This…was definitely the way to learn video games, and the floor was shockingly comfortable with Shin there holding her. Kealey was relaxed, and comfortable, and so glad she didn’t have classes the next day. The game was fun, too, and she shook her head slightly as Shin explained that since Zelda was a princess, the game got to be named after her. ”So I’m guessing we’ll meet or rescue her later?” the blond said.

It only made sense. Damsel always getting herself into distress.

Shin didn’t mind showing her more of the controls, and while he did, Kealey leaned back into him more. Sure she was paying attention to what he was doing with the controller and on the screen, but the cuddling was nice too, and there was no reason to avoid taking complete advantage of the situation.

Suddenly, “Link”, had a sword and a shield. That was going to make things easier. She reclaimed the controller and went to talk to a rather rude child who lived in “Link’s” village. Kealey called him a brat, then continued on her way. Suddenly, she was attacked by flowers lining the path to the Deku Tree.

She used her new found skills to quickly dispatch them with a few well placed . ”Hah’s!” and a ”Take that, flower!”

Then she found the tree. ”Man it talks funny.” she commented a moment later. Then the tree made a request.

”What happens if you say no?” she asked…what if her character wasn’t brave enough? Could he go back to sleeping without a fairy to bother him?

She said yes. Then the tree opened its mouth.

”I was just talking to this thing…and now it wants me to run in its mouth.”

Well. She shrugged, and in she went.

>>”So I’m guessing we’ll meet or rescue her later?”

"Mhm," Shin 'mm'd softly. He didn't need to elaborate. Besides, it was too nice simply stuck the way they were for him to ruin it with too many words.

Zelda was a damsel in distress, after all, but she also helped Link out. That was a spoiler. Zelda wasn't your typical Peachy Princess. She was so much more. A bit like Kealey, actually... if Kealey used magic and ruled a kingdom, mind you. Not that she didn't rule... heh. He'd lost his train of thought. What had he been thinking about, again?

Kealey leaned back into him.

Ah yes. He'd been showing her controls. Shin smiled, and snuggled. It was definitely the best way to show off controls. So what if he lost trains of thought due to proximity? Controlling Link was... not that hard. Kealey regained control of Link to prove just that. She insulted the great Mido (as well she should have!), and took on the flowers. She was getting better at this. He smiled a little "Well done."

She found the tree. Talked funny? Yeah. It sure did. Nobody else in the game talked that way. "It's probably used to talking in some ancient language only certain souls can understand... suddenly reminded of another Zelda game where Link can understand the important gibberish only after he's beaten the game once, and does the second playthrough... in his pajamas." Shin liked that game. He was sure Kealey'd like it too. Especially the sailing. All the sailing...

"If you say 'no', the tree makes you say yes." Shin supplied the answer. The game wouldn't be fun if it ended there. Some games actually did.

>> ”I was just talking to this thing…and now it wants me to run in its mouth.”

Shin laughed and hugged Kealey's middle. "Get ready for the first dungeon. Beware. Trees."

Kealey liked the game, and she liked how much Shin liked her liking the game. Then again, maybe it wasn’t her opinion so much as their arrangement on the floor. She breathed a happy sigh, and decided it didn’t matter. School was fun, and so was working in the library at the Mansion, but they were both work. This was what Kealey wanted to do.

As she played, Kealey wondered if she would have enjoyed it half as much without Shin there, talking in her ear and praising her as she learned things. It made her feel a little silly that she was so easily tickled by his compliments, but that’s how it was and she smiled as she played and nodded her head to the descriptions Shin gave of various characters and places.
”Just how many times have you played this game, Shin? You sure know a lot about it.”

Apparently the inside of the tree’s mouth was a ‘dungeon’, and Kealey frowned as she went inside. There was so much to do! And the annoying fairy made sure she knew every little thing there was to look at. Lovely.
She got the Deku nut, she got the map. Jumping was kind of hard and she had to practice a couple times before she got it down, but then she was off, through the door and into the proper dungeon area.

In the first room a little monster thing shot stuff at her out of its nose, and Kealey lost her first little piece of heart. She clicked her tongue against her teeth in frustration and quickly dispatched it…she got a clue for her trouble.
On and on she went, finding many a treasure and making many a comment. The sling shot sure was exciting, because now she could do damage from afar. From there it was through several more rooms, up another vine wall, and into a room with ticking and islands.

