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"What's the matter, little one?"
Four whined again, tears brimming in their eyes as Time guided their hands through the sleeves of their sweater. Their fingers were cold to the touch, a striking contrast to Time's warm palms. Time briefly wondered if that was the issue; it hadn't been long since the fire was kindled, and the house was still rather cold.
"Are you cold, baby?" he asked, tugging the hem down.
Four made another noise, this one far more sad than the first two. Time sighed. Were it anyone but one of his boys, he'd remind them of the importance of using their words, but he knew that Four's silence was often intentional.
"Okay, let's do this another way- why don't you show me what else you'd like to put on?" Time smiled warmly. "Then we can go outside and play!"
Four tilted their head, peering over at the Very Scary-Looking pile of winter clothes. They bit back a frightened whimper, tilting forward against Time's chest. He gave them a pitying little look but wrapped a hand around their thin, trembling shoulders.
"Are you overwhelmed, jellyfish of mine?" He asked after a moment, getting a feeble nod in return. Four's hands tightened in the front of Time's sweater. The man hadn't quite finished getting ready yet, not before all of his babies were bundled up.
If he were to admit, the pile did look rather overwhelming. Coats, socks, pants, draped with thick scarves. It surely looked quite frightening for one so small.
"Oh, it's okay, Four," he soothed, running a hand over Four's head, untangling the little snarls left over from playing with Legend and Wars earlier that morning.
"No, 't's not," they mumbled, pouting.
Contemplative, Time gently patted Four's back. He was unsure how to go about this, how to get Four into their snow clothes in the least scary way possible.
"...Can't do 't on m'own," his little fish whimpered. "'t's t' much."
"You want some help, then?" Time whispered, pressing a fond little kiss to his fish's brow.
Four nodded, sniffling weakly.
"That's alright," Time told him. "We can do it together."
Four's eyes widened, something in their gaze shifting in awe. Time smiled warmly, gesturing towards the pile. "Go on, go get that coat to put over your sweater, then you'll be extra warm!"
Nervously but curiously, Four padded over to the pile of clothes. They tugged a sleeve until they pulled a coat out of the pile, stumbling back with the heavy garment in hand. They turned to Time, a triumphant little smile on their face.
"Good job, baby," Time laughed, reaching over to ruffle Four's hair gently.
Four mouthed nervously at their hands as Time worked diligently to bundle up his little fish. To Four's credit, they were easy to work with as he pulled on each layer.
"Arms up, baby," Time gently instructed, and Four struggled to part with the hand they had in their mouth. Still, Four was obedient to a fault. Pouting, they lifted their arms weakly, elbows bent. "I know, I know." Time frowned in sympathy. "We're almost done, alright?"
"But I wanna- I wanna play." Impatient little tears began to prickle at the corners of their eyes.
"And you will soon enough, little fish." Time reminded them. "We're just going to get your scarf and boots on, and then we'll be ready to go! Isn't that exciting?"
Four made a little noise. It wasn't an excited little chirp, like Wars' exclamations of happiness.
"What's wrong, urchin?" Time asked. He briefly lifted his hands from Four's shoulders, worried that the touch, even through the thick sweater, might be overwhelming.
"I'm." They sniffled. "Time, 't's just so m'ch." They gestured helplessly at the thick layers.
Their tone sounded closer to when they were big, rather than his usual fits when he was small. Even the use of Time's name rather than his usual Papa was something Time couldn't ignore if he tried. Something in Time shifted, broke as Four brought a hand to their face, frail fingers already wiping at the tears that began to spill.
Heart heavy, Time pulled them into a warm embrace, willingly offering his shoulder to be stained with tears. He did his best to help Four settle, to recalibrate from the stress their poor mind was under.
"I know, I know, baby," he soothed, hoping the words could help Four back into their headspace and away from panic. "Shh, now. It's okay, you're doing so well, little one."
"I-" they hiccuped. "P-papa."
"Papa's right here, I'm not going anywhere," Time soothed. "We can take a break before finishing putting on the rest of our snow gear, little fish of mine."
After a few minutes, he helped them into the rest of their winter clothes. Thankfully it was fairly easy; he kept Four's scarf loose, though the boy was easily enough enamoured by the soft material and didn't complain. The crying had mostly stopped as Time fussed with their boots, tying the laces as Four mouthed at his scarf, sniffling occasionally.
By the time he zipped up his coat and pressed each of the buttons into place, Four had fully calmed down.
Time stepped back a bit to appraise his work, but mostly to coo internally at the sheer difference in size between the coat and his little one. Not for long, though; right now, Four was operating near-fully on touch-based needs, which meant that they wouldn't be letting go of him for a good while.
"All done, little one," he told them. "You did so well."
Four rocked back and forth on their heels, a little smile on their face as they clicked their boots on the floor.
"Play?" they murmured, voice quiet.
"Play!" Time gently parroted. "But first, we need to help your other brothers get ready. Do you think you can help me?"
Four nodded, a determined glint in their eye. Time glanced around the room, noting that most of his boys were nearly ready to go out- except for Legend, who was still standing by the window, as he had been since it was announced it was snowing earlier that morning.
