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Link let Ravio into his house. The merchant would be staying for a few days as he acted on his duties as Royal Ambassador for Lorule.
When asked about accommodation while he was in Hyrule, Ravio had asked to stay at Link’s house again. He hadn’t been able to say no. Somehow, the annoying coward had managed to worm his way into Link’s heart. He hadn’t realised how nice it was, having someone to come home to, until it had been gone.
Ravio bustled into the kitchen, saying that he had a number of things he’d brought from Lorule that needed to be put away. “Go sit down, now, Mr. Hero!”
Link sighed but couldn’t keep the fond smile off his face. He decided to make himself useful and start a fire in the hearth. Even in Spring, the temperature dropped fast once the sun went down.
When he’d got the fire crackling merrily, Ravio was still banging around the kitchen. Link knew he’d be kicked out of the kitchen if he tried to go in - Ravio had done it enough times when he’d lived there before - so he sat down in one of the living room armchairs.
It didn’t take him long to get antsy. He’d been doing one thing after another for so long during his quest that it was hard to sit still now. Since he was still banned from the kitchen, he pulled over some of the mending work that needed to be done. He’d accidentally gotten holes in a number of clothes over the winter while helping to restore Hyrule after the interdimensional rifts had disappeared.
Ravio finally left the kitchen. He handed Link a cup of steaming tea and set a plate of food on the table in front of him. His own tea and food were set in front of a different armchair, one Ravio had seemed to prefer before.
The tea was very obviously from Lorule. It smelled distinctly purple in a way that Hyrulian teas just didn’t. It was a surprisingly appetising smell.
Link looked up from the tea to thank Ravio, but the merchant turned away from him and went to pull something out of his bag.
Link watched, bemused, as Ravio pulled out dark green yarn and knitting needles. Ravio turned around to go sit down, noticed Link staring at him, and froze.
Link could see a dark blush forming beneath the rabbit hood he still wore.
“Wel- I-I just thought I’d join you, Mr. Hero.”
A fond smile formed on Link’s face without his permission. He sighed and waved at Ravio to sit down.
Link tried to hide his smile in his tea. It was good; it tasted of berries and spices.
The click of knitting needles started up, and Link couldn’t help but relax. The situation was downright domestic. Ravio had somehow managed to settle right back into his place in Link’s life, both in his house and his heart, despite the time he’d been gone.
Link tried to hide his emotions by grabbing some food off of his plate. It wasn’t anything too fancy, just some Hylian bread and cheese Ravio had grabbed from the market on his way there, but he’d somehow managed to choose Link’s favourite bread - the soft, expensive kind that he could rarely bring himself to splurge on. He’d also managed to grab one of Link’s favourite cheeses, salty and smooth.
Link wasn’t sure if Ravio had somehow noticed his preferences while he’d lived in Hyrule and managed to remember them while he was gone, or if the two of them simply shared tastes. Either way, this felt like a quiet, unspoken celebration of being back under the same roof again.
Link took another sip of his tea and then picked his needle back up to continue working on the mending.
The cheerful crackle of the fire and the click of the knitting needles reminded him that he wasn’t alone, not anymore.