Fandom High Dormitories

When Sidon woke up that morning, his tank runneth over...quite literally, although thankfully not with water, but instead...with fish! He wasn't sure exactly what had happened, beyond perhaps the island being in one of its odd yet generous moods, but there was far more fish that he himself could even eat. Not wanting to let such a bounty go to waste, then, he headed down to the common room to at least prepare some of it to be refrigerated or frozen for later consumption.

Only to discover that the bounty had extended to the common room, as well, only in the form of copious amounts of rice and seaweed.

Well, clearly, this fortitious combination of items called for one thing and one thing alone: an impromptu sushi-making party!

Sidon quickly found his phone and sent a text to anyone he thought might be interested, which could very well have been entirely all of his contacts in his phone:

It appears as though we are full up on all the wonderful components to making an excellent spread of fresh and exquisite sushi! Come and join me in the fourth floor common room if you desire to assist and/or partake in this gloriously delicious undertaking!

If anything, at least Sidon had the firm knowledge in knowing he'd at least eat well for the next couple of days, but this much fish was clearly meant to be shared!

[[ IDK. Come save me from work-related ennui...which may randomly turn in work-related SP. If you want to have received a text, you did! Or just come wandering in, that's good, too! Either way, it's oooopeeennnn! ]]

The weather today looked a little cloudy but warm, and Sidon was contemplating going out to enjoy it when he went into the common room to grab something to eat before he did. And it was there that he happened upon a curious looking hatchling that almost appeared to be Zora, except he was clearly also very much not. Whatever he was, though, he had situated himself in front of the coffee table in front of a large plate of frozen fishstick, surrounded by every single bottle of hot sauce that Sidon could only assume had been previously in the refrigerator. The little one looked very intently down at the plate for a moment before grabbing a bottle, turning it over, and very liberally adding it to the food before taking a bite, humming thoughtfully as he chewed, and then shrugging and going to add more from another bottle.

Until he noticed Sidon standing there, anyway, at which point he turned his head, blinked, and then let out a laugh. "Oh, hello, Father!" he said. "You've shrunk!"

Sidon blinked, realized he'd heard that exact same sentiment from a small blue Zora that bore an eerie resemblance to his sister about a year ago. And now he was hearing it from a small blue not-quite-Zora, with headfins that didn't quite seem like headfins, but now, as he got a closer look at them, certainly did seem to resemble lekku, questing through hot sauces diligently despite none of them seeming to be nearly hot enough.

Sidon was capable of some rather large grins, but it would be difficult to beat the one that spread on his face just then. "Marvelous!" he said, and then he laughed. "But I assure you, little one, it is not I who have shrunk, but rather you who have found yourself a bit back in time. Allow me to join your repast; I have a plethora of questions that I must ask of you, and then we shall go and find your mother. I'm sure she will be absolutely delighted to meet you!"

....delighted might...not exactly be the word, there, Sidon.

But they'd clearly cross that bridge when they came to it.

[[ open common room is so, so, so open! ]]

An awful lot had changed for Sidon in the approximate year between bouts of this particular Fandom quirkiness. Well, perhaps it was really only the one thing, and it was a big one, and, if he was completely honest, the feelings and emotions and sense of utter longing and desire were not too dissimilar to something he'd been feeling for a while now, only...amplified. And at first, he didn't think much of it. It was only natural, after all; here he was, a young, strong, virile prince in his budding prime, wildly, madly in love with the most magnificent, brilliant, astonishing, beautiful, wonderful person he had ever had the honor and privlege to have met. If he didn't wake up every morning absolutely overflowing with passionate feelings in that regard, well, then, something was clearly wrong.

Today, though, he had to admit, there certainly seemed to be something much more in it. An almost overwhelming drive to it, which was say a lot, for him. Perhaps it was just the day. It was warm again, the kind of weather that sent his whole body practically lurching for the sea, yes, yes, a swim would be perfect today, what an excellent use of his energy, diving under the water, testing his speed, his distance, his height as he lept into the water and came crashing down, all the marine life scattering in his wake, except perhaps a few brave, curious ones looking for...

