Chapter Text
It had been a long week. Link had barely had the time to breathe between the barrage of attacks Cia had launched. Thankfully, the army was able to deal with the attacks swiftly, but there were so many that it had taken nearly a week to secure their borders.
Once everything had finally been over, Link went to his tent to rest. He saw that Tune and Mask seemed to be fast asleep, so he kicked his boots off and let himself flop down into his cot. He would have fallen asleep then and there if Proxi hadn't convinced him to at least take off his bloodied armor and wash away his makeup. He groaned and did as he was told, knowing that the fairy meant well.
Once the captain had properly cleaned his face and got a change of clothes, he felt a lot better. Proxi was right, having taken the literal weight off of his shoulders did wonders to his body.
He let himself walk over to Mask's cot; where his small brother lay still. The kid was clutching his pillow against his chest, his face hidden in the soft material. Link smiled at the sight. He knew one day the kid would need to go home, so sometimes he would let himself simply bask in his little brother's presence.
He brushed a stray lock of hair away from the boy's face and noticed him flinch. That wasn't right.
"Mask? You awake buddy?" he whispered as quietly as he could.
Mask stiffened just enough for Link to notice.
"Are you alright?" he sat down on the edge of the kid's cot.
The boy kept feigning that he was asleep, burying his face deeper into his pillow. Now that Link was properly looking at him, he could tell his brother was trembling slightly beneath the blankets.
The captain waited for a moment. Mask didn't seem ready to talk yet, so he would leave him be until he was.
"I'll be writing at my desk if ever you want to talk." he ran a gentle hand through the boy's hair before standing up to head to his desk.
His entire body was screaming at him to lie down and rest, but right now, his little brother was far more important than an extra hour or two of sleep.
So he attempted to do some overdue work, even though he was finding it hard to focus on the papers in front of him. After ten minutes, the words were all scrambling together, so he opted to doodle on a free page instead. He let his mind drift to random thoughts as he tried his hand at drawing a horse, it was not going very well.
The captain was leaning so hard on his hand, he worried he might snap his wrist in two. Sleep was trying to claim him and all he could do was desperately blink it away. He instead kept focusing on his ugly horse drawing.
A small hand tugging at his tunic immediately jolted him awake as he spun towards the offender. He hadn't heard his brother walk up behind him, a testament to how tired he truly was.
"Yeah bud?" he turned on his chair, letting his full attention fall onto the younger boy.
Mask refused to meet his eyes, his hand gripping tightly onto the fabric of the captain's tunic. He was noticeably shaking more than earlier, but still said nothing.
"Did you have a nightmare?" Link tried, speaking so softly as if talking any louder would scare the boy away.
A slow, hesitant nod.
"Okay, do you want to talk about it?"
A quick shake no.
Link frowned, Mask wasn't one to hide his nightmares, he usually felt much better after saying them aloud, so for him to not want to say anything? It must have shaken him up pretty badly.
"Do you want a hug?" he opened his arms slightly, warm and inviting. His brother hesitated for a few moments before taking small steps forward and hiding his face in the captain's shoulder. He was still incredibly stiff and the trembling had not lessened.
Link wrapped his arms around his brother, rubbing slow gentle circles into his back with his thumbs. For a few moments, Mask stood there in silence, but his body soon released itself from all tension and he relaxed into the captain's embrace.
"You're okay kid, I've got you," he whispered. And for once, Mask had not corrected him. He would always retort that he 'was not a child' and would swat him away. But this time, he only wrapped his arms tighter around his brother. "I've got you..." he repeated once more. Mask's body shook from head to toe as weak sobs escaped his lips.
Link shifted their positions a bit so he could pick his brother up. He gently carried them to his cot and wrapped Mask up in his scarf. His brother gripped tightly onto his tunic, curled up into an impossibly small ball against his chest. He took in shaky breaths, seemingly trying to stop the cries that were desperately trying to get out.
"It's okay Sprite, it's okay, I'm here." he ran a gentle hand through his brother's blond hair as he gently rocked the pair side to side.
Mask's cries became louder, so Link hugged him tighter against his chest, whispering calm words into his ears.
Slowly but surely, his little brother's breathing became steadier, his sobs shifting into small hiccups. Link slowed down his rocking, pressing a small kiss to the top of the boy's head.
He waited for Mask to say something, not daring to move away now that the kid had finally relaxed enough to properly breathe once more.
"I-I dreamt that you d-ied," his little voice sounded so weak, so vulnerable it made the captain's heart hurt. "th-en I saw y-you weren't in your cot a-and your stuff was go-ne a-and- and-" his breathing picked up once more, new tears threatening to fall.
Link shushed him and ran his fingers through his brother's hair once more. Mask leaned into the touch, still fiercely gripping onto his brother's tunic.
"S-o I woke up Tune a-and he said y-ou were gone b-ut I-I-" He choked on his words, his small body trembling violently once more.
"It's okay, I'm here Mask, I'm here bud." He placed another kiss atop his head, swallowing down the lump forming in his throat. While he knew that it wasn't his fault, deep down, he blamed himself for his little brother's panic. If only he had arrived sooner, Mask could have seen him and maybe instead of crying, he would be dreaming about new ways to annoy the shit out of the captain.
It took another few minutes before Mask calmed down once more. He took in some deep shaky breaths before finally letting go of the captain's shirt.
"...sorry..." he mumbled against the crumpled fabric.
"Sorry? You have nothing to be sorry for Sprite." Link looked down at his little brother with slight worry and confusion.
"I'm acting like a kid." he curled up a bit tighter against the captain's chest.
"You are a kid, Mask," Link reminded him, "you're only nine."
"Nine and a half ." he protested and Link chuckled.
"Right, sorry," he let a small smile grace his lips. "regardless, I'm sorry I made you worry."
Mask let out a small huff in annoyance, Link was glad to see that he seemed to finally be feeling more like himself.
"Just don't die in real life, okay?" he finally locked eyes with his brother, his blue eyes piercing into his soul. He tried to seem angry, but all Link could see in his expression was pure fear and worry.
"Maybe if you'd stop giving me near heart attacks all the damn time I might stay alive." he joked. His brother blinked, somewhat stunned by the answer, before he gave his usual shit eating grin as a response.
They stayed like that for a moment longer, Mask not seeming to want to leave the captain's embrace.
"Want to sleep with me?" he offered. The boy nodded and shifted as they laid down, getting comfortable against the elder boy's chest.
"But for real, you aren't allowed to die okay?" a moment of silence. "I need you."
"I need you too Sprite," Link lazily wrapped an arm across the kid. "how about we make a deal, neither of us are ever allowed to die." he had mostly meant it as a joke, but the small nod that Mask gave indicated that to the kid, that promise had been a great comfort to hear.
"...but what if we get all old wrinkly?"
Link let out a loud laugh before he quickly quieted himself, he noticed that the sailor had begun to stir from their noise.
"I suppose we'll find out when we get there." he shrugged as he let out a yawn, his previous exhaustion quickly returning to him.
He let his eyes flutter closed, embracing the warmth and happiness that Mask brought him, simply by being here with him.
He was just about to fall asleep when a little voice spoke up.
"Link?"
"Yeah Sprite?"
"Um... nevermind." he hid his face against the captain's chest once more.
"Love you too Sprite." Link heard Mask groan and grumble but he knew the kid didn't mean it. Though he would likely never hear the words spoken aloud by Mask, he knew his brother loved him dearly.
He heard the kid quiet down as his breathing evened, Link smiled and finally let his body fully relax, falling asleep soon after.