Chapter Text
Flying never gets more enjoyable, Zelda concluded as she woke up to a harsh dip in her stomach from the plane dropping in altitude. She slept for most of the flight but still woke up exhausted. And sweaty. How could she be cold and sweaty at the same time? Planes are the worst.
Her body jolted as the wheels hit the ground, her body sliding the slightest bit forward as the plane slowed to a stop. The rustling of people moving to collect their things filled the cabin, replacing the rumble of the engine that had since died down. Staying seated, she just repacked what little things she still had out into the bag she left under the seat in front of her, closing the pockets with a zip. Eventually it was her turn to slip into the aisle. She lifted her backpack with a soft grunt and made her way out of the plane, nodding politely at the cabin crew and pilots before slipping into the gate.
The inescapable dry heat of her college town hit her as soon as she stepped off the plane. She sighed and tugged at the neck of her sweatshirt, the fabric starting to cling to her uncomfortably. Once she made it off the gate and into the airport, she headed to some empty chairs to regroup. Hoodie off, headphones back in, double check the carousel number. Anmd once again slipping her backpack on before rushing to pick up her checked bags and exiting the airport.
It was hotter outside, the heat of the gate only being a glimpse into the true late August heat. It was drier than back home, where the humidity suffocated her and left her skin sticky. Uncomfortable and inescapable.
A familiar car pulled up, probably as old as her, albeit covered in significantly more dents and scratches.
“Zel!” Her friend screamed and before she knew it she had a pair of arms around her, swaying her around.
“Oh Zel, it’s been such a long summer,” Her friend cooed as she continued to sway them. Zelda couldn’t hold in her giggles as she hugged her friend back, gripping even tighter.
“Missed you Mipha,” Zelda breathed, breaking their hug and grabbing her bags to begin hauling them into the trunk of the sedan. Mipha insisted upon helping, and in less than a minute they were scrambling into the car and pulling out of the airport. Zelda instantly reached under her seat for the bluetooth speaker they kept in there. The car speakers hadn’t worked since their freshman year, resulting in years of memories with the low quality speaker that was all they could afford at the time. She connected her phone, swiping through it and turning the music entirely too loud. They crackled under the volume, but it was part of the charm.
“Welcome back Zel!” Mipha screamed over the music and wind. She drove down the highway, the flyaways of her hair forming a red halo around her head. Zelda smiled brightly as she turned towards her open window, her ponytail whipping around as she breathed in the air of her college town.
“Fucking finally.”
-
“Gods Zel, why do you have so much stuff,” Mipha huffed out as she lugged a bag up the stairs, tossing one of her long red braids over her shoulder and lifting once again.
“Half of my clothes get ruined by paint,” Zelda panted as she hauled the other, her shirt sticking to her back. “I have to pack extra,”
They finally hit the top of the stairs and rolled the bags towards the door before keying in. Mipha slipped off her shoes and into her house slippers, allowing Zelda to hand her the bags so she can put them into her room.
“Mipha, get my slippers out of my suitcase, I wanna come inside,”
“Which suitcase?” Mipha teased from inside, unzipping a suitcase, having guessed correctly. Zelda entered at the sound of a pair of slippers slapping against the floor of the hallway. Her shoes hit the ground with a clunk before she slid into her baby blue slippers and made her way into her room. Mipha sat down on the top of her desk, hooking up the dorm designated bluetooth speaker to her phone and turning on some music. She crossed her legs and watched as Zelda got to work, stuffing her endless amounts of clothes into the dresser.
Mipha occasionally made herself useful by helping Zelda put away stuff meant for the kitchen and bathroom. And doing any heavy lifting, such as the second suitcase Zelda packed, which she dragged out to the living room and began unpacking. The living room was a makeshift studio for Zelda and Mipha, the furniture pushed into the corners to make space for easels and large canvases. Their closet was stuffed full of other canvases and folded tarps, and their coffee table was made the permanent spot of containers full of paints and brushes. Mipha barely found space for Zelda’s collection, but it didn’t matter. Their supplies usually melded into one stash by the end of the semester.
Several hours later they were sitting at their dining room table over spiked lemonades, the bluetooth speaker tucked into the corner between the table and the wall. Both having showered, wearing sports bras and sweatpants and letting their wet hair cool them off. The sun had set but the heat hadn’t, taunting them through the open windows.
“You’d think they’d give us AC, everywhere here has it,” Mipha complained, taking another sip of her drink.