"Little bunny," someone called from behind Legend. His ear twitched, but he didn't look away from the window, "Bunny," they called again.
"Mm?"
"Do you want to go out in the snow with us?"
He nodded, watching the snow sparkle in the late-morning sun. He bounced a little, excited, but stayed where he was.
There was a sigh, the sound fond, before footsteps approached and then there was a warm hand between his shoulders. He leaned into it with a happy sound, eyes still on the window. The voice chuckled.
"If you want to play in the snow, you have to actually go out in it."
Legend groaned but pried himself away from the window. Time was behind him, hand resting on Legend's back and a fond smile on his face, his other hand holding Four's.
"Baba, snow!" Legend pointed to the window. Time's face did that funny thing it did whenever Legend called him that but he nodded, still smiling.
"Yes, bun. Snow. You want to go outside?"
Legend nodded.
"We need to bundle up to do that, then. Come on, let's go get ready." Baba steered him away from the window and towards the large pile of winter gear by the door, Four trotting along on his other side.
Legend tried not to squirm or fuss too much as Baba helped him get ready, but he wanted to go outside! He wanted to play in the snow now, not wait to get all these layers on!!!
Baba had him put on long, thick socks, woolen leggings, and then thick pants over top. Then came a jacket, then a bigger coat, then a scarf, hat, earmuffs, and finally gloves.
By the end of it Legend was flushed and itching to go outside in the cold just so he wasn't so warm (but not actually itchy, because Baba made sure all of his clothes were soft and comfy and wouldn't bother him).
Baba pulled him into a hug and pressed a kiss to his brow that Legend leaned into before pulling away to put on his own winter things. Then he moved to help Warriors, who was struggling to button up his coat and seemed to be on the verge of tears. Four toddled after, clinging to Baba's coat with one hand and mouthing at the glove on the other. Legend could just hear Baba murmuring, 'It's alright, little fox, there we go,' as he deftly closed up Wars' coat and went to loop his blue scarf around his neck.
Wars shook his head and Legend watched Baba frown.
"Nuh-uh."
"You need a scarf if you're going outside, little fox."
"Don't want it. You wear it."
Baba paused and several of their brothers cooed. After a moment Baba shook his head. "Alright, how about this? You wear my scarf and I'll wear yours."
Wars chewed his lip for a moment before nodding. Baba was quick to wrap his grey scarf around him, making sure it was nice and snug before wrapping Wars' blue scarf around his own neck.
"There we go, little fox. Ready to go out?"
Wars hesitated, looking nervous. Baba sighed and Legend moved closer to tug on his coat.
"Baba, outside."
"I know, bunny. We'll get there."
Legend pouted and stomped impatiently, which only got him a stern look and a hand on his arm holding him in place.
"Patience." Baba's voice was quiet but stern and Legend stilled. He clenched his hands and stared at the floor, cheeks warm. His ears pressed back against his head as Baba continued to fuss over Wars. He just wanted to go outside and play, but instead he was standing here like a scolded child. He felt tears burn his eyes and bit his lip in an effort to stay quiet and keep anyone from noticing his upset.
It wasn't until a hand landed on his shoulder that he looked up to find Baba kneeling in front of him, looking concerened.
"What's wrong, bun?" Baba sounded so worried. Legend looked away, biting his lip harder to keep back the whimper that wanted to escape. He flinched as a warm hand cradled his cheek, gently turning his head back and wiping away a tear he hadn't realized had fallen. "Can you tell me why you're upset?"
Trembling, Legend shook his head. It was stupid; he shouldn't be throwing a fit just because he was told to be quiet and not given attention for a few minutes.
"Bun- Legend, look at me, please."
He tried to turn away again but a gentle hold on his chin kept him in place. He flicked his eyes away instead, unable to look at Baba and see the worry there.
"Little one, please. What's wrong?"
Legend's breath hitched and he felt another tear trace its way down his cheek. "It's'tupid."
"It can't be stupid if it's making you upset." He whined, and Baba wiped away the new tear. "Is it because I was helping Wars?" Legend shrugged. "...Little one, I can only do so much at a time. I'm sorry that made you feel like I wasn't giving you the attention you need. Would you like a hug?"
Legend sniffled, biting his lip again before nodding hesitantly. Baba was quick to pull him close and he let out a shaky breath, hiccuping as he clutched at Baba's coat. They stayed there for a minute before Legend felt calm enough to pull away, sniffling and wiping at his face. Baba gave him a kiss on the brow and stood, taking his hand- Four quickly latching on to Baba's other side- leading him to the door as he rummaged through one of his coat pockets. Legend watched curiously as he pulled out a small bag that smelled faintly of citrus and sugar.
"Little fox, time to go outside," Baba called softly. Wars looked up and Legend saw the moment he noticed the bag. Wars' head tilted and he came closer, ears perked and eyes wide. Baba stepped back and Wars followed. Step by step, they made it through the door and outside, but Wars hesitated in the doorway.
Baba juggled the bag for a moment before pulling out a single piece of candied orange.
Wars' eyes went round and he took a single step forwards. Legend watched as Baba led him out of the house and into the snowy yard, holding on to Baba's sleeve the whole way and holding back laughter. Wars looked like a silly puppy being trained with treats.
