"Excuse me? May I please have a bed for the night?" I asked a younger woman, in her mid-twenties. She looked me once over before smiling sweetly. "Of course!" She said, signing my name in the registry and telling me to choose any bed that was empty. Climbing into the farthest single bed, I planned on tomorrow's events. First, I had to meet up with Robbie and Purah. When should I do that though? My first thought was to meet them bright and early, but they don't seem like morning people, so maybe late morning, or early afternoon? 'That will work,' I thought as I untied my corset, 'So maybe I should do some of my shopping before I go to the lab... Yeah I'll do that.' After that, I fell asleep, wondering how much progress they made.
                          
The next morning, I woke up bright and early. Tightening my loose fitting corset, I walked out and headed toward the stable to give my beautiful steed a couple of apples to tide them over. Barely anyone was awake, which meant I could get stuff done sooner. Patting (H/N)'s mane, I walked over to the Ventest Clothing Boutique. I opened the door to be greeted by a woman and a man. "Welcome! Please take your time!!" Thanking them, I started to browse. The Hylian Outfit looked the most promising. Even though it wasn't armor, it would be more comfortable to fight and travel in. Adding up the price, the tunic and the shorts only costed two hundred ten rupees. What a deal! I gathered my supposed size and brought it to the counter. "That will be two hundred ten rupees dear." Placing the small gems down, I asked if there was a room where I could change. "Use the side room dear." Thanking her, I walked to the side room and finally put on something that wasn't a dress for once! Sure, I was technically wearing pants with the Snowquill Armor, but it came with a dress as well so... that kind of defeats the point.
                          
"Thank you for letting me change in the side room. I really needed to get out of that corset!" I laughed, making the woman laugh with me. What I can only guess was her husband didn't understand the full context of the little complaint. Thanking her and her husband again, I walked out of the boutique and walked across the way to the East Wind General Store. I grabbed some arrows and food, idly placing them on the counter.
                          
"Not a big eater huh?" The clerk asked sarcastically, chuckling to himself. I smiled at him.
                          
"You never know what your last meal is going to be, am I right?" The clerk chuckled again giving everything back to me.
                          
"Wise words from a smart girl." I giggled at his words, "Now that comes to... one hundred rupees, Miss." As I was taking out the money from my poach, the man snickered again, "You know, there is a handsome young man that lives around here. He's not in Hateno often due to him being a knight and all, but when he is in the village, he will purge the entire inventory of the shop. I heard he is coming back this afternoon for a small break, so you are lucky to get something in your stomach before he devours everything."
                          
"Everything you say?!" I gasped, regretting how loudly I said that. "Sorry for being so loud! I didn't mean to."
                          
"It's alright. It is pretty shocking, and I am pretty sure it didn't disturb anybody." The man smiled before speaking again, "Anyhow, I haven't seen you around here before, so you must be visiting somebody. Or maybe looking for a new home perhaps?"
                          
"No, I am here to visit the tech lab on some important business. The heads of the technology are helping me with some research, so I came here all the way from Rito Village." I rambled, not feeling ashamed about being able to talk to people. I have gotten increasingly good at socializing. 
                          
"Oh, so you must be Cherry than," The clerk stated, which made my cheeks redden, "Robbie comes down here a lot to get away from the lab. He always goes on and on about things that he is doing, but when he came to Hateno this time, he could only talk about you and the research he is doing to help you with your dilemma, whatever that means. I have barely heard a peep about what they're actually doing up there this time around. Which is great! For once, I actually know what in Hylia he is talking about!!" I laughed awkwardly, paying the man what I owe and packing up my food before leaving the store.
                          
The village, that was once empty due to the early hour, was crowded with people once I exited. At first, I was taken aback by the sudden populace taking every square inch of the beaten and worn street, but I shrugged my shoulders before entering the busy traffic. Was I used to it yet? Of course not, but no one truly is. The stream of traffic slowly died down the closure I got to the lab, until I was all alone. From the distance I was at, I heard faint screaming and shouting. I continued to walk toward the building anyway. At the door, I hesitated to knock. The screaming was much louder, and it sounded like a bomb was about to go off in the non-disfigured building. Before I could knock, the door opened suddenly and shut almost immediately afterwards. Robbie was then sandwiched in between me and the door. His hidden eyes must have been closed because it took a while for him to recognize my presence. It was a long five seconds.
                          
"Cherry?!" The genius eccentric exasperated, almost as if it was a question. I didn't notice it at the time, but Robbie's cheeks were tinted a slight shade of pink and were slowly reddening to make a tomato red hue. Finally noticing how close I was to the genius eccentric, I took a step back and awkwardly coughed into my hand, "Why don't we go for a little walk? I'll tell you the news as we do so!"
                          
"Are you sure Robbie? There is a lot of screaming going on in there." As if on cue, a scream came from the other side of the door. The voice was feminine, so it was most likely belonging to Purah. It yelled, 'Robbie, if you don't get back in this lab-' Robbie grabbed onto my wrist firmly before speed walking down the winding road, "That seemed... important."
                          
"Don't worry, Cherry. Purah is just fussing over a reactor with a couple missing pieces. Last time I checked, it was in stable condition so everything should be-" Suddenly a monstrous explosion blew up inside of Hateno Tech Lab. Everything seemed to be intact. I had expected Robbie to run back to the lab, but he kept his same pace down the road, "-fine..." There was a moment of silence. Nothing could be heard except the sounds of our shoes brushing against the compounded dirt and gravel that is the road. Robbie's rough, calloused hand was still holding my wrist. I wanted to say something, but it didn't seem like Robbie wanted to talk. This gave me a bad feeling. Not knowing what else to do, I managed to softly remove my hand from his wrist and lower it to his hand. Holding hands is something friends do, right? I squeezed his hand in reassurance, letting him know that whatever he had to say, I would understand.