Archive of Our Own ^beta

Somehow… Groose was not surprised when Link didn’t return after the magic water from Faron Woods disappeared.

…he is surprised when a few days later, a loud noise from the direction of the spiral turns out to be, not Big Blobby breaking free… but the Crimson Loftwing, sitting atop a dazed looking Link, with Fi floating above him.

“…okay… what am I looking at here Blue?” he finally asks, turning to the sword spirit for answers.

“Due in large part to the long period of time he spent swimming within the waters Faron used to flood and cleanse the Faron Woods of monsters, whilst collecting her Tadtones and the insistence on continuing to Eldin to obtain the second part of the Song of the Hero and the subsequent difficulties faced therein, Master Link is now suffering from the effects of a rather severe cold….”

“I am no—” Link began to protest… before being cut off by a large sneeze which was immediately followed by a hacking cough.

When watery blue eyes slowly drift open to find alarmed and angry gold alongside sky blue and large Loftwing eyes all staring at him worriedly, he slumps into the ground in defeat as he sniffles, “…okay… I’m sick….”

Groose takes a very deep breath in through his nose, then exhales slowly through his mouth.

A part of him very much wants to yell at the Omega before him for how stupid he was but another part was a tad worried at the reactions of the sword spirit and, more importantly, the Loftwing (who was probably still… annoyed… from the… Wing Ceremony thing…) if he did.

So, instead, Groose bites his tongue as he bends down to pick Link up.

He freezes when the Loftwing hisses at him, but Fi quickly intervenes and then the Omega is in his arms and they’re heading back towards the temple.

Groose’s nose wrinkles as the smell of smoke and something rotten drifts up from the tiny body and he’s quick to head for the hidden door that leads to the hot spring under the temple.

The hot spring had been a welcome surprise when Grannie had led him down there, the pool a nice change of pace from the dormitory showers up in Skyloft.

The Alpha hisses unhappily when he finds new burns and slashes on his Omega once he gets his clothes off and the both of them are sitting on the stone seats within the hot water.

The Omega, in contrast, begins to purr in contentment as the water washes over him.

The purr sounds weird with his stuffy nose and is cut short by coughs as Groose begins to rub gently at the soot and grime that clings to Link’s body.

“Seriously Link, what the hell were you thinking?” Groose grumbles as he reaches for what Grannie calls ‘shampoo’ (Goddess, it’s been such a struggle to maintain his hair down here) and begins to rub it into dirty blonde locks.

“I dunt ‘no,” Link sniffles as he relaxes into Groose’s ministrations, “the Water Dragun… was talkin’ ‘bout tests and worthiness an’… had this weird dream or sumptin and… then we got knocked outta da sky when da volcano exploded—”

“Wait, what?!” Groose cried.

“M’okay,” Link hummed as his body pressed more tightly against Groose, “just bumps ‘n bruises. Got the song from the fire dragon and then… next thing I know we’re diving down through the green light and my Loftwing’s sitting on me ‘til you showed up….”

“Master Link was delirious at that point,” Fi cut in as she suddenly appeared next to them, causing Groose to jump in surprise, “my suggestion was to return to Skyloft in order to receive medical attention. However, Master Link raised a valid concern of contamination due to the isolated nature of Skyloft and the subsequent damage possibly inflicted—”

“So you came here,” Groose cut in, sighing, before returning to his task of washing his Omega, “good grief of all the times to be stubborn and gung ho about things when you’re usually happy to laze about—”

“Hey,” Link whined petulantly as he pouted up at Groose.

“Well you are,” Groose laughed, “in fact… didn’t something like this happen back on Skyloft when we were kids?”

Link made a noncommittal response, but the memory was coming back to Groose, who was surprised to feel a sense of endearment welling in his chest.

“Yeah, there was this… this thing with our Loftwings, I can’t remember what it was but… right as we were about to start, your Loftwing dumped you on the ground and then sat on you.

“You were squawking up a storm and the adults were so surprised they were frozen solid before Zelda went running over, yelling at your Loftwing to get off of you before you suffocated….”

“You were laughing like a jerk,” Link grumbled.

“Well, it was funny,” Groose chuckled, but he followed with a soft nuzzle against Link’s neck as the Omega began to pout, “or it was… until we all realized you had one hell of a fever and you were rushed to the infirmary….”