Finally they stood in the middle of the yard and Baba gave Wars the orange candy with a proud "Good job, little fox."
Wars took it with a pleased flush to his cheeks. Now that the fun was over Legend decided he wanted to find something else to do. Glancing around, he saw everyone else was outside, except for Wild and Sky.
Four was still clinging to Baba, but he liked quiet play, so Legend decided to leave him alone.
Wind and Rulie were a little ways off, by the pond around the side of the house. Legend couldn't tell what they were doing but it looked fun.
He tugged on Baba's sleeve, pointing towards the pond when he glanced down at him. "Play."
Baba flicked his gaze in that direction before nodding. "Have fun, bunny. Come get me if you need anything, alright?"
Legend nodded seriously and Baba sent him off with a playful ruffle of his hair that Legend grumbled about but didn't protest. Fixing his hat, he made for the pond. They were doing... something, pointing at it and arguing- playfully, Legend checked. He sidled up next to Hyrule and watched them for a few moments. It seemed like they were... looking for rocks?
He grabbed Hyrule's sleeve and tugged. "What're you doin'?"
Hyrule jumped before realizing who it was and smiled. "We're looking for some good rocks to throw in the pond."
Legend considered this for a moment.
"C'n I join?"
"Sure!" Wind grinned.
Together, the three of them scoured the ground around the pond, clearing away the snow with great sweeps (and maybe throwing some at each other). In a few minutes they had a small pile. They stood there catching their breaths for a moment, cheeks flushed from the exercise. Then Wind lifted a sizable rock and hefted it over his head before throwing it onto the ice with a 'HYAH!'
There was a sharp crack-ing sound and the three of them watched as the rock lodged itself in the middle of the pond. Wind let out an impressed whistle.
"How thick is that ice?"
Hyrule grinned mischievously. "Wanna find out?"
Wind and Legend grinned back at him. They all grabbed rocks and threw them into the pond, relishing in the sharp cracks! and hollow thumps! Some lodged in the ice, like the first one, while others skated across the surface or bounced particularly high.
The grand finale came when Hyrule threw the biggest rock of all and it landed directly in the the center of the pond, right on top of the rock Wind had thrown- the ice cracked and shattered like a sheet of glass and Legend shrieked as sparkling shards sprayed outwards from the force of it.
Beside him, Hyrule was staring with a grin that grew bigger and more wild by the moment while Wind whooped and cackled with delight.
"Now that's what I'm talkin' about!"
"What in the world is going on over there?" Baba called and Legend jumped. He'd forgotten his other brothers were out here too! He spun on his heel and dashed over to where Baba, Four, and Wars were sitting on the bench by the side of the house.
"Baba! Baba! Did you see? We threw rocks at th' pond an' it went crack! An' some of 'em bounced real high an' then it broke into a million pieces!!! An' it went pshhh! an' it was all sparkly an' pretty an'- an'-"
He had to stop to breathe in his excitement. Baba was smiling warmly when he looked up, his one eye twinkling in a way Legend knew meant he was amused. Beside him, Four and Wars were staring wide-eyed at the pond.
"Are you hurt anywhere?" Baba asked, and Legend blinked.
"No...?" He didn't think so, at least.
Baba didn't look satisfied with his answer and beckoned him closer to put gloved hands on his cheeks and look him over. Legend huffed but stood still until Baba let him go with a nod.
"I'm glad you're having fun, but try to be careful, alright?"
Legend heaved a sigh. "Yes, Baba."
Baba chuckled and ruffled his hair, making him squawk.
"Alright then, off with you. Unless you want to stay and hang out with us?"
Legend hummed in thought. He'd been having fun, but now he was warmer than he liked in all his layers. Maybe hanging out for a little bit was a good idea. He nodded and plopped down next to Four on Baba's right. Sitting down made him realize just how hard he'd been breathing and he leaned back against the house to catch his breath. He watched it cloud in the cold air for a few minutes as he caught his breath.
He was seeing how big a cloud he could make when Wars let out a funny little noise. Legend turned to see him wriggling in place and staring at a pile of snow, where the wind had pushed it up against the house. Wars pushed himself up, a little clumsily, and made for the snowdrift. Legend followed, curious.
Wars stood in front of the snowdrift, staring intently and wriggling- a bit like a cat about to pounce, Legend realized. He had a moment to wonder if Wars had seen something before his brother was jumping straight into the snowdrift, head first.
Legend barked a laugh and copied him without a second thought. It looked fun! Also he was still too warm and this seemed like the perfect way to cool down.
He hit the snow with a muffled thwumpf. He wriggled for a moment before realizing he hadn't quite thought it through- his arms were pinned to his chest and snow was in his face and sneaking down his neck and he didn't want to be here actually.
Legend gave a frustrated huff and wriggled again, kicking his legs in an attempt to free himself. There was muffled talking behind him and he kicked again.
His foot connected with something solid.
"What was that?" Four asked, peering up his Papa, blinking expectantly a few times.
"Hmm. I'm not sure." Time glanced off at the birds that hurriedly fled from a nearby tree. "What are you making, little fish?"
