Waking of Saturday, April 15, 2017
“I found Gorignak,” said David.
I just said, “Ah!” and we looked at
each other for a moment, both of us knowing I was afraid of spoilers—from
either end.
“It’s probably the same one you
found,” David said, “I’m pretty sure.”
The words were so confidently weighted.
I still didn’t say anything.
“Where did you find yours?” he
pressed, “It’s fine.”
“....The South Dueling Peak,” I finally
said, “Just below the frost line.”
“Yeah. That’s where I found it.”
“And it asploded into a million
Ambers.”
“Yup.”
“You know,” I went on, “I remember
coming upon that field, and thinking This
just LOOKS like a place for a boss fight....”
David laughed.
He’s ahead of me in the game I
think. Sometimes I’ll come in the door and hear things I know I shouldn’t be
hearing, whereupon I’ll plug my ears and dash away to my room. Other times I
have to occupy the same space out of necessity, making a lunch or something,
and I’ll just refrain from looking at the TV, and he’ll keep from initiating
any important cutscenes. It’s easy enough, until David starts reacting in
blustering whattheheckitude at whatever he is seeing.
At one such time I stood where I
could not see the TV, just David’s face. He’d just ascended some kind of big,
bald, sand-stony mountain I think, and from the sounds he made and the faces he
pulled, you’d think he’d just come upon a giant marble statue of Tingle.
“Gold, actually,” he said.
“Gold statue of Tingle?”
“Yes.”
It’s.... maddening.
“I really want to watch you play this part when you get here,” he told
me.
Sometimes I’ll watch him play, but
only when he’s in places I’ve already been.
I saw him climbing around Zora’s
Domain. Ralis Pond, actually! He barely saw the Hinox in time before blundering
into it (it was raining). He climbed all over until he paraglided down onto the
bridge and into the Domain proper.
And Rivan and Dunma were the first Zoras he had ever laid eyes on.
“What?” I was incredulous. “HOW? How did you even—? Where did you
even come from?”
“The south,” David said, “It took
me a really.... REALLY long time.”
I told him I’d let him watch me
play that other part, if some day he would show me just how in the world he
made it all the way into the heart of Zora’s Domain without bumping into any
Zora.
And he had to climb down to get to the Lanayru Tower,
because he had never even been to the wetlands.
What in the.... just.... ?
One thing I was sad about for him
though was that once he did climb
Lanayru Tower, Gruve was not at the top. He didn’t get to see that little
exchange. Pity.
Sometimes I’ll watch him play even
when he’s just near enough to places
I’ve already explored.
I saw him sail far out to an island
off the coast near Hateno Village once.
(That was probably when I developed
Korok Leaf Envy.)
But ah, what another charming
animation we found there—have you ever tried to kick open a treasure chest when
you have no shoes on your feet?
Oh dear me. Poor Link! X-)
Made us laugh something grand.
We try not to spoil each other, but
we’re okay with giving each other little hints, I think. There were electric
green chuchus on that island—the first I’d seen in the game—and I passed on
Joseph’s warning that those kind blow up.
David appreciated that. He also was glad for the tip I gave him on just setting
bombs down beside those hidden land-bound octoroks, and then backing up and
blowing them up once they show their ugly faces.
And of course I was happy for the
extra brainstorming he offered when I was stuck inside Vah Ruta.... and a few
shrines....
But there is one thing he always—
Actually there are probably a lot
of things he makes fun of me for.
But there is one thing so constant, that his opportunities to poke fun at me for
it are far more numerous than the
rest, and that is that.... sometimes when I play the game, my palms sweat more
profusely than they’ve ever done before in my LIFE.
As a matter of fact, after I
started the game, my palms seemed to oversweat wherever I was—for like two
weeks straight. Probably longer.
I did feel slightly vindicated once
he started his game file, and said to
me at one point as he scaled a giant cliff face, “I can see why your hands
sweat.”
But he still digs me for it when I
get it going bad.
Very occasionally, my father has
seen me play this game. And simply due to the law of averages, he’s therefore
seen my hands sweat too.
I’ll keep pausing and apologizing
for no reason as I wipe my palms down on my sleeves or the front of my
shirt....
And Dad will always say “We’ll have
to get you some flight gloves.”
And I’ll laugh.
Or.... that’s how it used to go.
Because on this day, Dad made sure
to watch me, and beckon me, as I came up and looked at the entertainment center
cupboard where my WiiU lives. Because he wanted to see how I would react.
Because there draped over the cupboard door were two long green flight gloves.
“What?” I laughed. :D
“Those are for you!” he smiled.
“What the heck??” I laughed some more.
“Try ‘em on! They’re brand new.”
I did.
“Oh they fit great. You look awesome.”
“Where did you even get these?”
“At the store where helicopter
pilots know to look for flight gloves.”
“What the heck, Dad?” XD XD
We hugged.
The flight gloves happened to match
the mud-green T-shirt I’d been wearing.
And they came halfway up my
forearms.
I felt like a superhero.
He used to do a lot of search and
rescue, Dad did.
Maybe that’s why.... I’d been trying so long.... so hard....
Had it somehow become.... a
familial trait?
Was
it just something in my blood?
