistling for Honey. "Come on, girl!"
"What in blazes is that stink?" Shad's mother immediately said, covering her nose.
Link grinned much too happily. "Pig."
"Only if you rolled in a thousand stalls," Shad said, noticeably trying to breathe from his mouth. "You went riding on one of those bulbos, did you not?"
"Yea, took Honey herding," Link said, filling her water dish up as their tired, thirsty pup lapped up a well-deserved drink. "You should've seen our princess. She wasn't a lick afraid of them but you should've seen them run from her. She'll be a great helper on the ranch."
"Well, you both are in need of a thorough scrub down at the bathhouse." And then the scholar's eyes grew wide in fear. "Is that blood?"
"Guay blood," Link assured. "You know she can't leave one alive if she can reach it."
"That is true," Shad agreed but wasn't happy about the fact as he rose from his chair and walked down the hallway back to their bedroom.
Shad's mother looked ready to be sick as Link passed by her. Honey followed in curiosity and also to be wherever her papas were. He found the scholar quickly gathering his and Honey's bath supplies and setting out Link some clean clothes.
"I say, the bulbos' body oils are absolutely pungent," Shad said as Link wrapped his arms around his waist from behind in a loose hug.
"Isn't it great? I smell of bacon, leather, and boar musk…" Link murmured in Shad's ear and grinned, as he untucked Shad's dress shirt and slid his hands up and along his stomach, pulling his shirt and waistcoat up the farther he went. "If your mother wasn't here—"
"Well, she is and might I add that she is not aware of the exact nature of our relationship, my dear. As far as she knows, you are simply a dear friend of mine. One who makes regular visits to my apartment," Shad said, cheeks red, as he tried to pull his shirt back down while Link's hands wandered and his lips reached out for his neck. "No, no, old boy, not in front of Honey…"
"She doesn't know what we're—" And then his mind managed to focus an actual second on Shad's words. "Wait. You never told your mother?"
"It is not as if I have not made plans to inform her…" Shad said, averting his eyes in guilt. "Merely that the right opportunity has not presented itself to me yet."
"What kind of 'opportunity' are you waiting on?" Link asked, his voice and stare flat, as he waited for a perfectly reasonable and well-explained cause for why Shad hadn't precisely told his mother what they were.
Unfortunately, his answer was less than eloquent. "Ah…er…well…"
Link shook his head in disappointment, even though he knew he really shouldn't be. It wasn't really all that surprising that he hadn't told his mother because that would've upset her and Shad never upset his mother. Unfortunately, keeping her happy left Link not happy.
"Shad, you know what she thinks of me," he said. "If you told her, maybe she'd back off."
"I am waiting for the opportunity to ease her into the idea of you and I. Barging in on her with the truth will not help matters. This has to be treated delicately…" Shad said. "Here." He handed Link his clean clothes and basket of bath supplies.
Delicately probably meant slowly but Link's patience wasn't about to last that long when, if ever, the scholar decided to tell his mother. He knew Shad was trying to send him along and duck out of his uncomfortable bind but Link wasn't about to leave without doing something about his mother's attitude.
"Tell her before she leaves. I'd tell her myself but she won't listen to me and I don't think I should be the one to tell your mother about us. So promise me you'll tell her."
The scholar didn't immediately agree. He looked away uncomfortably and fidgeted with his fingers nervously.
"I say, is her birthday really the appropriate occasion—"
Link scowled. "Shad…"
"Of course, my dear. I promise to…" he swallowed his air dryly and forced a smile, "…inform Mother before she leaves."
Link flashed Shad a small grateful smile before heading into the hall and whistling for Honey to follow. He knew Shad didn't want to anger his mother but Link was getting tired of every time being treated like a servant or a dumb beast. Shad was lucky he hadn't said anything to his mother but he bit his tongue only for his scholar.
Down at the public bathhouse and after washing, scrubbing, and drying off every inch of himself and Honey, Link quickly grabbed the soap out of Honey's teeth and then looked at the clothes Shad had laid out for him. They were from what Link considered his nice clothes, basically what he never wore on the ranch or everyday and basically had only worn once when he tried them on in the shop the day he (or Shad) had bought them. All of his nice clothes were from Castle Town. There was a silver-blue dress shirt, a dark green waistcoat and matching pants and apparently a dark green tie.
He actually liked the dark green color. It reminded him of a deep thicket in the woods around his village that was ever covered in shade. He had fallen asleep once in the green and awoke to a fawn sitting beside him. He put everything on but the tie because he didn't know how to put it on. He knew how to tie on a fishing hook and a really simple but pretty bow because Beth had insisted he redid her ribbons until they were right but most men in Ordon didn't own ties. And Link didn't really want to wear it but he was pretty sure he was going have to.
