Febuwhump collab alt day - “I love you”
And here’s the last febuwhump fic (...on the 27 of March lol. what can I say, I get easily distracted).
This one was suggested by @webhead3345, and it’s really more hurt/comfort then anything, but after the last one some comfort is probably nice XD I hope you enjoy it!
And thanks to everyone who suggested characters/prompts for these! I appreciate you all so much <3
Today’s lovely art
Ao3 link
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Having six kids could be a challenge sometimes, Malon was willing to admit.
It would be difficult enough normally, but with five of them having superpowers, two being adopted, and all of them rambunctious boys who sometimes forgot their house was on the small side... it could be a lot sometimes.
But Malon always did her best, and Time along with her. Even when it got overwhelming, even when they disagreed, even through the sleepless nights and stress and fear and countless other worries from essentially living underground, they both tried their hardest to raise their kids well, and keep them safe and happy. Malon could only hope they were succeeding.
Especially in regards to their two adopted boys.
Hyrule and Wild had both been through such awful things, both due to factors they couldn’t control. It wasn’t always obvious, and they were both so strong for their ages, but sometimes the scars that had been left on them both reared their ugly heads, and one or the both of them would fall apart for a bit.
Malon always tried to pay attention and help when one or the other of them was stuck in a bad period. She had plenty of practice with Wild, and usually knew how to comfort him, but Hyrule could be a bit of a mystery still. She was still figuring out what tended to set him off, how he acted when he was upset, how his reactions tended to differ from Wild’s, and most of all, how to help.
And at the moment, she was at a bit of a loss as to what to do.
Hyrule had been acting quieter then normal recently, fading to the background of the typical chaos his brothers brought with them. He mostly just nodded if someone asked him something, and seemed a little more distant, taking longer to respond to things, and keeping to himself.
Malon wouldn’t have worried too much about most of that, but then she noticed the shadowed circles appear under his eyes, ones that only seemed to get darker with every passing day. It soon became obvious Hyrule wasn’t getting nearly enough sleep with the way he began to stumble around, and Malon’s worry doubled.
And then Wild started to act in a similar way, unusually quiet and withdrawn, tired-looking and cranky, and that really got her worried.
Malon just wasn’t sure how to go about getting to the root of the problem. Wild and Hyrule were both tight-lipped when things bothered them, and got defensive if pushed, and Malon knew a direct confrontation could be disastrous. She’d tried some light prodding, but hadn’t been successful in the slightest.
She could guess what it was that was bothering the two of course, and had a pretty good idea of what it might be, but she also didn’t want to assume and end up making things worse. Time didn’t have any ideas either when she discussed the problem with him, but he’d been swamped at work lately, and was barely thinking straight.
So Malon was left to try and figure out the problem mostly by herself, her worry growing by the day.
It finally reached the point where it was affecting her own sleep, and Malon found herself startled awake late one night after a week had gone by from the start of her sons’ odd behavior, and found herself completely unable to fall back asleep.
Time was snoring softly beside her, and Malon laid there for a while, trying to let the sound lull her back to sleep. She didn’t have any luck though, her brain too full, her mind too awake. She finally sighed, getting nowhere, and carefully slipped out of bed and pulled on her bathrobe. She made sure not to disturb Time at all, then walked down to the kitchen to try making herself a cup of tea.
The kettle didn’t take long to heat, and Malon yawned as she set her tea to steeping, walking into the living room with it to sit and wait for it to finish.
Then stopped in her tracks, realizing she wasn’t alone.
Malon hadn’t noticed on her way in, but there were two odd lumps huddled on the couch, both quiet and still. She stepped closer to study them, and realized one was Hyrule, wrapped tight in a blanket and staring silently at the ground.
He wasn’t the only there either, but whoever it was beside him was bundled up so tightly that Malon had no idea who it even was.
She could certainly guess though.
