Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Twilight was running out of patience. He’d been standing outside his school for the past twenty minutes waiting for his foster dad to come pick him up. In the few months that he had lived with him, Time wasn’t normally late, and while Twilight had been told that something had come up and he’d be picked up later than usual, he had been expecting maybe ten minutes at most.

Right as he was debating whether he should just start walking, a car pulled up. Upon further inspection, Twilight realized it was Malon’s car. Malon was Time’s wife, and she’d honestly begun to grow on Twilight with her cheery personality and amazing cooking skills. Seriously, he never knew how much flavor certain meals could have before meeting her.

As he walked up to the car and opened the door to get in, he couldn’t help but wonder what exactly had come up that meant Malon needed to be the one to pick him up. After all, she was normally quite busy working at the ranch that she and Time owned. And she wasn’t in her work clothes, so she must’ve gone home to change, and since they didn’t live that far from the ranch, Malon never changed unless she wasn’t going back to work.

“Hey, Twi, how’s it going?” Malon asked once he’d gotten into the car. Twilight shut the door and put his seatbelt on before answering.

“Not entirely awful now that I don’t have to stand out in the sun anymore. What’s up with that anyway?”

Malon sighed as she began to pull away from the curb. “Well, Time got a call asking if he’d be able to stop by the police station. They found a kid around your age wandering the streets without any sort of supervision, and it looked like they’d been out there for quite a while.”

Twilight hummed in acknowledgment. He supposed that did justify Time being unable to pick him up, but now something new piqued his interest. “Are you two going to foster the kid if necessary?”

“That’s a good question. With the small updates I’ve been receiving from Time, it seems like someone’s going to have to take them in, but we both have to talk it over with you before making any final decisions. It also depends on who’s best suited for fostering in this situation.”

“I think you’d be a good fit to foster whoever it is. I mean, you’ve been doing a good job with me so far, and I wouldn’t mind having a foster sibling. As much as I enjoy your and Time’s company, it gets a bit boring not having someone closer to my age to do stuff with.” Malon nodded at Twilight’s words, thinking about them for a second.

“We’ll talk about it more later today, alright? Time needs to give us a bit more information before we go through with anything.”

“Okay, but knowing you two -and keep in mind that I still don’t know you guys all that well-, you’re probably gonna end up fostering this kid. And maybe some more afterwards, who knows.”

After grabbing a quick snack and working on some homework, Twilight decided to go outside for a walk before dinner. There was a park nearby that had a nice patch of grass where he could simply sit and relax, and that honestly seemed ideal at the moment. Time had called Malon to let her and Twilight know that the kid they found on the streets would indeed need a home to stay in, at least for the night, and he wanted to check in with the two of them before agreeing to anything. It would’ve been preferable to have the chance to talk it over in person, but an answer was needed immediately. The conversation ended with them coming to the conclusion that Time could bring home the kid to spend the night, and they’d evaluate everything properly in the morning.

As he reached the park, Twilight couldn’t help but wonder what it’d be like to have a sibling. While he had been around a lot of younger children growing up, he never lived with anyone other than his parents. After everything had happened and he had needed to move in with Time, who he was supposedly related to in one way or another, Twilight didn’t get to spend as much time around other kids outside of school.

If Time and Malon ended up fostering this new kid for longer than a few days, maybe things would finally begin to feel a bit more normal, a bit more like how they used to.

Sighing, Twilight glanced at his watch. He had about another half hour before their normal dinner time, and Time had said he’d be getting home around then. It was a ten minute walk to get back, so Twilight could sit and think for some time, although he might head back a bit early so that he’d have a chance to clean up before meeting his potential foster sibling.

For now, though, he’d allow himself some time to enjoy the beauty of nature. Despite the fact that he would help out with the ranch every so often, he didn’t get out as much as he wished he would. Going outside and playing around had always been one of his favorite pastimes, especially when he was able to explore the woods at the edge of town. Doing so had become a lot less frequent recently, but either Time or Malon always made sure to take him out there whenever they could.

The two of them had been great foster parents so far, and while the circumstances leading up to Twilight being placed with them had been less than ideal, he was grateful that he’d gotten stuck with such amazing people. Hopefully any future kids placed with them felt the same way.