While Shad had given his mother her present while Link had taken Honey out to play, they were going to take his mother out to dinner at the one restaurant she would actually like (being the most expensive) and Link looked down at his muddy boots and figured he was going to have to get them shined before he and Honey went home.
Catching his reflection in the storefront glass, he thought he looked a bit strange in Castle Town clothes—they reminded him so much more of Shad than himself—but he didn't look half bad in them. His hair needed a bit more drying and no doubt either Shad (or Goddesses, no, his mother) would run a comb through it. At least, he and Honey smelled a heck of a lot better, though Link hadn't found the pig stink all that bad.
"Ah, you look smashing, old boy!" Shad said, looking over his shoulder as he put away his kettle for the time being, as Link came home. Holding his chin in contemplation, the scholar stood back and admired the full picture. "I surmised that you would."
"Except one problem," Link said, grinning, as he held up the tie.
"Easily remedied," Shad said chipper as he slipped the tie beneath his shirt collar and pulled it out even on both sides.
"You do not know how to put on a proper tie?" Shad's mother said from the sofa. "Heavens, what sort of basic knowledge do fathers in your village pass down to their sons?"
"I wouldn't know," Link said, a hard edge in his voice, with his back toward her. "My parents died when I was a baby."
He had expected a little show of surprise, a little embarrassment from Shad's mother for stepping on what his scholar would call 'an improper subject of discourse' but she simply looked away, leaned forward and set her teacup and saucer on the coffee table, and said in a hushed tone, "…Well, that explains plenty."
Clenching his teeth to keep quiet, Link mouthed "tell her" but the scholar simply gave him a weak, apologetic smile as he finished the knot and slipped the rest of the tie under his waistcoat.
"There," Shad said, hands resting on Link's shoulders. "Now the portrait is perfect."
Turned away, Shad's mother still made a 'hmp' sound in disagreement.
Dinner was, as Link had expected, awkward and quiet, at least for him. Shad and his mother talked, well, mostly his mother talked and it was mostly heaping praise on an embarrassed Shad over anything and everything, even on how wonderful it was that her boy could still afford a proper meal rather than dine like a lowly peasant at a street vendor. Shad replied that there were many perfectly respectable and tasty street vendors but his mother frowned at that. The thing was that Link, not Shad, was paying.
If there was anything Link could say he liked about Shad's mother, as he sat there listening and listening, it was at least she did love and thought the world of Shad. Sure, she had a thousand and one ideas about everything he deserved and how he should live his life and wanted very much for him to do everything she said but her criticisms seemed to be intended out of overwhelming love for her boy's well-being, barring the fact her boy was a grown man and perfectly capable of taking care of himself and been for quite some time now. Truth be told, she was a loving mother and she was also controlling, stubborn, and opinionated.
For the most part, she ignored that Link was there, except to reprimand his table manners. If Shad's mother was to be believed, then Link had the manners of a hog at a trough but really all he had done was use the wrong fork (a fork was a fork), tipped his chair on its back legs out of boredom, and put his elbows on the table. Maybe his eating could have used a little refinement, things like quickly licking drips of sauce off his fingers, but it was little stuff even Shad never got on him for.
Shad had said he was going to speak to his mother about her insults but, if his scholar had ever said anything to her, nothing got through. And while Link thought dinner was a good time to tell his mother about their relationship, Shad seemed to disagree. It annoyed Link even more that he never asked his mother to lighten up on Link throughout dinner. Every time she said anything harsh or rude, Shad simply stared down or averted his eyes to the side in discomfort. By the end of dinner, Link's jaw was aching from clenching his teeth so tight. He also had more than a few words for Shad as well.
But he said nothing throughout dinner and the way home. Link guessed Shad's mother was enjoying her birthday visit but he tried to stay as far as possible from her. She was here for Shad anyway and Link only stayed because Shad had asked him to and someone had to keep Honey occupied. Though as Link tossed her a bone to fetch and vented his anger to her out in the street, he wondered who was keeping who company. At least she was happy to see him, whether she was bringing back her bone, wiggling her little stubby rump all along the way, or stretched out across his lap getting a good back rub.
As the golden rays of twilight washed over Castle Town, Link worried that the stalhounds would rise from the ground soon so he hurried Honey inside. He found Shad spreading blankets over the sofa.
"Huh, your mother's going to sleep on the sofa? Never thought I'd see the day," Link said, shaking his head in disbelief.
"You still haven't seen it, old boy," he replied. "This will be one of our beds. Mother will be taking my bed."