Worry crested over her, and she set down her cup, walking forward and shuffling her feet just a little to make sure Hyrule heard her coming. He startled a little anyway when he noticed her, but didn’t shield or run, just went back to staring at the floor.
The lump next to him shifted a little, and Malon saw a strand of long blond hair fall free of the blanket.
“Hyrule? Wild?” she asked gently, and Hyrule swallowed, wiping his sleeve across his eyes. Wild didn’t move. “It’s awful late you two, what are you doing down here?”
Hyrule didn’t look at her.
“Sorry, it’s nothing,” he whispered.
“If it was nothing, you both wouldn’t be out here and not in your beds,” Malon gently pointed out, sitting down on the couch beside them both. “What’s eatin’ you?”
Hyrule kept looking at his feet, a few sniffles escaping him.
“I-I, we just can’t sleep,” he whispered, not meeting her eyes. “That’s all.”
“That’s all?” Malon asked gently. Hyrule gave her a tiny shrug. “Well... is there a particular reason you two can’t sleep?”
Hyrule went silent.
The lump at his side shifted, and Wild poked his head out, Hyrule moving so he was more tucked against his side then before.
“...bad dreams,” Wild whispered after a few minutes, voice shaky. “‘Rulie too.”
Malon’s heart sank.
“Both of you?” she asked worriedly, and Wild nodded, rubbing at the shadows under his eyes.
“Sorry,” Hyrule whispered even more quietly.
“Honey, you don’t need to apologize,” Malon said, and turned so she could meet his eyes. “Neither of you do, it’s okay. Do you want to talk about them?” she asked in a softer voice.
Wild shook his head, and Hyrule shrank down in his blanket.
“No.”
Worry prickled at her, but Malon nodded, and didn’t say anything for a moment, Hyrule still letting out an occasional sniffle. Wild shifted where he was curled up again, and somehow he and Hyrule ended up snuggled against Malon, Wild’s head in her lap, Hyrule’s resting on her arm.
A shuddering sigh escaped Wild, and Malon ran a hand over his head, fingers ghosting past his scars.
She let out a quiet sigh of her own, looking at them both. She’d finally gotten the answer to what was bothering them (and had been bothering them), but she felt no better knowing the reason.
The nightmares must have been especially bad as of late.
Malon adjusted Hyrule’s blanket, continuing to run her hand over Wild’s head. She dearly wished she she could take away what was troubling them both, and let them get a full night’s sleep for once, but unfortunately that wasn’t a power she possessed.
Malon wished it all the same though.
Hyrule sniffled again, and Malon shifted her arm so it was resting around him, loose enough he wouldn’t be nervous, but tight enough to offer comfort. He leaned into it, and Malon ran her hand over his hair as well.
“Mom?” Wild whispered after a bit, and Malon hummed questioningly. “Why’re you awake too?”
“Did we wake you up?” Hyrule asked worriedly, and Malon shook her head.
“No sweetie, you didn’t. I just couldn’t sleep either,” she admitted, and Wild peered up at her, worry shining in his eyes.
“...was it cause of nightmares?” he asked softly, and Malon ran her hand over his head again.
“No, not tonight. But... sometimes I have them.”
“...What about?”
Malon sighed, thinking for a moment before she spoke. Wild and Hyrule certainly didn’t need to know everything about nightmares she’d had, especially the worst ones, but maybe a few details would help them feel better.
“Well... I worry about you boys, and your father. All sorts of things, really. And sometimes my dreams take my worries and just twist them up and make them worse then they really are. It’s hard,” she said gently, “to remember they’re not real sometimes.”
Her boys seemed to think about that for a minute, both staying quiet.
“...Mine’re like that,” Hyrule whispered. “With the mostly real things.”
“I never remember mine,” Wild admitted, voice still shaky. “Just... just how bad they were.”
“Oh boys,” Malon said softly, and Hyrule sniffled again, hiding his face in her arm.