The walk back home had been pretty uneventful, which allowed Twilight even more time to think. If he was being honest, he was pretty nervous about meeting the kid Time was bringing home with him. What if he did something wrong and ruined any chances of getting to know whoever it was? What if he made them uncomfortable by bringing up a sensitive topic? What if they decided he was some sort of freak because of his past? Not that Twilight had been planning on sharing any of his past, at least not so soon, but the fear was still there.

Before he knew it, the front door of Time and Malon’s house was right in front of his face. He looked towards the driveway, seeing that Time’s car wasn’t there yet, meaning Twilight still had some time to clean himself up. Opening the front door, he called out to let Malon know he’d made it home safely and headed upstairs to his room once he was sure she heard him.

He grabbed a change of clothes before making his way towards the bathroom out in the hallway. Time and Malon had their own bathroom connected to their room, so that left Twilight with the one upstairs, and another one downstairs on the main floor. The basement was supposed to have one, he had been told, but it was currently unfinished since no one had any time to finish it up before Twilight came into the picture. When it came to rooms, the house had three upstairs and one downstairs. The one downstairs was really just being used as a storage room until they could get a shed built outside, another project which had been put on hold with Twilight’s arrival.

Shaking off any thoughts that he might’ve interrupted Time and Malon’s previous life, Twilight turned on the shower, waiting for the water to warm up. He checked to make sure the door was locked before continuing. Taking a look in the mirror, he quickly realized just how dirty he was. His hair was a mess, sticking up in way too many different directions. He had grass and twigs stuck in it, too, likely from him laying down at the park. Clearly a shower was much needed, so he looked away from his reflection and started to get undressed. Hopefully he’d be able to wash everything out and make himself look presentable.

Ten minutes later Twilight was helping Malon set the table for four plates; himself, her, Time, and the kid. It was strange setting up an extra spot, but he wanted to make sure whoever it was that would be staying with them felt as at home as possible, so he put as much effort as he could into making it all look as nice as he possibly could. Right as he finished setting down the utensils needed for tonight’s meal, Twilight heard the front door unlock and open, signaling that the people he’d been waiting all day to see had finally arrived.

As much as he wanted to go up to Time and greet him, he chose to stay in the kitchen unless called out. It was the best way he could provide their guest with as much comfort that he could offer. He didn’t want to overwhelm the kid, and meeting new people wasn’t always something that was easy, at least for him, so he played it safe and helped Malon bring the plates of food out to the table, completing the setup.

“My wife and Twilight should be somewhere around here somewhere, would you like to go see if we can find them?” he heard Time say. It was easy to guess who he was talking to, and by the sound of it, Time had explained a thing or two about his little family if he was referring to Twilight by his name.

Despite the fact that Twilight hadn’t heard a response, the sound of footsteps coming towards him and Malon indicated that the kid had indeed agreed to finding the two of them. Soon enough, Time walked in with a small child who certainly didn’t look as old as Twilight trailing behind him.

“Malon, Twilight,” Time started. “This here is Four. We don’t know if that’s a given name or some sort of nickname, but it was all we were able to get out of him.” He smiled down at Four, who had chosen to stand slightly off to the side and observe those in front of him. It was painfully obvious how nervous the situation was making him, and that broke Twilight’s heart a little. “Four, this is my wife Malon, and Twilight.”

Four spared the two of them a quick glance before looking down at the ground. He chewed his lip nervously and refused to meet anyone’s gaze despite the fact that just mere seconds before he had been staring at them all, not that he could be blamed. Twilight understood the feeling more than anyone when it came to how scary it could be to meet the unfamiliar people you’d be living with for some time. Assuming Four stayed for more than a day or two.

“It’s nice to meet you, Four,” said Malon as she crouched down in front of him, making sure that she was still far enough away that she wouldn’t spook him by accident. “We’re having spaghetti for dinner tonight, would you like some? Twi here’s already set up enough plates for the four of us, so you’re more than welcome to join, but you don’t have to if you’re not feeling up to it.”

Four simply looked at Malon. It appeared as though he had been thinking about her offer, however, seeing how he nodded ever so slightly and looked towards where she and Twilight had come from, which he could only assume was where they were supposed to be heading. Malon stood up, taking the lead as they all made their way to the small dining table located on one side. Their house may be fairly large, but they didn’t have much separation between their kitchen and dining area, so it was really all one in the same to them.

Following Malon was Twilight, who went to take his normal spot at the table. Next was Time, with Four trailing behind. The two adults took their seats next, remembering how Twilight had refused to sit down until they had when he’d first arrived. Twilight later explained to them that he didn’t want to take a seat in a chair that wasn’t his, so he waited until they sat down before picking a spot.