"The inns not clean enough for her?" Link grumbled.
"Actually, that is precisely why. She has always refused to stay anywhere else but with me, on account that she is assured that I will adhere to her strict standards of cleanliness."
"Does she know that Honey has been in your bed?" He quickly leaned over and murmured in Shad's ear. "Does she know I've been in your bed?"
"She is aware of Honey," Shad said, his cheeks red and his eyes sharp and reprimanding him to keep his voice down. "Mother insisted I purchase all new blankets and linens for her to sleep on. I am thankful I managed to convince her against a new mattress as well."
"I rather regret my leniency now, though I believe I have masked the beast's stink as best as I can," Shad's mother said, entering from the hall. "Bless me, I never expected I would have to stay under such rough conditions."
Link could not hold back one snicker.
"Something humorous, boy?" she asked, her stare and voice biting.
"No, no, not at all…" His grin said otherwise.
"That is hardly what your snide little snickering portends to me," Shad's mother said, chin raised and the overall disgusted look on her face no different than if Link was wrapped in a swarm of scurrying poison mite. "How dare you make light of my suffering! Not all of us are accustomed to laying in the filth and stink of beasts like an Ordonian."
Not expecting a sudden kind word out of her, Link laughed it off. "Ma'am, new linens, pillows, and laying in a feather bed ain't roughing it. And we sleep in beds too."
"You impudent little cur! How dare you take that tone with me," Shad's mother said, her voice raised and the feeling around her as cold as the winds on Snowpeak. "I have tolerated plenty on this visit but I will not endure your cheek. …Shad, my darling, assert charge and inform him that he is not permitted to speak to your mother with such impertinence."
Wide-eyed, Shad jumped in shock and adjusted his slipped spectacles with a shaking hand. "Ah, w-well, M-Mother…Link is a dear, dear friend of mine. Fact is he is—"
Shad's mother groaned loudly in frustration. "For the life of me, I do not understand why my son tolerates your presence and permits you to associate with him. He may find your 'folksy' ways quaint but I for one see no benefit for him associating with you. You possess no political influence, no social standing, and barely any sense of tact and charm."
"What can you offer my son? Nothing," she said in an accusing tone. "You are a goat herder. You cannot assist him financially. You can only be a burden on him, asking for rupees here and there to help you and your village make it through hard times and harsh winters when your land cannot sustain life and your herds freeze. You provide him little and return nothing."
Her voice taking on an edge of pride and joy, she smiled as she laid a pointed hand on her heart. "My son should socialize with doctors, lawyers, professors, judges, and councilmen. He should stand and fraternize among nobles and lords at court and dance with pretty court ladies."
Her warmth was brief. "My son will never be permitted to attend court if it is known he associates with a peasant goat herder from Ordon. I doubt you have ever considered attempting an apprenticeship in a proper trade, have you? Of course not. You possess no ambition to better yourself or rise above your class. You laze and loaf about and go through life wanting nothing more than the dirt and hay your filthy beasts lay on. Well, my son deserves more than that!"
"But you want to keep him from succeeding, from rising too far from your grubby, needy hands and you encourage him to pursue a field of research that has earned him nothing but ridicule, instead of convincing him that his brilliance could benefit and revolutionize Hyrule elsewhere."
"Of course, what do you know? You aren't even on my son's intellectual level. You could never match half his wits. How he manages to hold a conversation with you, I will never know. He would receive as much thought provoking dialogue talking to that mutt as he would with you. In fact, it would be better for him if you returned to your stables and let my son be."
There was a lot Link wanted to say but he held his tongue because he wasn't the one that needed to speak. He clenched his teeth and looked at Shad.
Thrown by his mother's lashing, Shad stared at her with his mouth open in disbelief. A bit of blinking, he eventually regained his focus and thought. Link saw him shake off his surprise and resolution settle in his eyes and mark the corners of his stern frown.
Taking a deep breath, Shad held his head up high and squared his shoulders. "Mother, I have tried to overlook and remain quiet, however I cannot keep quiet no longer," he said firmly. "I would most appreciate it if you ceased insulting Link. I find your behavior appalling and not at all worthy of a proper lady. Father would be ashamed of you to hear you so vicious."
"Vicious, my darling?" she scoffed. "Hardly. I have merely said what has sorely been needed."
"No, Mother, you have no right. You have spent far too much time cloistered in your family's estate fostering ignorance," he said. "Mind you that you were once the bride of a man born of a lesser standing than your own…"
Shad's mother laughed derisively. "Your father was not an Ordonian."