“Like they would ever pay to renovate these dorms, Goddess knows how cheap they are,” Zelda responded, slouching onto her arm and swirling her half empty bottle by the neck.
“Not cheap enough to get the CS students a brand new PC Lab, apparently,”
“They what?” Zelda shrieked, perking up. Mipha just nodded in response before finishing her bottle, sliding it over to the other empty two at the end of the table.
“Yep, I took a walk around campus last week and I saw a huge shipment being loaded into their old computer lab,” She began as she walked towards their fridge, pulling out another bottle. “Went back again a couple days ago and boom,” She reached over Zelda to grab their shared bottle opener.
“All the old PC’s on the ground outside.”
Her words were punctuated by the sound of the bottle hissing open and the cap clattering onto the tabletop. Zelda rolled her eyes and finished off her own bottle, setting it down and sliding it over to the others. It hit the other three with a satisfying clink.
“They always give the STEM kids whatever they want! This school is known for its art program too!” She whined, slumping down into her arms again. Mipha just nodded and leaned back against the counter next to the table, staring into nothing as she took another drink.
“Tell me about it.”
“They literally took out half of the art studios to make space for an engineering lab!” Zelda continued as she stood up to get herself another bottle, locating the bottle opener and prying it open. “Why can’t they do their projects in their dorm!” She gestured towards their cluttered living room, sighing and sitting on top of the table.
“I like our living room studio,” Mipha said, mostly to herself, with a glance to the living room in question. The tarps that protected their carpet, and in turn, their security deposit. And the easels that casted shadows onto the walls, four previous semesters worth of paint stains on the wood.
“But you’re right, I’m sick of those STEM kids.” She took another couple sips, still pondering their mess of art supplies. Zelda followed her gaze, staring at the mess of brushes and pens on their coffee table.
“I’m going to bed Zel,” The sounds of Mipha’s slippers hitting the tile filled the silence between her words. “Here’s to another semester, yeah?” She rounded the corner of the table, past their shared cork board filled with doodles. She lifted her bottle to Zelda’s, the necks clinking together before they both finished off their drinks.
“Here’s to another semester.” Zelda repeated as they both slid their empty bottles to the end of the table.
-
Zelda woke up to the sound of her alarm blaring under her pillow. Groaning, she rolled over and turned it off. Colours swirled under her eyelids as she rubbed them, sighing before sliding her feet into her slippers and getting out of bed.
She brushed her teeth and zoned out into the mirror in front of her, frowning as she tried to fix her hair with the other hand. There was an attempt at finger combing through the tangles, but it was quickly abandoned. It’s always been a hassle, the little texture there was damaged from years of her parents brushing it out before she was old enough to do it herself. She finished brushing her teeth and sighed as she twirled the slightly more curly hairs near her ears.
Unruly.
She finished up her morning routine, styling her hair into two low buns and getting dressed.
“Zel, you up?” Mipha yelled from their kitchen, pulling Zelda out of her second mirror trance.
She hummed in response as she moved into the doorway, finding Mipha reorganising her backpack on their kitchen table.
“I’m going to the campus cafe, wanna come?” She looked over at her, zipping up her bag.
Zelda nodded and made a sound of affirmation before running back into her room to stuff her backpack with her laptop, a notebook and planner, and assorted pens. Wallet, keys and headphones into the front pocket, and soon she was scrambling out the door with Mipha. The pair chatted excitedly as they made their way down a flight of stairs and followed the paths towards main campus, talking about the first classes they have today and what rumours they heard about the professors teaching them.
“I heard Purah is okay, kind of disorganised,” Zelda rambled.
“What class does she teach?” Mipha asked, looking up at Zelda as they walked down a covered hallway.
“Animation programming,” She clicked her phone open to double check the course name and time. “I have it later this morning, actually.”
“No way Zel, your parents let you take another animation course?”
“Let is a strong word,” There was a slight lilt to her words that left Mipha snickering. “I just told them there weren’t any other classes available.”
“Gods, they really believe anything you say,” Mipha smiled before stepping ahead of her to order at the counter. Iced caramel latte with almond milk, with an extra shot of espresso. She paid and stepped off to the side, allowing Zelda to take her place. Iced lavender latte with soy milk. They gathered their drinks one at a time before making their way over to an empty table and sitting down.
“To another semester?” Mipha offered, holding her plastic cup out towards Zelda.
“To another sem-” Zelda cut herself off, her own cup resting against Mipha’s as her eyes drifted off to the side.
