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The smell wafting up from the gently simmering pot was enough to make his mouth water. Humming softly to himself, he placed his hands on his hips, a content expression on his face, his gaze on the mess of brilliantly colored, delicious vegetables, fish and herbs cooking away, and distractedly bounced from one foot to another.
In the west, the sun was slowly sinking below the horizon, sending beautiful hues of reds, pinks and oranges across the steadily deepening blue sky. Underneath the sounds of their dinner cooking was the pleasant music of the river behind them rushing peacefully through the grassy landscape - its water sloshing up against the sandy, tree dotted shore, and the constant rhythm of the chattering bugs hidden among the high, green, healthy grass.
His stomach added another note to the ambivalent soundtrack, growling loudly, hungrily in response to the delectable smells surrounding him. He paid no mind to it, however. A dish like this took time, it couldn’t be rushed. Though he wanted nothing more than to just start munching down, the reward for waiting would be more than worth it, after all. However, he seemed to be the only one who was managing to stay patient in the face of such deliciousness.
Fighting back a smile, he tried to pay no mind to the warmth pressed against his back, the muscular arms wrapped loosely around his hips and the chin laid comfortably on his shoulder. Sidon, who was sitting crosslegged behind him, was looking down into the pot with barely contained excitement, his large body fidgeting with impatience. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the bright spark of anticipation on Sidon’s golden gaze.
Zora normally only ate fish raw - Sidon, of course, was no exception - but Link had introduced him to this special dish not too long ago and the Zora Prince had absolutely fallen in love with it, to the point that, when he was able, Sidon always requested Link make it when they were together. Of course, he had no problem with cooking it up as it was easily one of his favorite dishes as well.
Consisting of sizzlefin trout, mighty carp, acorns, swift carrots, spicy peppers, mighty thistle, Hylian shrooms and a generous pinch of rock salt, it was a delicate but bold flavor, perfectly mixing together hints of sweet and savory with a slight bite hiding underneath. It was actually a dish of his own creation, made entirely by accident after he had after he had put the last scraps of the food he had left together in a desperate attempt to make something other than a dubious goop masquerading as food.
The attempt, of course, had worked, creating a dish that he couldn't get enough of, though he had gone back and perfected the recipe over time. It still needed a little bit of work, in his opinion, so the opportunity to keep on making it at Sidon’s request was always welcome.
“Is it almost ready?” Sidon asked suddenly, his voice conveying his impatience.
“Almost. Do you want a taste to see if we have enough salt?”
Sidon nodded firmly, “Yes, please.”
Losing his battle against the smile pressing against his lips, Link carefully scooped up a small bite with a bit of everything in it on the large, wooden spoon he was using to move everything around and, cupping one hand underneath the bottom of the spoon to prevent anything from falling out, he turned around to offer the bite out to Sidon but abruptly froze in surprise.
Sidon was still sitting behind him but had scooted back an inch to give Link room to move. His face was alight with excitement, his golden eyes glued to the spoon. None of that was particularly surprising but what was was that the long, elegant fin that protruded from the back of his head was noticeably wagging back and forth. The motion was reminiscent of a dog’s tail when they saw someone they liked or food is mentioned. He hadn’t been aware that was possible but now that he was, he was momentarily overwhelmed by just how utterly adorable it was. That was, quite possibly, the cutest thing he had ever seen.
Wanting to see if he could encourage that tail to wag even more, he quietly held out the spoon to Sidon. Without hesitation, he chomped down and immediately made a face of absolute bliss as he pulled back, chewing enthusiastically, his eyes sliding closed. To his delight, his tail began to wag even more furiously, swinging back and forth in a blur of brilliant red. Now that he knew that this was possible, he could already tell that a lot of his time was going to put towards making it happen as often as possible.
“It’s perfect, as always. No need to add anything else.” Sidon opened his eyes and smiled a sharp toothed grin at him. “Can we eat now?”
Link gazed quietly at him for a moment before leaning forward to press a quick kiss against Sidon’s lips. He subtly tasted of the fish he had just eaten, mixed with his own lovely, unique flavor.
“What was that for?” Sidon asked curiously after he had pulled back. “Not that I’m complaining. In fact, I’m hoping there will be more of those after we eat.”
“Just wanted to. There will be.” Link replied, turning back around to their dinner. Sometimes, Sidon was just too cute and he honestly couldn’t resist him. Giving the food one more prod just to make sure it was cooked to perfection, which he found that it was, he nodded, content, before reaching down to pick up the two plates sitting safely on a blanket beside the fire and quickly piled up large servings onto both.
He handed one of the plates to Sidon before sitting down in the space between his crossed legs. Grinning widely, his fin still slightly wagging, Sidon handed him one of the forks that he hadn’t seen him pick up and tucked into his meal. Link, on the other hand, took several moments to just appreciate the adorable sight in front of him and only began eating after Sidon paused, looked down at him curiously, leaned down to press a fishy, sweet kiss against his lips, smiled affectionately and said, “This only tastes the best when we’re enjoying it together, you know.”
“Is that so?” Link asked with a chuckle, though he tore his eyes away from Sidon’s wagging tail and warm golden eyes so he could start eating himself. He didn’t know how he had missed something so unbelievably cute for so long but he would make sure to make up for the time he had been unaware. More than anything, he wanted to know just what kinds of situations and scenarios could get that tail wagging. Though, he supposed that was an experiment left for another time as for right now, he was content to eat with his beloved, pressed comfortably up against his chest, glancing up every once and while to take in the delighted expression on Sidon’s face and the subtle waggle of his tail.