...and that's what stopped him. Yes, all of this energy was quite familiar to him lately, but there was that something extra there that suddenly reminded him of the last time, around this time of year, where he'd spent nearly all his time in the water...

...and there had been...a dolphin.

It was...awkward.

And if he went for a swim now and there were more dolphins, then it was likely to get exponentially more awkward.

Soooo....right. No swimming today! Which was unfortunate, because swimming certainly was one of Sidon's most effective ways of taking care of his energy when his energy was even too energetic for himself. But he had to do something about it, lest he'd wind up tracking down Vette after her class and likely behaving in a way that would be most undignified and un-prince-like.

Behavior he may have spent much longer thinking about just then before, feeling very glad that Zora weren't prone to things like blushing, chastising himself and making a very firm decision for a much more...appropriate alternative.

To the salle! Where some hard work with the long shaft of his trident was sure to help him expend some of this energy in the most beneficial way, to help keep his mind of swimming and dolphins and girlfriends and everything else.

Though, really, it was effectively just him going through the motions aggressively while thinking of a million and one different ways to shower Vette with affection this week. Because she was definitely going to get showered with affection at every opportunity he could find. There was a downright storm coming.

[[open!]]

[[i'm so sorry]]

There was a large red Zora prince sleeping on the couch of the fourth floor common room that morning, because a large red Zora prince's sleeping tank was still full of hot chocolate by the time he was ready for bed. And the couch in the common room seemed a marginally better choice than simply sleeping on the floor.

That margin, it turned out, had been very thin, indeed. But the dull ache of unconventional furniture and the desire to just sit under showers in the bathrooms for a better part of the day wasn't the only thing that eventually brought Sidon out of his not-very-restful slumber. There was also the trio of gremlins standing not too far off to the side, belting out rather loudly and growlingly, something he assumed to be some sort of holiday song.

They were passionate about it, too, Sidon had to admire that, as well as the fact that they seemed far more interested in singing at the moment than attempting to bite him. As well as the last one had managed to turn out for him in the end, he rather appreciated waking up quite himself, although not exactly in the usual place, instead of thinking himself entirely different.

He sat up from the couch, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, and applauding politely as the gremlins seemed to finish their song, getting ready to fend them off if their attentions now turned to chomping. But he relaxed easily as they launched into another one, although now he faced the problem of the fact that it would be terribly rude to get up in the middle of their performance, and so he remained, sitting awkwardly, sleepily, uncomfortably, a tolerating smile plastered on his face as he listened and planned how to execute his escape once they finished with this one.

[[open common room is open!]]

Even though he knew it was just a silly school assignment, one that truthfully didn't have any bearing on anything of any real significance in the world, Sidon couldn't help finding himself wholly dedicated to his little robot baby for Ethics class. Perhaps it was just what happened when you were the product of a war-torn world; his memories of the Calamity were fuzzy, it was true, but there was no denying that he's lost a great deal. All of Hyrule had, and they'd spent decades just trying to rebuild. So new life was precious; every new soul made the hope for the future that much stronger. So he took it seriously, even if he knew deep down it wasn't real. It made him feel better, like he was doing something good, anyway.

Besides, he'd kind of grown a little fond of little Steelquake Hazelburp Gentletoes the Third from the moment he discovered she wouldn't potentially kill him from electrical shock. And in the last twenty four hours, she had quickly become the most spoiled robot baby probably to ever be assigned to a student at this school. He couldn't help it! He wanted to make sure her every little need was met (and not just because the wailing sound they made was really quite terrible). And it wouldn't all be a waste, either, since he planned to ask Miss Syndulla and Mr. Jarrus if they knew of any places on the mainland where he could donate all of Steelquake's things once the assignment was over, so they could then go to another child who might be in need.

