#also seriously who made that art i think it was willima but i cant find it

[howl-at--the-sun]

So, here's my first official lu fanfiction I'm comfortable posting. Beta read by the wonderful @imprisioned-in-the-hole

Title: Warmth

Relationships: Twilight & Four

Description: Somebody at some point in time made art of Four in Twilight's wolf pelt and that's basically all this is

When Twilight woke, frost had creeped its way into the hollows between his bones, ice had woven its way in between the stands of his hair to settle on his scalp, and a bitter winter had descended onto his shivering limbs. 

All that to say that Twilight was cold. Very, very cold. It reminded him of his first trip up that hellish mountain, protected only by light chainmail and a persistent voice from his shadow egging him onwards. It had taken copious use of his wolf form and fleeing from more than a couple wolfos with his tail literally between his legs to get to the top of Snowpeak, and Twilight had vowed never again, at least without some more protection from the cold. That protection had come in the form of the wolf pelt given to him rather awkwardly by Zelda before he’d returned to Ordon. Twilight hadn’t asked how many tries it took to get a pelt as fine as the one he wore, and he guessed Zelda didn’t want to answer that question, so Twilight lived in peaceful bliss with one of the most comfortable pieces of clothing he’d every worn.

…..What was he supposed to be thinking about again?

Ah. Right. 

Cold. 

Why was he cold?

The last time he had been this cold, it had been without the pelt. But he had the pelt now, so he shouldn’t be cold. Right?

Still half asleep, Twilight reached his left arm across his curled up body and grasped at his right shoulder. 

His hand came down on the freezing surface of his green tunic. His fingers searched left, then right, but only encountered more frost. He tried his left shoulder. Same result. 

Twilight was going to fucking murder his brain.

Of course he was cold! He didn’t have his pelt on! Couldn’t his brain have told him that in the first place?

Just as Twilight started to mentaly berate his brain, another thought occurred to him.

If his pelt wasn’t on his back, then where was it?

A burst of adrenaline shot through him and he rolled clumsily to his feet, half lidded eyes searching sluggishly for his sword on the cold ground. 

“Hylia above, wolf boy. What’s got your panties in a twist?”

Twilight stopped his frantic search (his sword was right next to his left foot), and looked up at Legend, opting to use his Mentor Stare than admit he was fumbling around in the snow like an idiot. 

“Wild was right,” Legend said flippantly. “It’s not as intimidating as the Old Man’s”

Twilight’s glare fell into an annoyed deadpan as he flipped Legend off, then went back to looking for his sword. In hindsight, that might not have been the best thing to do, if Wild had seen that he would never let Twilight live it down. But at this hour and this temperature, Twilight didn’t care, and it had been worth it just to see the look on Legend’s face. 

Reaching down to finally pick up his sword, Twilight’s hand brushed something soft and furry, 

His pelt! 

It was lying in a pile on the ground a foot or so away from him. He must have somehow dislodged it while sleeping, and then rolled away from it. 

Breathing a sigh of relief, Twilight bent down to pick it up. With cold still freezing in the hollows of his joints, he curled his fingers into the soft fur of the pelt and pulled it upward. Surprisingly, it refused to give.

Eyebrows furrowing in confusion, Twilight tried again, with the same result. It was as if something was weighing it down from the inside. Trying to get a better grip, Twilight wiggled his hands under the pelt, finding that it was surprisingly warm, and moving slightly up and down.

The pelt twisted to the right, left, right again, and then sat up as dirty blonde hair fell into boyish features and cloudy gray eyes. 

“Wha- Smithy?!”

Four’s eyebrows knitted together as he snuggled into Twilight’s pelt, still very clearly half asleep. The pelt, which Twilight hadn’t thought was too large, dwarfed him. The hood was pulled almost over his eyes and the remaining parts were tangled with his curled up legs. He looked so small curled up like that, like he was a kid who had just had a nightmare. Twilight knew that Four would absolutely hate that he had just compared him to a kid, but it was far too easy to make the comparison. And not just because of Four’s short stature, but because of his expressive, wide eyes and the childish glee that Twilight saw in them. There was no doubt that Four was a true hero of courage, but he was also a kid. In times like this one, that latter fact was painfully obvious. 

Twilight felt himself soften as he sank to his knees next to the sleeping hero’s form. 

“Smithy,” He murmured, carding his hands slowly through Four’s mess of hair. It was how he used to wake Colin up from a nightmare, and what Uli had done for him when he couldn’t go to sleep as a child. 

“‘Ancher?” Four mumbled slowly, mouth too tired to form the first letting of Twilight’s nickname.

“I’m right here,” Twilight said softly, with a small smile on his face. “You stole my pelt,”

It seemed to take Four a few minutes to register the worlds but when he did, he jolted away, almost headbutting Twilight in the process.

“Shoot!” Four said, looking at the fur gathered around him. “I’m so sorry, I must have grabbed it in the middle of the night! Here, you’re probably freezing without it,”

Four riggled out of the pelt and gathered it hurriedly into his arms, breath creating small puffs of white in the cool air as he worked. When he held the pelt out to Twilight, the hero in question couldn’t help but notice that Four’s arms were already shaking from the cold, and his breathing was shallow. Despite having only gotten out of the pelt a minute ago, Four looked like he’d just trekked up Snowpeak without any cold protection. 

Wait.

Oh no.

Four didn’t have any special clothes or items, at least not that Twilight could see, and although he had insisted he was fine, he had been shivering a lot. His regular tunic wasn’t very insulating, it was made for the environment of a forge. And Four was small and thin, neither of which were good for trapping heat.

Slowly, Twilight reached out and pushed the buddle back into Four’s chest. 

“Keep it. You need it more than I do,”

Four looked absolutely flabbergasted, staring down at the pelt and then back up at Twilight in confusion. 

‘Wha-” Four tried, but Twilight interrupted him. 

“You’re shaking like a newly hatched chick, and if my guess is correct, you don’t have anything to protect you from the cold. I’ve made this journey before without my pelt, and I’ve always got Wolfie to keep me warm if I really need it,”

Twilight could already see Four shaking his head.

“And don’t give me that look. You’re already holding it to your chest like a blanket,” 

Four looked down in surprise and saw that Twilight was right. Four had subconsciously drawn the budle closer to his chest, and had his arms wrapped snugly around it. 

“Here,” Twilight stepped forward and took the bundle from Four, holding the cloak up to let it untangle and then put it around Four’s shoulders. 

Four was so small that the hood drooped low over his eyes and the parts that usually covered Twilight’s shoulders fell down to Four’s arms. Twilight tugged the hood back so it wouldn’t fall into Four’s eyes and took a step back. 

“So, how do you like it?” For a moment, it looked like Four was going to protest, but then his eyes dropped to Twilight’s boots and he hugged his arms to his chest. 

“It’s warm,” He said softly, in a tone so fragile and young that it almost broke Twilight’s heart.

“I know it is,” Twilight replied in that same tone. “That’s why I wear it all the time, and that’s why I think you should wear it too,”

Four nodded slowly, before looking up at Twilight, down at his own boots, and then up at Twilight again, almost like he was trying to decide if he was going to do something. 

Four’s eyes fell back down just before a force slammed into his torso, a very fluffy and very soft force. 

“Thank you,” Four said softly, arms wrapped around Twilight’s waist and face pressed into his chest. 

“No problem, Smithy” Twilight replied, running a free hand through the fur of his hood as he held Four close to his warm body.