“You can sit in any of the remaining chairs,” explained Twilight, noticing some of the kid’s hesitation. “I know the plate’s already set right there, but we can easily move that if you’d rather sit at one of the other two chairs.” Four just blinked at him, looking at the three empty seats before choosing to sit in the one that already had the plate set. That left him with Twilight to his left and Time across from Twilight, who had Malon sitting next to him.

With everyone now seated, dinner was officially underway. Twilight noticed that while he, Time, and Malon had begun to eat, Four was simply poking at his food. Maybe he’d only agreed to eating with them to seem polite, and wasn’t really all that hungry. Malon seemed to have picked up on it as well, if the way she looked at the kid was anything to go by.

“Four, buddy,” Four flinched, “you don’t have to eat that if you don’t want to,” Malon spoke up. “We’ve got other stuff in the pantry if you’d prefer something smaller, or you don’t have to eat at all.”

Time nodded in agreement. “It's completely up to you,” he added.

Four looked at the two, then spared Twilight a quick glance before grabbing his fork once more, which he had apparently set down at some point, and twisting a bit of spaghetti around it. So that he wouldn’t overwhelm Four, Twilight went back to eating his own meal, although he was able to catch a glimpse of Four taking a bite of the food. He seemed to perk up a bit upon tasting it, and, albeit rather slowly, happily ate the rest of what was on his plate.

After dinner was over and everyone’s dishes had been cleared from the table, Twilight was put in charge of showing Four where he’d be sleeping. He had been told to take Four to the guest room right next to his own room, and also show him the bathroom that would now be shared by the two in the event that it was needed.

Afterwards he made his way towards his own room and grabbed a pair of pajamas before closing the door and locking it in order to change. Once he’d finished with that, Twilight unlocked the door and headed to the bathroom so he could brush his teeth. He briefly looked over to where the guest room was located, noticing how the door was the slightest bit open, and he couldn’t help but wonder if Four had left it that way on purpose or not.

Shrugging his shoulders, Twilight continued on his route towards the bathroom. It was a quick walk, so he was brushing his teeth in no time, and finished within a couple minutes. As he made his way back to his room, yelling out a goodnight to everyone in the house, he let his mind wander once more.

Four hadn’t been all that responsive during dinner, and whenever there was a reaction from him, it was either extremely cautious or defensive. He’d flinch whenever his name was called or when a fork happened to scratch a plate just a little too loud. His eyes would flicker between the three others seated at the table as though he were afraid of them. Twilight didn’t think he’d ever seen someone that on edge, and it bothered him. Not because there was anything wrong with being that alert, but it made him wonder what exactly had happened to Four to warrant such caution.

Maybe he’d be able to ask him in the morning, but for now it was time for bed.

Chapter Text

Four couldn’t sleep. I mean, how could sleep be possible in a situation like this? One day you’re wandering the streets on your own because it was quite honestly the best option you had, and the next you’re sleeping in a bed in the guest room of a random family’s house. Not that a place to stay wasn’t appreciated or anything, Four just didn’t want these people to feel obligated to offer their home to some complete stranger.

They all seemed nice enough, however, so it couldn’t hurt to stay a few days before trying to find a way to get back out on the streets. While trying to escape might hurt this family’s feelings, there was no way Four was going to stay and bother them with all that was going on. Out of all of them, Twilight seemed likely to be the most upset. From the looks of it, he’d wanted to talk to Four during dinner and as he’d been giving a brief tour of the upstairs floor, but had refrained from doing so.

Maybe we can stay longer than just a few days, suggested a small voice in Four’s head. They seem more than willing to give us a place to stay.

No, said another voice, this one slightly more defensive. We can’t risk it. What if they’re just pretending to be nice so they can catch us off guard?

The first voice didn’t reply, but there was clearly a sense of sadness from where it had come from. A third voice joined in, scolding the first for being so pessimistic.

Hey, don’t be so quick to make assumptions. While it has kept us safe before, I think it’ll be different here.

What makes you so sure of that? questioned the second voice.

I don’t know, but so far nothing’s happened, right?

It’s only been a few hours! Anything could go wrong in the next few days! Heck, things could go wrong at any moment, even now, so I’d like to be prepared for that, thank you very much!

