Princess Ruto

Zelda found the Zora Princess waiting right outside her room. Ruto was beautiful by any standard, Zora or Hylian, and while Zelda didn't know how many men would be interested in a girl with fins, Ruto had more than enough curves to make anyone overlook that.

"Princess Ruto," Zelda said, trying to hide how underdressed she felt. "It's a pleasure to see you. You look well."

Ruto looked her up and down, and Zelda struggled to avoid looking at her own attire and revealing her own discomfort. "Funny outfit," Ruto said. "Aren't Hylians usually more …" She gesticulated, trying to find the right word, "draped?"

Zelda supposed that to a Zora, a dress might look much like a curtain. "My usual attire is suitable for dry land, but little else. While here, I decided to wear something more practical."

Ruto raised an eyebrow. Zora's didn't technically have eyebrows, but they had patterns of colored scales that served the same purpose. "Practical how?"

She hesitated, but only for a moment. "I cannot swim well in a dress."

"So those clothes help you swim?" she asked, examining Zelda's bikini. Her head drew uncomfortably close to parts of her anatomy, and her gaze lingered a bit too long on the knotted strings that held it in place.

"Um …"

"You'll have to swim with it and without it to know for sure."

"On a far more important note," Zelda said, trying to change the subject. "How are you doing? I haven't seen you since your kingdom thawed."

"Oh, I'm just great. Of course, Dad wanted me to 'entertain' you until dinner time. He thinks we're friends or something."

"Ah," Zelda said, nodding. "You haven't told him otherwise?"

"Oh, I've told him alright. I told him I wish you'd fall down a well, but he thought I was joking or something."

The sentiment hardly surprised her. Their fathers, the kings of Hyrule and the Zoras, assumed that since their daughters were princesses and the same age, they'd get along, but Zelda had several childhood memories of Ruto splashing her with water while Zelda tried to shield the book she was reading.

Still, they weren't children anymore (though Ruto sometimes acted like it). They were mature, rational adults, and perfectly capable of putting the past behind them. "Well, I see no reason why we can't be civil with each other," Zelda said. "Let's start fresh. Princess Ruto, your earrings look lovely."

They did. The pair of amethysts that hung from her ears matched her violet eyes. "Okay, thanks. I think your, um …" She paused just enough to make her compliment insulting. "Your ribbons look nice."

With that, Ruto reached her hand out for Zelda's hip, grabbing onto the thin string that held her bottoms up. One tug was all it would take to change Zelda's outfit from skimpy to obscene, and she felt her heart skip a beat. She snatched the knot before Ruto could pull it free.

"Please don't," Zelda said. "You have no idea how hard it is to get those, um, ribbons just right." She **** a smile, and Ruto shrugged, but she had the faint impression that Ruto had seen through her calm facade and smirked, just a little bit.