"Um- It's a- a… I dunno." They frowned softly, tucking their chin and pouting underneath their scarf.
"Don't be fussy, little one." Time hummed, crouching down on the snow to meet Four at height from where they sat on their folded legs.
The snow crunched beneath Time's weight, and the man stifled a groan as he slowly lowered himself down. Four's upset petered off to a sudden snicker, a gloved hand pointing at Time as he smiled brighter than the Sun.
"What's so funny?" Time smiled warmly.
"You!" They giggled before scooping up more snow with gloved, little hands. "You make funny noises."
"Oh, do I now?"
"Uh-Huh." Four stuck out their tongue as they clumsily molded the snow into a small hill.
"When is that, then?" Time patted a warm hand on Four's shoulder. He doubted the boy could feel the touch from underneath all the layers Time had wrestled him into.
"W-When you sit down!" With the biggest grin on their little face, Four tried to mimic the groan Time made the mistake of letting out around his baby.
It was higher pitched, less strained and rasped than Time's were. Still, a touching performance nonetheless.
Time briefly lost balance from where he crouched over the slippery ground, yelping briefly as he latched onto a nearby rock for safety.
"Yeah! Like that!" They shrieked playfully, snow-covered gloves flying up when Time ruffled the boy's hair over their hat.
"Alright, alright," Time laughed fondly, crossing his legs underneath as he sat comfortably on the snow. Judging by the look of concentration on Four's face, and the adorable little tongue they stuck out, "Let's make something together, shall we?"
"Fishy!!" The boy cheered, happy boots kicking against the powdery snow.
"Fishy indeed." Time nodded, sending his boy a fond look.
"We- We can make a whole Coral Reef!" Four gasped, nearly toppling over themselves as they leaned forward for a whole armful of snow.
"Careful there, baby." Time hupped as he caught Four mid-fall, placing back his boy upright. "That's a lot of snow you have there."
"Mhm!" They beamed. "W-We'll need a lot of snow i-if we wanna make one million fishies!"
"That's a lot of fishies you'll have there." Time scrunched his nose playfully. "Are you sure they'll be able to fit in the ocean?"
"Yeah!" Four swayed to their sides. "It's okay. T-They can all share their homes!"
"You're right, they can." Time smiled, scooping up a small handful of the snow before shaping it into something distinctly fish-shaped. It looked more like an oval lump of snow, but surely a tail would tie it all in together.
Four however, didn't seem to care for the pathetic handful of snow Time would have to squint to consider a fish, instead gasping loudly in joy.
"It's perfect!!" He shouted, Time wincing a little. He lowered his hand a bit to better show his baby. "Now all we need is this many more!" Four held his hands out to his sides.
"That's a lot more to go!" Time smiled determinedly. "We better get started now, then. Our fishy friend here needs some friends!"
"Yup!"
Time hummed to himself as he skillfully molded and pressed more fish lumps. He placed them gently all in a pile, to what Four liked to call Their Reef. The biggest, and bestest of all reefs.
Four too, hummed to themselves, trying to match Time's little tune. The man smiled, slowing down a little so that Four could catch up with him.
To be frank, Time was no artist. Four, however didn't seem bothered in the slightest.
They looked at the pile of fish as though they were their children, which the longer Time considers it, the closer he is to being in tears of the boy's adorable parental instincts. He wonders who he learns them from.
After a short while, Four paused, staring up at Time with watery eyes.
"What seems to be the matter, urchin?" Time placed down another fish with its friends.
"They're..." Four muttered, glowering as they looked down at the snow beneath them. "It's- It's too cold for them." Four brought a gloved hand to their face, sniffling weakly in what Time was sure wasn't the cold. "The fishy can't swim."
Time's expression softened. "Are you sure? Because these look like exact kind of Fish that would like the cold to me."
"Really?" Four sniffled weakly. "Those are- It's okay?"
"Oh sure, they're a very special kind of Fish. They live on the very bottom of the World, where's it's super cold." Time tugged down Four's hat a little, securing the boy from any of the stronger gusts of wind.
"With the penguins!" Four gasped, trembling with excitement as Time fussed with his scarf too while he was already at it.
"That's right, little fish!" Time cheered softly. "You must be very smart."
"Mhm!" Four rocked back and forth. "They can have icicles in their ocean! The- The fish can- Popsicles!"
"Popsicles!" Time fondly parroted.
Time watched with a fond smile as Four sang to themselves, a happy little tune about Fish and The Sea. They grabbed one of the snow-fish, holding it in the air as though it was swimming. Four's eyebrows furrowed as it dove into the snow, the lump breaking pack into the powdery snow as it collided with the ground.
"Splash!" They loudly cheered, throwing their hands up in the air.
"Look at them go," Time laughed lightly, quietly clapping his hands. "You have a lot of ocean friends."
"Mhm." Four rocked back and forth. "There's um- Eleven of them."
Time glanced over to the pile of fish, certainly more than eleven of the little guys, though he supposes eleven was rather gargantuan for his boy.
"That is quite a lot you have there." Time nodded in consideration.
They flopped on their stomach, a small yelp escaping the boy. More fishies diving into the great ocean, more snow seemed to fall on Time's little fish.