Would you two please stop fighting? We’ve gotta get to sleep at some point, and we can’t when it’s so loud, a fourth voice spoke up.

Aww, but I like seeing them fight. It adds drama! came a fifth and final voice.

No.

Dang it. You’re no fun.

Despite the fact that they had somewhat begrudgingly come to the conclusion that sleep was needed, none of the voices made an effort to ensure that actually happened. Four sighed, used to this type of chaos that came with their everyday life. The Colors had all been observing quietly since they’d been found by those police officers, and had only now decided to speak up. Shadow had made the occasional comment about how much being caught sucked, and how they’d have to be stuck inside a house with people they practically didn’t know at all, but that was really it.

On another note, none of them were thrilled by the use of “he” whenever they were spoken about, but seeing how they had refused to reveal anything to anyone, they couldn’t be too mad about it. “He” simply felt wrong because it wasn’t just Four. It was the first voice, the second voice, the third, fourth, and fifth. Red, Blue, Green, Vio, and Shadow. They were all present the majority of the time, so being referred to as a singular person didn’t sit well with them seeing how it always left someone out.

Unfortunately, there was nothing to be done about it lest they reveal their biggest secret and one of the main reasons they had decided to run away in the first place. It wasn’t even their fault they’re the way they are, but none of them would change anything about it. They always had someone there with them in times of need, and it felt nice to never be alone, although it could get tiring from time to time. Especially when Blue decided he was just going to be angry at the world, or when Vio was stuck in a mood that didn’t allow them to do anything but be productive, which Shadow despised and made him only want to cause chaos. But at least they got to do it together, and that’s all that really mattered to Four.

Chapter Text

When morning came, Twilight found it difficult to wake up. Granted, it was now the weekend, so he didn’t need to worry about getting up for school, but he had things he needed to do. And in order to do those things, he had to get up. But getting up took effort, and sleep was still calling to him, begging him to close his eyes once more and forget about the real world for just a few more minutes.

Man, did Twilight hate mornings.

Groaning loudly as he forced himself out of bed, he looked around the room. There wasn’t anything to look at, it was merely a habit at this point, but it helped give him a visual as to what tasks he had to get through as the day went on. For starters, he had to tidy up a bit. His school things were all over the place, likely due to him not cleaning up after doing homework the night before, something he knew he’d come to regret but couldn’t be bothered to worry about at the time. He had also promised Malon that he’d help clean out some things in the guest room and make room in the bathroom for Four to have a bit more space for himself.

It took a few minutes, but eventually Twilight made his way downstairs towards the kitchen to grab some breakfast. He grabbed a bowl from one of the cupboards and went to the pantry to find his favorite cereal. On his way back to the kitchen, he got the milk from the fridge. He set it all down on the counter before pouring the cereal, followed by the milk, and grabbed a spoon before heading towards the table to eat.

It didn’t look like anyone else in the house had woken up, so Twilight tried to stay as quiet as possible. He assumed that, like him, no one had really gotten a lot of sleep. Time and Malon had likely stayed up talking things over and fretting over what they had to do in order to make Four as comfortable as possible during his stay, and from what Twilight could hear, Four was worrying over things, too. He’d heard whispers coming from the guest room, which were made much more audible by the fact that the door remained slightly ajar. He wasn’t able to make out what was being said, but it hadn’t allowed him to fall asleep for hours. Eventually things fell quiet, but he had the feeling that Four hadn’t fallen asleep yet.

After finishing up his breakfast, Twilight went back upstairs to get dressed and start cleaning his room. He ran into Time along the way, who still looked half asleep as he made his way towards the kitchen, and greeted him with a quick good morning before continuing on his way.

Once he’d gotten dressed, Twilight decided that making his bed was probably a good first step. After his bed was made, he went around the room picking up pieces of trash that were scattered about, and finally started to put things away where they belong. His notebooks and pencils made their way into his backpack, his books went back on the shelves, and his clothes went into either the closet or the laundry basket depending on whether they were deemed clean or not.

Cleaning his room didn’t take nearly as long as he thought it would, and while there were still little knickknacks on his desk and bookshelf, it looked clean enough that he didn’t think he’d have Time or Malon coming after him for having it so messy.

Now onto the next task; cleaning out and reorganizing the bathroom.