“Zelda scolded me for hours,” Link moaned, leaning against Groose’s chest in a boneless puddle as the Alpha rinses out the ‘shampoo’ and begins applying the ‘conditioner’, “she was so mad… but I was really looking forward to… whatever that event was and… I didn’t think I was that sick….”

“Well you were,” Groose scolds, now carefully applying soap to Link’s body, “and you are. And just like before, you are going to rest until you’re all better, got it?”

“…will you be taking care of me then?” Link asked softly, turning shining blue eyes Groose’s way.

With the faint red tinge on his skin from the temperature of the bath and probably his fever, the Omega is suddenly exuding a sexiness that has the Alpha’s loins stirring.

But a sudden sneeze and cough is quick to derail those thoughts as Groose returns to scrubbing and then applying ointments to Link’s wounds that Grannie had slipped in while Groose had been wrestling Link out of his clothes.

After that Groose has the smaller male wrapped up into fluffy towels (that had somehow just appeared) with another towel wrapped around his waist before heading up to the temple proper.

He’s grateful to find the nest set out with extra blankets… and surprised to find another uniform for Link as well as quite a few of his own clothes, folded and placed right next to it.

The surprises continue when he finds Grannie sitting next to a firepit with a pot filled with what very much smells like the soup Henya always makes for sick students bubbling away inside.

“It would seem the spirit within our young hero’s sword has been hard at work,” Grannie laughs as she ladles soup into a bowl and hands it over to Groose, “that small robot appeared a moment ago, toting those clothes and this soup and setting them right here in the temple before flying off again.”

Groose blinks in bewilderment at the old woman, then stares at the spirit in question in much the same fashion as she appears next to Link, peering at him from where he sits snug in the towels.

“You did all this, Blue?”

“My designation is Fi,” she says, apparently not at all willing to accept her nickname (which, okay, isn’t the most imaginative anyway), “and as Master Link’s clothing was both damaged and soiled during his quest, I thought it wise to acquire another set, in order to aid in his recovery and to prevent further illness. The same logic was applied in regards to your own clothing, as you obviously neglected the need of a change in clothes when you followed my master below the clouds—”

“Aw, were you worried about us?” Groose chuckled, a little touched by the spirit’s actions.

“I am incapable of worrying, I am merely taking precautions regarding my master’s health,” was Fi’s blunt reply as she turned towards Grannie and the soup, “in addition to the clean clothing, I had the robot obtain medicinal remedies from your academy’s primary caretaker….”

Fi trails off as Link suddenly starts coughing again, the sword spirit and Alpha quick to gather around him as he doubles over.

The Omega mewls in a rather miserable fashion as he leans into his Alpha before reaching for the bowl Groose offers.

He sighs contentedly at the first sip of Henya’s soup, humming with pleasure when Groose settles around him.

The Alpha trades the towel around his waist for a blanket, the towel then being used to rub at the Omega’s still damp hair carefully as he continues to drink his soup.

When Link begins to yawn after the last drop is gone, Groose is surprised when the Omega insists on donning at least one of the Alpha’s own tunics instead of just burrowing into the blankets already supplied.

“You know I’m not going anywhere, right?” Groose asked, “what, are you saying I’m not enough?”

“I don’t know,” Link yawns, “I just… I want one of your tunics too….”

“It is a natural occurrence for Omegas to wish to don a number of their Alpha’s clothing while sick,” Fi chimes in, “that is why I had the robot obtain so many of your own. I did ask that he try to acquire some of Her Grace, Zelda’s clothing as well, but it seems he was unsuccessful….”

An image of Link wearing one of Zelda’s dresses flits briefly through Groose’s mind, but he’s quick to push it away.

Instead, he focuses on how cute Link looks in his tunic, something he didn’t get (nor care) to appreciate during the flower incident.

The tunic is, of course, far too big, either sliding off one shoulder or falling down his chest enough that the Omega’s nipples are in full view.

Not that he seems to mind, the small figure simply hugging the fabric against himself, breathing in as deeply as he can through a whistling nose, before snuggling up to the Alpha himself and doing the same.

His purring is back as he begins to nod off, emitting a happy sigh as Groose drapes an arm around him while Fi and Grannie begin to sing softly.

Groose can’t help but emit his own sigh as he thinks back over the events of today and at the prospect of trying to get Link to rest properly… but the sight of the Omega sleeping peacefully and the bowl of comforting soup pressed into his hands, smelling like home, helps him to push those worries away for a later time.