Occasionally, Time would brush it off his back, luckily rolling off the material of their puffy coat with ease. Though it clinged to their hat and scarf, Time was only able to brush off so much of it from them.
"-Snowstorm!!" They yelled, flopping over to their side before kicking helplessly in the air. "It's gonna get us all!"
Four seems to be doing just fine.
"Four, baby," Time asked, waiting with a smile as Four continued to kick and roll. "You're going to get snow all over your hair."
"Okay." Four sniffed, finally settling on their stomach as they reached out to play with their fish friends.
Little legs peeking out from underneath their large coat, Four kicked the air playfully as they mumbled to themselves,
Time silently wondered about his other babies. Hopefully they were able to entertain themselves as well as Four did.
"Pew! Pew!!"
Hopefully.
He also hasn't heard from Twilight in a good while, perhaps it wasn't a bad idea to check up on him either, Time couldn't help but worry about his poor brother. Legend and Warriors were, to say the very least, a lot to handle.
Time vaguely wonders how Twilight is doing with two fussy, energetic babies. Time also stifles a yawn at that.
"Big splash!!" Four tumbles over, snow all over his hair and clothes. Time sighs fondly, there goes all his efforts trying to keep it off of Four.
"Hey there, little fishy." Time smiles, receiving a shy, little wave back from his boy. "Why don't we go and see the others, yeah?"
Four gasped, leaping up with a speed that admittedly had Time flinching back a little.
Four teetered over to the side a bit, arms flailing helplessly in the air. Time
"Careful there, baby." Time reminded, while brushing off a bit of snow from their shoulders.
Four nodded quickly before dashing off forward. "Yeahyeahyeahyeahyeah!-"
"Slow down, now." Time sped up, extending his hand. "We don't want you to slip, now do we?"
Four turned around, bouncing in place and rocking back and forth on their heels. "Come on!" They cheered, "Come on, come on, come on!!"
Time laughed to himself, the sides of his eyes creasing as he smiled wide and fond. "Okay, okay. Don't go too far."
The snowbank wasn't much of a walk from where Four had decided to settle their Reef. Frankly, the plains behind Wild's House wasn't too far a field.
It was a little tricker to navigate in the cold months, though the faint, familiar voices he heard from ahead were enough to have them confident in their direction of walking.
Eventually though, Four stop, more so froze. Something in Time shifted that he was certain had little to do with the temperatures outside.
"What's wrong?" Time whispered, adjusting his scarf as he turned to better see his baby.
Four turned to peer upwards at Time, something in that mischievous smile of theirs that had Time watching in curiosity.
Bap!
A gasp escaped Time as Four toppled over, succumbing to the weight of their thick coat.
"I'm a penguin!" They giggled.
Being close enough to the snowbank had a sort of longing feeling at Time.
Perhaps the parental sort of instinct to be there for his babies, or maybe just missing having Twilight around, he always made things easier when taking care of his many babies.
He was also great at keeping Time's arms empty, which he'd argue to be very important more often than not.
He was able to see very little of the clearing. Two figures, one rather taller than the other, moved around rather quickly, perhaps playing a game of sorts. Time recognized the bright Green of his scarf, and the striking Blue of a particular cap.
A smile tugged at his lips, though Time was quick to actively search for a third figure. He was certain Twilight was with them… Right?
Time wasn't sure if he remembered Twilight willingly taking watch over the babies. Maybe Four would be of better help than his own memory was.
"Weeeee!" Four tumbled across.
Or maybe not.
Hmm. So where would Twilight be?
Time patiently tapped a boot on the snow, a hand on his chin in contemplation. He only saw too vaguely baby-shaped blobs ahead, but no Twilight-shaped blob. And well, there really was only one way to find out.
Time kept his walking slower than usual as Four slid by, the material of his coat slippery enough to keep his baby moving and sliding by both their stomach, and back. A true penguin at heart.
Eventually though, just as Time was about to get a more clear view of the snowbank, Four had suddenly stopped moving.
Time, too paused, glancing over at his boy. "Oh, you stopped. Tired, little one?"
"I don't- I don't want this." They suddenly frowned, slumping against the snow. The thick scarf that wrapped around their neck also covered most their face, along with their loose hat, and from where Time looked at him, Four really did look rather smaller than usual.
"Baby, what don't you want?" Time's eyebrows furrowed in concern, the man kneeling down to better match Four in height.
He fought the urge then and there to pull his baby in a warm embrace.
"I- I-" Four's voice broke. "I don't wanna be on the cold anymore." They pouted.
"Oh, I see now." Time's expression softened. "You want to be held?"
Four nodded, the corner of their eyes brimming with threatening tears. "Uppies?" They asked, voice so, so small and broken. "Please?"
Time's heart too nearly broke, Four was so polite, yet sounded so scared. A gloved hand cupped his boy's face, thumbing a stray tear from their face.
"Of course, little fish." Time smiled.
Four sniffled again, reaching up with little grabby hands.
Time smiled fondly, noting how small they were compared to their coat and boots, even their pants seemed to pool a little on the snow.
Impatient, Four reached further and whined softly.