She’d thought the ache in her chest couldn’t get any worse, but apparently it could, and Malon held both of them tighter, running a soothing hand across both their heads. Hyrule and Wild relaxed at the motion, and Malon kept it up, beginning to softly hum.
She couldn’t take her sons’ bad dreams away. And she couldn’t take away the memories that brought them on, and continued to plague them even afterwards. But she could comfort them now, let them know everything was okay and that they weren’t alone, no matter what their nightmares tried to tell them.
Not on my watch, she thought as she continued to hold them tight.
Wild and Hyrule’s eyes began to droop as she hummed her family’s song, and Malon watched as they both slowly nodded off, still snuggled tight against her.
After several minutes, both were soundly asleep, faces relaxed from the tension that had been there before. A part of Malon wanted to just stay here with them all night, but she knew her back wouldn’t like it if she slept upright on a couch, and they’d all be more comfortable in their own beds. So once she was sure they were both asleep, she shifted Wild and Hyrule around, careful not to wake them. Then Malon pulled them both up into her arms, standing and walking back to their rooms.
Despite her efforts not to jostle them, both Hyrule and Wild’s eyes blinked open as she moved, and they watched her walk up the stairs, barely awake.
“You can carry us both?” Wild murmured doubtfully, and Malon smiled as she easily reached the top of the stairs.
“Darlin’ I’ve lifted cows twice your size before, this is nothing.”
Hyrule giggled. “Really?”
“Really.”
Hyrule and Wild both let out sleepy giggles at that, and Hyrule set his head back against her shoulder, eyes slipping closed.
Malon dropped Wild off first, setting him down in his bed and attempting to fix his blankets. Somehow they’d gotten all tangled around and folded in on themselves, and it took her a moment to straighten them out enough to tuck Wild in.
“Goodnight hon. Sleep well,” she said softly.
“You too,” Wild mumbled sleepily, and curled up under his blankets.
Malon gave him a kiss, and noticed a furry head poking up from Twilight’s bed, blue eyes shining at her. She put a finger to her lips, then carried Hyrule out of the room, hearing pawsteps cross the floor after she was gone.
She brought Hyrule to the room he shared with Four and Wind, stepping lightly so as not to wake anyone. Malon set him down once she crossed the room to his end, and tucked him in like she’d done for Wild, adjusting his blankets around him, and fetching the stuffed rabbit he usually slept with that had fallen halfway under the bed.
Hyrule watched her sleepily the whole time, still clinging stubbornly to consciousness. Malon lingered a moment even after she finished getting him settled, running a hand over his head, and Hyrule relaxed into the touch.
“Goodnight honey,” she said softly as his eyes finally drifted shut, and she stood and began to walk out the door.
“...Mom?”
The whisper made her pause, and she looked back at Hyrule, his eyes open again.
“Yes sweetheart?”
Hyrule blinked sleepily, barely hanging on to wakefulness, but Malon heard his next whisper loud and clear.
“...Love you.”
Malon looked at him in astonishment, warmth blooming in her middle at the sound of the words from her son. She blinked back a bit of a sting in her eyes, then walked back over to Hyrule, smiling at him.
“I love you too honey,” she said softly, and kissed the top of his head. “Sleep well.”
Hyrule smiled back at her, and his eyes closed again, Malon knowing he was truly asleep this time.
She adjusted his blankets just a little more, then straightened and crept out of the room, back to her own bed. The anxiety and tightness that had been keeping her awake had finally settled, and her eyes felt heavy as she slipped back to where she and Time slept.
“...Everything alright?” Time whispered as she got back into bed, looking at her sleepily. “You’ve been gone a while, I was about to come looking for you."
Malon smiled as she got under the covers, and nestled up to Time with a sleepy sigh.
“Yes. Everything’s fine,” she replied, setting her head under his. “Nothing to worry about.”
And something to celebrate, she thought as she closed her eyes, Hyrule’s whisper still warming her heart.
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