This didn’t escape Mipha’s notice and she quickly followed Zelda’s gaze.
“Oh he looks like shit,”
“Mipha!”
“The semester started today! How does he already look that bad!” She whisper-yelled, her eyes darting between her friend and the boy they were both sneaking glances at. Zelda was taken aback by her bluntness but was giggling nonetheless.
“You’re terrible Mipha,” Zelda managed in between giggles, her other hand covering her mouth.
“Come on Zel, You’re thinking the same thing!”
“I wasn’t!”
They both dissolve into a fit of laughter, pausing only to take sips of their drinks before resuming their snickering.
“Well,” Mipha leaned back onto her chair, her head tipping back and leaving the tips of her two red braids dangerously close to the ground. “At the very least, no matter how tired I am, I won’t look like that until at least week six,”
Zelda immediately started laughing again, picking herself up and slinging her bag over her shoulder. “I gotta go to that animation class, I’ll see you back home?”
Mipha just nodded and raised her coffee in response, her eyes closed as she let the sun hit her face.
“Catch you later Zel.”
Zelda hummed in agreement before turning on her heels, walking down the hallway and into an unfamiliar building. The air conditioning hit her first, sending a small shiver down her arms. A tank top was not the best choice. She looked around at the blank walls and modern furniture and sighed, taking another sip of her latte. The ice didn’t help the chill either.
‘Lifeless’, she muttered under her breath as she scanned the doorframes, attempting to make sense of the way the rooms are organised. She found her door with ten minutes to spare, lingering outside to finish up her coffee while sending texts to Mipha.
“New PC lab but not a comfortable chair in sight.”
She walked down the hall before dropping her empty cup in the trash, turning back around to head into the door. She slipped inside, scanning the seats of the lecture hall before settling on the third to front row, sliding into a seat just off center. Looking around, she noticed only a couple others had filed in so far. She pulled out her phone and tapped mindlessly on it, occasionally lifting her head to check who else had come in.
Blond hair and eyebags you couldn’t miss if you tried.
Zelda couldn’t help but let out a soft snicker at the memories from earlier, immediately typing another text to Mipha.
“Gods Mipha he’s in my class!”
“Should have brought him a coffee.”
She smiled again and looked at him through her peripheral, watching as he sat in the same row, leaving ten or so seats between them. Not too long after, a white haired woman walked in and settled behind the desk at the front. Zelda put her phone away and looked down at her bag, then back up at the class. She was deciding between her notebook and her laptop, and decided once she watched the blond haired boy take out a laptop.
Notebook it is.
Quickly after that, the white haired woman started talking.
“Good morning Animation Programming students,” She spoke with a gentle but confident voice. “I hope our fall semester is off to a good start,” There was a pause as she gathered up a stack of papers from her desk, tapping the edges against the wood to straighten them out. She handed them to the boy sitting alone in the front row before resuming her spot behind her desk.
“I’ll wait for everyone to get their copy of the syllabus before I continue,” She used the pause to push up her glasses and straighten up her desk.
Zelda watched as the papers got passed around the two rows in front of her before the stack made their way to the blond sitting on the other end of the aisle. She heard the shifting of clothes and the soft taps of shoes before a stack of papers got dumped onto her desk without a second glance, and he was back in his seat before she could look up. Her eyes blinked in slight surprise but she quickly brushed it off, taking a stapled set of sheets and tucking it into her notebook pages. She twisted her body to pass the stack to the boy sitting behind her, who gave her a condescending look before taking the stack.
All Zelda could think about was how much she hoped there wouldn’t be a group project this semester.
Professor Purah continued to go over the syllabus as Zelda skimmed ahead, writing down any additional bits onto the margins and highlighting important dates, immediately putting them into the planner she took out earlier. The clicks of pens and highlighter caps clicked around her, and before she knew it, class was dismissed early with the exception of those who had questions. Unable to think of anything, Zelda packed up her things and lifted her bag, eager to escape the cold of the building. She left quickly, zipping down the halls to find the table Mipha was once occupying empty. Shrugging it off, she walked back to her dorm to kill time before her next class.
The day passed without much incident, she walked to her painting class with Mipha, sitting next to each other as they annotated their syllabi and shared eye rolls over particularly rough projects. The class ended and they bumped shoulders as they walked to Mipha’s car, tossing their bags in the back and sliding into their respective seats. Mipha driving and Zelda handling the bluetooth speaker, as always.