If Time waited much longer, then surely he'd have to deal with tears, possibly a meltdown of sorts too. Internally grimacing, Time was quick to lean down and scoop his baby into warm, secure arms.
"All better?" He asked, bouncing his baby patiently as Four wriggled and writhed, trying to get as close and comfortable as they could with the thick, large material of their clothing compared to their small stature. Not that Time regret dressing Four in them, it was rather chilly out this day.
"Mhm!"
Four silently fussed and mouthed on the material of Time's scarf, or more so Warriors. He had no issue with little hands on his own scarf, but this was Warriors, who wanted Time's scarf more than anything, but was considerate to not want Time to be cold either. Time smiled at that thought, more so when Four quietly yawned, cuddling closer to the scarf.
Time didn't have it in him to gently tell Four, especially when little fists curled over the Royal Blue material.
Occasionally as he walked by, Time bounced the boy in his hold, though was quite impressed on Four's ability to stay occupied for quite long. He assumed Four to have already been bored from a while back.
"Comfy, little fish?" He asked, half expecting no answer, save for a sleepy whine.
"Yeah." Four instead mumbled, Time pressing a kiss at the crown of his head, before tugging his hat back down a bit. "Sleepy."
"Oh, I see now." Time laughed. "We have a very sleepy baby with us, don't we?"
Four nodded against the scarf, little boots kicking happily in the cold, winter air as Time slowly approached the others. His steps were gentle, methodical, and Four couldn't fight against the tugs of sleep over him,
Could Four be blamed?
Time started humming a gentle lullaby to himself.
Definitely not.
Legend rocked back and forth on his heels, little hands hidden beneath the sleeves of his warm, thick coat. It was also the same coat he was struggled into to, Legend pouts and sticks his tongue out at the reminder.
Light, curious footsteps resounded by, gently crunching over the snow.
Legend stifled a shiver, arms covering his sides as he fought against a weak, feeble sniffle. His nose and cheeks dusted a warm crimson, though the tips of his skin just as cold to the touch as the rest of the snow around was.
"I got it!" Warriors eventually cheered, throwing his head to the side for a sneeze.
"'ess you." Legend shivered.
"Thanks." The boy sniffled. He looked down at his hand, a decently sized twig, and back at the distinctly Twilight-Shaped lump of snow.
He walked closer, bending over as he intently inspected the pile. A sudden leg twitched, snow gently falling down from where it piled over a leather boot.
"Get up." Poke. "It's cold. I wanna play." Poke poke.
A faint, muffled groan was heard from beneath the hill of snow. Warriors' eyebrows furrowed. Maybe he'd just need to poke again. That should do it.
Legend gasped, running up to the clearing as Time smiled in a greeting, a very sleepy baby in his arms.
"You're here, you're here!" Legend bounced in place, excitement lighting up his eyes.
"Hello there, little bunny of mine." Time laughed, adjusting Four in his hold as he peered down at Legend. "Let's keep it down, shall we? Your brother's having a nap."
"Okay," Legend nodded, tilting his head as he stood on this tiptoes, trying to get a good glance at Four. Eventually though, even Legend's patience wore thin. "Baba?"
"Yes, bunny." Time lightly tugged one of Four's hands off of Warriors scarf, nervous as to how the boy may react with his stuff being shared. Not that Four was ever not careful, they just had quite the hold. "Come on, let's go find Wars and Twi, then you can ask me."
Poke. Poke poke. "Twilight! It's cold." Warriors whined, voice shy of a meltdown. Time's eyes flitted across the clearing, no view of the man in question. Nervously, Time searched further, internally fretting, though knowing
He'd just have to do this with his hands full. "Wars? Little fox? W-Where's Twilight?"
Warriors shrugged, though poked the oddly shaped hill once more. It twitched again under the touch, a vaguely familiar voice warbling from within.
"Is that-"
"Baba! I want hot chocolate please." Legend tugged Time's sleeve.
"…What happened to Twilight?"
Warriors huffed, crossing his arms and turning away. And suddenly, it all clicked just perfectly in Time's mind. Eyes widening, he looked down at Four in his hands, Legend tugging and frowning, and Warriors who clearly had a thing or two hidden. He broke right out of his characteristic fussing to poke once more at the lump. "I'm cold!!"
If Time had his hands free, he'd drag them over his face in exasperation.
"Chocolate?" Legend whined.
Muttering a quick oath of strength to whoever was listening, Time gently placed the very tippy boy on a comfortable-enough mound of snow. Even in his sleep did Four flop over a little, rolling down a bit until caught in place by a divot of the snow. Time pulled a face.
"'s not like I knew he was there!! 's not my fault." Legend pouted.
"Lege, I won't ask you this again, what did you do?" Time sighed in exasperation, quick at Twilight's side, or what he assumed to be Twilight underneath the snow he brushed away. "I need to know if Twilight's okay."
"He w’s stupid an’ ran into me when I was tryin’ to get out of th’ snow."
"Of course that happened." Time muttered to himself, helping his poor brother back up.
"Th'nks." Twilight rasped, a grateful thumbs up being the best Time received. He sneezing right when both he and Time got the last of the snow off of his hair and shoulders. They could worry about the rest of it pooling on his lap later.