"I say, that matters not. He would view no difference in himself from Link and neither do I," Shad said, stepping over to stand beside Link. He took his hand and securely interlaced their fingers. Link relished in the warmth of Shad's soft hands. "Fact is we have been steady for little over half a year now. I love him dearly, Mother, and yet I permitted you far too much leeway in an effort not to quarrel with you. I regret that decision and wish I had spoken up for him sooner. May he possess the compassion to forgive me for my thoughtlessness…"
As the scholar peered over at him with his head bowed and his eyes pleading, Link smirked before he shrugged his shoulders seconds later. It was hard for him to say upset with his scholar and when Shad realized his error, his apologies and affections were always plentiful and sincere.
"…You?" She stared wide-eyed as she pointed at each of them. "…And him?"
Shad nodded. "Yes, Mother."
"…No," she said, shaking her head in disbelief. "No, this is some sort of farce, a cruel prank. Your father had a devil's streak in him and used to inflict awful hoaxes on me plentiful times. You share more similarities to your father than I expected so it seems and, as such, I will assure you that I do not find this humorous at all."
"Do calm yourself, Mother, and listen well. I am not tricking you at all," Shad said. "Link and I are a steady couple and only with the cessation of our breath shall we ever be part."
"I wasn't kidding about Honey being your granddaughter," Link added. "She likes toys but really she'll love you forever if you just give her a cookie."
Slowing turning away, Shad's mother gripped her shoulders and began to make strained, sobbing noises. "Marrying a man below my station is one shame my family has had to endure. They will not survive the sin of my son lying with another man. If this is discovered, you will be written out of my family, as will I for knowing. This will not be tolerated. Renounce, my darling, and all shall be forgiven."
She cupped his face in her trembling hands but the scholar soon pulled them away and simply held them steady.
"Forgive me, Mother, but I have been blessed to have had little interaction with your side of the family and care naught for their opinion. The worth of their favor and allegiance after all they have done to you in my eyes cannot be measured in exact terms at the present moment as there is not a standard unit of measurement small enough in existence to correctly tabulate how little I care whether I am held in high regard in their eyes. Do recall these are the same obstinate tomfools that have shunned you for marrying my father…"
Slipping her hands sharply away from his grasp, Shad's mother stood with her head bowed and her shoulders shaking. "I am sorry but as of this moment, you are no longer a member of my family nor are you welcome at the estate. Henceforth, I will never see you again."
She turned and rushed down the hallway to Shad's room and shut the door behind her. Once his shock subsided, Shad hurried down the hallway in tow. Even from the living room, Link could hear thumps and bumps of what he assumed was Shad's mother hastily repacking.
Door apparently locked, Shad stood outside and feverishly knocked. "Mother, I implore you to reconsider—"
Over and over, he pled for her reconsideration, her forgiveness and she said nothing. She at last came out, shrugged off her darling boy's touch while pulling her shawl tightly around her as if it were armor to guard her from him, and simply said, "I will send my driver up for my things."
Shad tried to reason with her but his mother simply held her head high, ignored every begging word, and closed the front door behind her.
Link expected Shad to rush after her, follow her begging until her carriage rolled out of Castle Town altogether, but the scholar remained. He stood shocked, crestfallen in the middle of the living room and stared at the front door.
"…Mother," he said softly, his voice cracking and sounding not at all like a young man's but a boy's, and that was all.
Her driver came and when her trunk proved too heavy for him to carry, Link carried it down instead. He said nothing to Shad's mother and she said nothing to him.
He returned to find Shad busying himself. He anxiously paced about his apartment, cleaning what was clean, reorganizing things by new categories, and doing whatever he could to put aside words and feelings he wasn't ready to express and if Shad didn't want to talk, Link wouldn't push him. If his scholar did break down soon, there wouldn't be words, just tears.
Staying out of the way for the most part and keeping Honey close before she tripped Shad over in her concern, Link in time put Honey to bed—normally, Shad would have but he was too agitated to calm himself and Honey was whining enough in concern as it was. Luckily, she was tuckered out from their herding lessons and went to sleep pretty easily.
When Shad could busy himself no longer, he changed into his nightshirt, his hands shaking and struggling with the buttons, and swiftly turned himself in for the night. Link followed soon after. He didn't fool with putting on nightclothes and laid down in just his undershorts.
Shad laid facing the left, his back to Link, and had pulled the covers tightly around him. Link didn't mind and had plenty of blankets for himself. He lay on his back, closed his eyes, and waited. He waited and pretended to go to sleep.
And when enough time had passed and he felt the bed shake and heard his scholar begin to sob, Link turned over and wrapped his arm around him and held him through the night.