He's even taken some time to study up on how humans raised their children, generally, which was a rather broad category, it turned out! But, since he was the parent here, he wanted to make sure she had a good solid Zora upbringing in their short time together, too. And that meant being reared communally, which was why they were going to be spending their time in the common room today, where could set down some blankets and pillows for Steelquake, surrounding her with many of the toys he'd picked up for her, especially the stuffed animals, especially all the ocean themed ones, the fish and the sharks and octopi and crabs, and he certainly hoped Steelquake would have a great love for stories, because stories was what she was getting, eagerly and boldly told with the sea critters dancing in front of her as they became the actors for the marvelous tales he was weaving.

And though it obviously kept her quiet and entertained, it was pretty clear which one of them was enjoying it more.

Spoiler alert: it wasn't Steelquake Hazelburp Gentletoes the Third.

[[fun fact: if you look up the word 'extra' in a Hylian dictionary, it just takes you to a big ol' picture of this guy. Open common room is open!]]

As much as Ariel appreciated the fact that her true love was very eager to get her inside the castle so they could have some time to themselves, she knew there'd be plenty of time for that later, and she didn't want to waste the fact that she could finally use her voice again. She wanted to stay out and about and talk to people, experience the world out of the sea and ask them so many questions, so they worked out a compromise: they'd return to the 'dorms,' as he called them, but they could still stay outside, where hopefully she would meet other people and learn all about them and ask all of her burning questions.

In the meantime, her prince was not nearly as helpful as she would have hoped, as she strung out her endless series of questions between excited, snuggling embraces, adoring little kisses, running her fingers through his soft hair. It was kind of cute, actually, he seemed so embarrassed, but why would he be? He'd broken the curse, clearly they were destined to be together, there was nothing to be embarrassed about! And she did love listening to him, talking about this thing called 'jogging' that he did when she asked about going for long walks, and about food, and animals, and the school, and everything, really.

And so there they were, one large Zora prince thinking he was a very small mermaid princess, clinging adoringly and admiringly to a poor small blonde boy who had clearly resigned himself to his fate and was just praying that the effects of a gremlin bite didn't last too long. Maybe, he hoped, since Sidon was so big, it wouldn't effect him as much? Only time would tell, time which seemed to be stretching out awfully slowly as he tried to laugh it off and play along, and not just die of embarrassment before this was all over.


[[ it's probably a bad idea to post this as soon as I'm about to head into work, but I couldn't not. So totally open, as a deck is wont to be! Vette thread obviously last! ]]

The rains continued to fall over Zora's Domain from the newly awaken Vah Ruta; Sidon knew this deep in his heart, as if he could hear the gentle patter of the droplets on the waters of the kingdom. No rain here, it would seem, though he wished there was. It would help him to feel a little bit better if the weather matched his mood a little better. He tried not to so morose, he had hoped his class earlier would distract him well enough, but it was not meant to be. He was having those dreams again, the ones that surfaced every so often, but not so much while he was here except directly after a trip home. Dreams of his sister, but there was...something else there, too, that he couldn't quite place, that was very different from normal, almost a longing, a calling...and he wasn't sure what to make of it. He didn't feel necessarily bad, either, and he almost always felt a sense of doom when those dreams visited him. This time, it was almost a reassurance, like someone was telling him not to be worried, that it would all be okay.

Very strange, indeed.

Going for a swim, it seemed, only seemed to make him remember more, and whatever it was he felt like searching for certainly wasn't there, either. He decided perhaps to settle for a while on the deck, hope a distraction came in the form of other people passing to and fro from the dormitory, and, in case that hope failed, in the pages of an Earth book relevant to his interests to try to work through to pass the time, half-wondering what it could all mean.