"What happened to you?" He asked, still anxiously fretting with the snow clinging to Twilight's gloves and sleeves. He let him.
"Don't- Don't worry 'bout it." Twilight shivered, right when Time draped his scarf over his shoulders, pulling the warm material over his middle. It wasn't much, but hopefully it was enough to keep Twilight warm enough until Time brought him back in.
"No, that's mine!" Warriors whined.
Time met Twilight's gaze with an apologetic smile, the man already laughing as he trembled, teeth chattering audibly. "It's okay." He sniffed. "Go fuss over the lil'uns."
"No, no. It's fine." Time shook his head. "Let's get you back inside. We don't want you, or anyone else to catch a cold."
Twilight's confused expression smoothed out when Time gestured to Warriors slowly scooping snow over Four's asleep form.
"Ya got a point there." He laughed.
With Four in Time's arms, and both Warriors and Legend holding on to Twilight's gloved hands, the two guided their little ones back into Wild's house, watching the sunset with a little, content, shivering smile.
Speaking of which, Twilight vaguely wondered how both he and Sky were doing. Time really does fly when in a pile of snow.
"Are we there yet?" Warriors whispered, a shy tug at Twilight's sleeve for attention. Eyes wide and nervous, his little fox has wrapped both his arms around Twilight's pressing as close as he could as they walked by.
"Almost, little fox." Twilight squeezed his hand around Warriors', a small sort of gesture of comfort. "Why, are you cold?"
"Mm- Not really." Warriors frowned, the little pout in his eyes clearly in agreement to his words.
"Look ahead," Time interrupted gently, pointing ahead to Wild's house, Hateno Village being just over the hill. Warriors almost jolted in fear if it weren't for Twilight's hand rubbing on his shoulder. "There it is."
Still, Twilight silently draped his wolf pelt over Warriors' shoulders, the fox beneath going completely rigid before settling under the warmth.
Legend pulled a glower, looking upwards at the back of Twilight's head, because he was now facing Warriors, giving all his attention to the other.
He wondered if… If he slid his hand away from Twilight's, he'd notice. Slowly, and with tears brimming in the corners of his eyes, Legend drew his hand back, little fingers slipping from where they wrapped around his brother's.
Right when they clung onto Twilight's finger, the man suddenly paused, tightening his hold back around Legend's.
"Where are we going little one?"
Legend's eyes widened. Twilight's expression softened. Legend stared blankly and
Without much more said, he leaned down, arms wrapping around Legend's middle before scooping him up into his arms.
Mouth agape, Legend kicked his legs, he was so high up they didn't even brush the snow beneath. He gave a happy, little hum, kicking once more in giddy.
"Now we can get going." Twilight smiled, pressing a sweet, knowing kiss to the crown of Legend's head.
The wooden door of Wild's house was pushed shut, though the faint wafts of cinnamon and apple seemed to trickle out from the little chimney above.
"Appy." Legend mumbled happily. Twilight bounced the baby on his hip.
"That's right, Bunny." Twilight reached for the door, pushing it open with his shoulders, hands very occupied with his babies.
A rush of warmth had Twilight suppressing a shiver. He supposed he was right, the faint smells had increased rather drastically
"Come in, come in!" A voice from within chirped. "It's very cold!"
Not needing to be told that twice, Time herded both Legend and Warriors in, shutting the door just as tightly as he followed in last.
"Watch the snow. Wild placed down a ladle, tugging the tie out of his hair, placing a hand on his waist. "That carpet's more valuable than you think."
Cheeks dusted a faint red, and fingertips tingling, it took the five a good while to adjust to the sudden influx of heat indoors. Time was sure that Wild and Sky had been working rather hard in keeping the fire place in check.
A quick glance over to the crackling fire and Sky napping on the couch nearby already said enough. He also noticed his blanket to be draped over Sky's shoulders and tucked around him… Interesting.
Time unraveled his scarf, tugging Four off of him at the process. Placing Four down on the nearby bench so Time could kick off his shoes meant that they'd needed to hold something that belonged to Time, especially if the man couldn't carry or hold them at any instant.
First came off Time's boots, then shucked off his coat. Before he could get into the rest of his layers, he hurried untied Four's boots, tugging them off with their hat too.
A small noise of protest came from behind the scarf. Time paused, glancing down at the hat, and back to his little fish's pleading eyes.
"Oh. You… You want that back, don't you?"
Four nodded, to which Time shrugged haphazardly before placing it back on Four's head.
"Alright, you can keep the hat. But let's get your coat off, yeah?"
Time fussed very little with the row of buttons, and the zipper that secured the material closed. Four slid out the coat with much ease, to which Time really considered to getting a coat that fit the poor boy a little better.
Time sighed in relief when he noticed Four to be completely dry from the snow, he was rather worried he'd have to hurriedly get the hot water running upstairs and his boy into a warmer pair of clothes.
Nodding to Twilight, who was busy with both Legend and Warriors, Time carried Four with him to the living room, Wild following.
"So, how was it?" Wild sat down on the armchair.