She got a recovery heart and got her half-heart back. ”It feels like a bit of a waste…maybe I should have been more daring.” she commented, then proceeded to attack the vicious spider that had dropped in behind her. She got a token, then a compass.

Wow. There was a lot of dungeon left. Kealey wrinkled her nose, ”I don’t like the spiders.”

>>”Just how many times have you played this game, Shin? You sure know a lot about it.”

"Enough," was a vague enough reply. "Not as much as Tetris." Though Tetris was a whole other game.

The game proceeded. It was a decent-sized temple. Once or twice, Shin pointed out things Kealey might have missed otherwise, like the Gold Skulltullas, or the easiest ways to handle spiders. He pointed out a bombable wall for later (spoilers be damned), and told her what those little gold spider tokens could get her. The ability to carry more money. More life. If she got them all, more money than she'd ever know what to do with. Before Kealey knew it, she was falling through the spider web into a hole, and burning down things with flaming sticks. Some sticks burned before she got to the webs. It took a few tries. She got through the tiny portion of temple, and made it to the three Deku brothers.

The three Deku brothers were a silly little puzzle. You had to take them out in order, and the order was a code given to you by scrub brother from another mother. It took Kealey a minute or so to realize. Shin didn't spoil it. He let her figure out. It might have been slightly frustrating, her failing, him smirking behind her, but that was okay~ She figured out the trick, and used the Deku scrub's tip to do the rest. Then, it was on to the boss.

Parasitic Armored Arachnid Gohma! DUN DUN DUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kealey was unimpressed. She’d nearly said something when she’d had to fight the last three jokers. Shin had known what she was supposed to do, Kealey just knew it. He’d just sat behind her and let her struggle though. The blond sighed a bit, she supposed that ultimately the game would be less fun if he told her everything. He’d already helped her a lot anyway, probably more than he should have.

Kealey realized that at some point she’d sat up and away from Shin. Back down she snuggled. If he wasn’t going to tell her exactly how to beat the game, he was going to keep her warm and comfy while she did it.

Kealey smiled. She could handle that deal.

Down she went, further into the dungeon, pushing blocks, burning sticks, setting spider webs on fire, and falling down big holes. She did it all on her own too. She was pleased with herself. Then she got to the little guys who started shooting stuff at her. Seriously?

Up went her shield, and Kealey smirked slightly at the screen as she deflected their shots right back at them. They were stunned and she attacked! Oh, what was this? One of them was not intended to be destroyed. It gave her secrets.

Kealey would use those secrets.

If she could ever find the boss.

No really…where was the boss?

”Where is the boss Shin?”

No response. Kealey’s bottom lip threatened to poke out. Was it really another puzzle?

”Tell me!” she said.

"Look at the ceiling..."

She did. ”Ohhhhh.”

The boss was a spider. A really big…weird…spider. In fact, it didn’t exactly look like a spider, and it only had one eye. Still, Kealey shuddered a bit as she thought about what it would be like to actually face a spider that big. It was a daunting image to say the least.

Up the walls it went. Down went its massive gross hairy spider legs. Kealey dodged, and swung, and shot with her slingshot, losing more and more health. Up she sat again, moving a little with the controller as she struggled in her epic battle. She would not die, could not die. The Deku tree was counting on her!

One final strike and the massive spider fell. ”Yes!” Kealey exclaimed, moving forward to grab the heart-lookin’ thing that it turned out increased her maximum health. Man. That had been intense. She ran to the blue circle of light that would carry her from the dungeon and sagged back against Shin.

”Whew…” she breathed, ”That was kind of intense. Are all the fights like that? Are there more spiders…I don’t know if I’m okay with more spiders.”

It seemed Kealey was an in-battle shifter. She moved as she fought, wriggling around in his lap. Left, right, forwards, back. As she sagged back against him, Shin had but one thought.

This could be a problem...

"Maybe I should... go get the bean bag chair?" He suggested. Bean bag chairs were nice. They were comfortable. He could still help her with the game from the position of the chair, right? Though, this was a really nice arrangement... hmmm...

Indecision.