[[ oh, lordy, work is testing me today! Open deck is open! ]]

As usual, Sidon had made arrangement to return to Zora's Domain during the interval between semesters; as much as he loved the island, living on land was so strange and he couldn't help be homesick quite frequently. It would be good to return for a while, and this time by himself so he could simply enjoy being with his people without entertaining his friends, as wonderful as it had been to have them there last time. Besides, his last correspondence with Muzu sounded...a bit troubled. Vah Ruta was...acting strangely, he said, though Sidon wasn't entirely certain what that could mean. Whatever it was, though, perhaps it was best if he could focus on that.

It never took him long to get ready, considering he didn't ever have much to pack, though he did have a small satchel filled with small gifts for his people, nothing special, just toys and trinkets, especially for the little hatchlings. But he still had some time before his portal was ready and he hated being cooped up inside the dorms, especially now that he was feeling anxious and excited. So he was waiting outside on the deck for a little while, contemplating a swim but not wanting to wind up dripping water all over the Portalocity Office floor.

Thankfully, he did have a small puzzle toy that had caught his attention with its bright colors, but those colors, he realized, were quite the lure into a rather complicated and frustrating mess. He'd heard tales of the Ancients making complex puzzles within Shrines for heroes to solve, but if they were even remotely as difficult as this on, why, then, he wondered how Ancient heroes managed to get anything done at all!

[[open! save me from work]]

Being without electricity didn't bother Sidon too much; there wasn't much of it in Hyrule, and what there was (usually in the raw form of lightning) was practically lethal to the Zora. But there was one aspect of it that he'd grown rather used to and found extremely important, especially now that he was without it: heating his sleeping tank. Oh, how he'd taken that small luxury for granted! So now he was sleeping on dry ground, still chilled to the bone, honestly surprised that he didn't have to break a film of ice off the top of the tank with how frigid the water had become.

Thus the reason he'd migrated to the common room, blankets thrown over his shoulders, huddled in front of the TV-turned-fireplace for warmth, eating still-frozen fishsticks out of a bad.

He knew it wasn't likely to be a treat for many people here, but for him, the little delicacy made his current misery somewhat more tolerable.

[[open common room is open!]]

The weather was still a little chilly, but it was raining a little, so it would have been rather foolish for Sidon to keep himself in the much drier indoors. He didn't suspect he'd have much company, but he was also quite satisfied to just stand on the edge of the deck, looking out at the preserve and just enjoying the rejuvenating feel of water all over his lately-too-parched skin.

If this was what the end of winter was like around here, then he had to admit, he was a very big fan of it!

[[I wrote this up to appear busy to avoid an annoying customer, hum hum hum. But it's totally open, though there might be some SP due to more training stuff at work]]

Take it easy, the staff at the clinic had said. Let yourself heal, they said. No problem, Sidon had said, flashing a grin and a pump of his fist that sent his injured shoulder screaming and him falling back on the pillow with pain.

So he was going to take it easy. But taking it easy, he was discovering, was not so easy at all!

He wanted to fight; he wanted to train and get better because Sunday had been far too close of a call for comfort, and he kept hearing Mipha's soft, proud voice in his head, Sweet Sidon, should fate ever part us, I'm counting on you...to protect our beloved home from harm.

I believe in you.

What if Breq hadn't been there? Who would protect Zora's Domain if he had perished so young and foolishly? He needed to be stronger, he needed to be smarter.

And he needed to heal. That, just then, was the hardest part for him, and he was getting restless staying in his tank all day, and he couldn't really swim because it would be too taxing for his body and too cold right now anyway. He could eat, though, and he had some sushi he'd picked up on the way home waiting in the fridge, and he had decided it might be a good time to brush up on his English reading, so he had a terrifyingly good book to keep him distracted. He knew things got a little quieter in the breaks between semesters, but perhaps someone would be about and keep him company eventually if he curled up on the couch (well..."curl" was a very...relative word in his case) in the common room for a bit to pass a little time.

And heal.

[[open common room is open!]]