Time reclined slowly back to the couch with Four in his arms, stifling a groan. He began to card a gentle hand through his boy's hair, his little fish immediately settling from the warm touch. "It was nice, also very cold." He laughed.
"I can imagine, you've all been out since morning!"
"What have you and Sky been up to?"
"Nothing much, really." Wild fidgeted with the ends of his hair. "We spent a good while sealing all the cold out and preparing the wood for the fireplace."
Four quietly started to mouth over the string on the side of his hat. They brought their legs up to their chest, curling over Time's form. Time frowned, he would get Four's soother if he wasn't currently trapped to the couch by his sleepy little jellyfish.
"Twilight, can you get the-"
"Got it." He smiled, guiding the fabric out of Four's mouth, and placing the soother in there before they can whine in protest.
Twilight gave a knowing wink when Time mouthed a thank you. Four settled much better against Time's chest, their breathing beginning to soften as they slowly fell asleep.
Time gave Wild an apologetic look, to which Wild shot back a knowing grin. "I'll leave you to it. I need to go check on the milk anyway." He hopped off the couch, Four sleepily lifting their head at the noise.
Time traced long, slow strokes over Four's back, trying to ease the shivering and trembling there. It seemed that even inside the house, any from the snow was Four still cold. No wonder they got upset when Time tried to take away their hat.
He sighed, looking over to the fireplace to where Twilight sat on a pillow there, and back at Four.
Hmm.
"You're still cold, aren't you?" Time asked, Four nodding shyly. "Want to be with Twi-Twi over there at the fire place?"
Again, Four nodded. It was bashful, ashamed even. Their fists tightened further over Time's sweater.
"It's alright, little urchin." Time reminded. "You can be with him, it's okay."
"Ok'y?"
"I promise it is, Four." Time slowly got up, slowly and carefully carrying them over to Twilight.
"Hello Time, and hello little fish." Twilight squeezed his hand over Four's. "Everything fine?"
"Yeah, Four's cold, could you help out our little jellyfish?" Time handed over Four, the boys' limbs going completely lax, right as their namesake.
Twilight smiled, easily taking in Four in his arms. Four wriggled out of the hold, crawling over to sit next to Twilight's. Still, a hand clenched over Twilight's pant leg.
The boy blinked up curiously at him. Time staring back with equally wide eyes. Four tipped to the side, landing and flopping over silently onto Twilight's lap.
Well, easy come, easy go. Time shrugged.
Eventually after, Hyrule and Wild came in with warm drinks in their hand. Assorted hot chocolates, which each of their favorite ingredients in them. Sky, Wild, and Wind preferred the drink on it's own.
Though Wild remembered exactly what everyone had loved the most, and prepared it accordingly. Cinnamon for Warriors and Legend, marshmallows for Four, peppermint for Time and Wind, and warmed milk for Twilight, because chocolate never seemed to sit well with him.
Mugs passed around, and everyone settled in the couches with blankets shared cozily, light conversation flitted by as they each took turns tending to the fireplace.
Warriors and Legend played a game with their hands, both laying flat on the wooden floor, or on the pillows and blankets Twilight hurriedly slid under so neither of them caught colds.
Eventually though, even the funnest of games came soon to a sleepy end. Legend stifled a yawn, though rose up for a big stretch! eliciting a few noises of fondness. He settled back down, this time curling up into a little loaf right in front of the fire place.
Warriors paused, frowning as the game had suddenly come to an end. He looked up pleadingly when Twilight came over to scoop Legend up in his hold, careful to not wake up his little bunny.
"What..?" Warriors breathed, voice wavering and on the very verge of tears.
"It's sleepy time now." Twilight explained. "It's getting late."
Warriors whined, shrinking back at the hand that reached down to him. He shook his head, a miserable little sound wringing out of him.
"C'mon now, Wars." Twilight softly said. "Even Legend's sleepy, it's time for bed."
"But I'm not." The little fox pouted, crossing his arms.
"No, please- Don't make me." Warriors suddenly cried, pulling his legs to his chest. Twilight was at his little brother's side at a quick instant.
"Shh, now. It's okay little fox." Twilight drew Warriors into an embrace. "I won't leave you, see? See that couch over there? We can share it, it's alright."
Warriors sniffled, "Really?" A feeble little voice asked.
"Really." Twilight huffed fondly.
Warriors got up, leaning into Twilight for both the strength to stand, and for the warmth and attention of his brother.
Twilight smiled knowingly, he must really be tired.
Settling in on the last, unoccupied couch, Twilight guided Warriors right next to him, the little fox's fists curling over Twilight's sleeves, and tucking his head right under Twilight's neck, the little space between his collarbone and shoulder. Twilight let him, draping a blanket over the two.
He tucked it over on Warriors' side, being sure that his little fox was warm and all comfy.
A light sniffle caught Twilight's attention.
"What's wrong, little one?" He asked.
"…Sc'red." His little fox admitted. In the gentle light of the fireplace, he glanced around to the rest of his family, surely overwhelming even in the last night hours of silence. "Story?"
"Of course, little fox." Twilight pressed a warm kiss to his brother. "Have you ever heard the story of The Fox and the Bunny?"