The Deku tree had died. Kealey frowned about that…she’d killed the spider thing…she’d made it all the way through the dungeon. Why was the tree dying? That was a bit of a disappointment. More than a bit. The cut scene had been neat though, and the Deku tree had given her a mission. She was to keep the Tri-force out of the hands of the man who had cursed him. Kealey took the mission to heart…she wasn’t going to fail.

She was going to hang out right where she was, snuggled into Shin, and she was going to win.

Or was she?

Shin wanted to…go get the bean bag chair?

Kealey turned slightly so she could look at him, ”If you want to…I’m pretty comfortable though.” she did something she’d been too focused on the game to do before. She checked on his emotions.

There was something off, but she couldn‘t quite place it. Kealey tilted her head, suddenly self-conscious.

”What’s wrong? I’m sorry I’m acting so silly…the game…I guess I’m really into it.”

Shin looked at her. She was innocent. It wasn't her fault he was slightly off. She was simply enjoying the game he'd brought her and the seating arrangement he'd offered. She was comfortable, and beautiful, and it wasn't the world's worst seating arrangement. Why had he mentioned the beanie bag chair again?

He could deal with this, for her sake. Shin smiled at her, calmly. "It's nothing." He said. "Though, after you're finished, maybe we could..." Whisper whisper. He leaned forward to say something quietly into her ear. Shin pulled away, 'innocent' smile on his face. He glanced to the game, resting his palms on the carpet, nodded towards it. "You should save your game, by the way. Open the pause menu, press B."

He was innocent. He was giving her helpful Zelda hints, right? Shin smirked.

At first, Shin’s expression was as unreadable as his emotions. Kealey simply couldn’t figure out what was wrong. None of the emotions a person usually associated with something being wrong were there…but there was something.

He was calm, and Kealey was confused when he said it was nothing. There was an it. Something was wrong. And after she was done with the game they could…

Shin whispered in Kealey’s ear.

”Oh…..” she said, eyes widening slightly while a slow grin spread across her features. That’s what it was. Yup, Kealey got it now. Why was she wearing long sleeves? Why was the room so warm? She nodded her head, still looking at Shin. ”Yeah.”

Here she was, in ratty sweats and one of his t-shirts, hair all a mess, and he still felt that way…man, did she love him.

Shin spoke.

Save?

Save what?

”Oh! The game!” she exclaimed, promptly dropping the controller and fumbling to pick it back up. What had he said to do again to save? She failed a few times with different buttons and finally found the right one.

Game saved. She didn’t turn off the console, or unplug anything, just like it said.

Now…the Deku tree was dead, she was supposed to head to the castle….

”Whelp. There we go…all saved up.” she said, suddenly very aware of proximity.

”To…the….castle?” Boy were her cheeks red.

"Well, maybe a game break is in order?" Shin appraised the situation, in his most deliberate and businesslike tone. "They do say you should take one every two or so hours."

He fixed her with a thoughtful look, and awaited her response.

Awkward was very quickly fading into something else, and despite the business like calm of his voice, Kealey could tell that Shin was also feeling something slightly different than he was trying to project.

Apparently it was suggested by…someone…that a person took a game break every couple of hours. It had been quite some time and Kealey smiled, turning back around for a moment to rid herself of the pesky controller. How fortuitous that they were at such a nifty little stopping point.

She stayed that way for a moment longer, thinking of an appropriate response to the question Shin hadn’t really even asked. She figured it out.

In one smooth move, the blond turned around so she was facing Shin, her legs on either side of his. That accomplished with nobody worse for wear, she grinned and leaned forward to give him a kiss, pushing him backwards gently but insistently.

”I think a break is an excellent idea.”

The rest...faded to black with Zelda music playing in the background.

Link rode across the screen some time later. A carrot vanished, and Epona sped up. Kealey was back on her way to adventure, pink hoodie collar askew. Shin sat on a bean bag chair beside her, sipping a soda. He was pleased with how everything had turned out. She'd liked the game. Liked it a lot.

It had really good music, too.

Pretty much everything about the game was great, yup. She had a handle on the controls now, too! He'd given her lots of help. Lots of control help.

Heh. Shin was smirking as he watched her play.

What a wily way to wile away the afternoon