Work Text:
You sure they won't be mad?" Wind giggled, in a whisper.
"Were you?" Malon giggled along with the boy as she continued to stir around the paint.
The sailor looked over in the mirror that was displayed in the hallway. On his baby face was red and blue paint in the same pattern as Time's permanent tattoos.
"Not really!" Wind had awoken that morning to the feeling of a brush on his face.
Malon had decided today was the perfect day to prank her boys, and what better prank than to make them look like their adoptive father figure. Her first victim was the sailor who she had not expected to be such a light sleeper. He woke up two seconds after the brush met his face but let Malon finish the prank first.
Now he was her partner in crime. Since all of the heroes were light sleepers, and Wild normally slept with one eye open. The two would need to work fast.
The youngest went into maximum stealth mode taking the lightest of light sleepers, Legend, Wild, Hyrule, and Wars. The boy didn't want to risk any of them pulling a knife out on their leader's wife. While Malon took, Sky, Twilight, and Four.
Both partners barely breathed as they walked into the quiet room, only filled with the sounds of shallow breaths and a few members' soft snores. As each put their brush on the young one's faces. They didn't even realize they were marking them with the symbol of the Fierce Deity.
After what felt like an eternity, and with many pauses to make sure none woke up. They had made it to their final victim, Twilight. The sailor tapped on the red-haired woman's shoulder. Taking his finger pointing to the red paint, before tracing a nonexistent tattoo that was supposed to look like the Ranchers.
By a well-educated guess, Malon figured out what the boy meant.
'Go over Twilight's tattoo with red then mark him with blue.'
The ranch women couldn't help but give a bit of a gremlin grin. Before doing what the youngest advised. Successfully going over Twilight's normal tattoo.
In that second Twilight decided to be a being of chaos as well. Beginning to move in his sleep, scaring the living daylights out of both perpetrators.
The rancher's body began to stretch as his eyes fluttered.
Wind looked to Malon, eyes screaming 'Abort abort! Mission failed!'
Only Malon refused to fail. It wasn't in her being. They would finish pranking all these boys.
She opened her lips and a soft melody came out.
A lullaby that the Sailor had decided sounded like wind chimes on a breezy morning as the ocean waves crashed against the sturdy land.
The melody did the trick, as Twilight's body relaxed once again.
The crime gremlins waited for a few ticks before continuing. When they did they were like lighting. Malon painted the deity markings, and Wind opened the door with the tools of their crime in his hand.
Once Malon finished they scurried through the door shutting it quietly as a mouse.
They had done it!
Large grins spread across each face and the pair shuffled into the kitchen quickly cleaning off the brushes and storing the paint back into its designated shelf.
Both giggling all the while.
Now comes the hardest part.
Waiting.
Both parties started to work on breakfast, knowing chaos would soon ensue.
"Who do you think will come out first!" Wind was all but bouncing. As he placed wood into the furnace.
"My money's on the champion." Malon smiled as she mixed some batter.
"That's hard to beat, my money be on him as well, that or the Traveler. He told me that you have to be up early if you want to survive."
The older woman paused, those weren't the words of a teen. That troubled her, hopefully, her little prank would soften the hearts of her sons.
The pair continued to work and like clockwork, the champion, shuffled his way into the kitchen big yawns escaping from his mouth.
“Morning,” he blinked the sleep away from his eyes.
“Morning sweety,” Malon hummed.
“Rise and shine champ!” Wind beamed.
Wild was taken aback by the boy and his painted face. “Ummm Sailor, you have something on your–”
“Oh, hun!” Malon cut wild off, winking at him.
The wheels in the wild child’s brain started turning before the torch lit up. Feeling his own face for the paint. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”
Wind beamed at the older, mischievous expressions lined their faces. Wild joined in on the waiting game.
One by one, like lambs to the slaughter each hero entered. Never realizing their face was painted, but rather noticing the others. Before in shock, touching their own. Malon and Wind giggled with amusement.
Malon thanked the three golden goddesses above that Time was the last one awake. All the boys quickly got into position. All sitting around the table eating their breakfast, they all agreed that they act like everything was normal. That nothing was the matter.
“Finally, I can prank the unprankable.” Malon smiled brightly.
“He’s that big of a stick in the mud?” Sky question.
“No, quite the opposite.” The captain corrected, having war flashbacks.
“Shhhhh shhh I think I hear him coming.” Four waved his hands to calm everyone down.
Right on cue, time entered the kitchen, head down as he was fixing his belt.
Wind attempted to make a normal conversation. “Good day, lad! We were just talking with Mrs. Malon about what our morning jobs should be.”
A wave of good mornings followed.
Time chuckled as he looked up. “Were you now–?” The old man paused. Trying to figure out what was wrong with reality.
“Everything okay old man?” Twilight asked kindly.
“Yeah, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Wars added on.
Time kept staring.
Malon was now worried, did she cross a line? “Sweetheart?”
Time let out a hearty laugh, the contagious kind, one that echoes. “See Malon! I told you these are all our boys! Look at them they’re, the spitting image of me!”
All the heroes joined in on the laughter.
Malon shook her head. “That might be true,” she pulled Wind into a side hug, “but they definitely got my personality!’
They ended up taking a family photo that day.