Twilight severely underestimated how long cleaning a bathroom took. It’d already been half an hour, and he was still going through some of the things in the medicine cabinet they kept in there. There were no actual medicines in this bathroom for safety reasons, but that didn’t mean it was empty by any means. There were way too many bottles of liquid soap and just as many bars of soap in his opinion, but Malon liked to be stocked up on them just in case. There were also all of his personal hygiene items and a few spare toothbrushes in the event that their guests forgot theirs, which would likely come in handy at the moment since he didn’t think Four had his own. He’d already cleaned the tub and toilet, but still had the sink and floor to do.

Eventually, after much rearranging and asking Malon what he could do with the extra stuff, Twilight has managed to finish cleaning the bathroom and leave enough space for Four’s things once they got him some. Even if there was the chance of him not staying long, it seemed they all silently agreed that they wanted to keep him as comfortable and at home as possible.

Speaking of Four, Twilight hadn’t seen or heard him come out of the room yet, and while it was still fairly early in the morning, he didn’t think Four would still be sleeping. Or maybe he was awake and just chose to stay in there for the time being. Whatever the case, he’d only bring it up to Time and Malon if it started to majorly concern him how long the kid stayed in the room.

As he gathered up the things he needed to take out of the bathroom, Twilight realized that he wouldn’t be able to finish all his cleaning until Four either let him in or left the room. That left him with somewhat of a dilemma because he hadn’t really planned on doing anything else until later in the afternoon, but he figured he’d be able to find something to keep him busy until then. Maybe he’d see if there were other chores that he could do.

Chapter Text

It wasn’t until a few hours after he’d woken up did Time realize that he’d only seen two of the three other people in his house. Four had yet to emerge from the guest room they were letting him stay in for the time being, and it was beginning to worry him. Sure, he didn’t want to overwhelm the kid, especially if there was some underlying reason as to why he was found on the streets -and it’s likely that there was-, but he also wanted to care for him to the best of his ability. After all, he’d been the one to suggest bringing him to his house in the first place. The plan had originally been to leave Four at the station with a case worker until things could be sorted out, but that was no place for a child, and no one had given him any other acceptable options.

So he took what he deemed the best course of action and had called Malon and talked it through, albeit rather briefly, with her and Twilight. Now he had two children under his care, and while he’s positive that he made the right decision, there were still many things that worried him about the situation.

For starters, he still had to properly talk it through with Malon. They’d discussed it a bit before bed the night before, but had decided to put it off until the morning so they could get some proper sleep.

Malon had woken up not too long ago, but Time told her to get some breakfast and get ready for the day before they sat down to talk about it. He was sitting on the couch in the living room as he waited for her, reading a book that he’d grabbed off the bookshelf on the other side of the room. As much as he tried to focus on the pages, he found it rather difficult to concentrate on what he was reading. He’s pretty sure he’s already read the same page five times over, but couldn’t tell anyone what it was about if they asked.

Eventually he gave up on trying to make sense of the book and got up to put it back and see what Twilight and Four were up to. He chose to check up on Twilight first since he seemed the easier of the two to get to talk about his day so far.

He found Twilight in the backyard, pulling some weeds that Malon had talked about a few days prior. If Twilight was voluntarily pulling weeds, and the lack of complaining upon seeing Time proved that he’d volunteered, he either had something on his mind or was bored and had nothing better to do.

”Hey, Time,” greeted Twilight. “What are you doing out here?”

”Just came to see what you’ve been up to all morning. Doing chores for Malon?” 

Twilight nodded. “I already tidied up my room and cleaned out the bathroom so Four can have some space in there. I was also going to organize the guest room a bit, but Four hasn’t come out yet, and I don’t know if I should go in and see if he’s okay. So I asked Malon if she had anything else for me to do, and she told me that the dishes needed to be done from last night and the weeds needed to be pulled. I finished the dishes about twenty minutes ago and came out here to start on the weeds.”

”Well, I’m proud of you, bud. Thanks for doing all that,” said Time. “I was actually just about to go check on Four. I’ll let you know how it goes, yeah?”

”Okay, thanks, Time. I’m almost done with this section of the yard anyways, so I’ll probably head inside once I’ve finished it up.” Time gave Twilight a thumbs up before he turned around and went back inside.

—

“Hey, Four. It’s me, Time. Mind if I come in?” Time called out. He knocked on the doorframe again, hoping that he’d get an answer from the room’s current inhabitant. “Four?” Still no reply. Frowning, Time announced that he was coming in. As much as he’d love to respect Four’s space, he didn’t want anything to happen to him either.

Upon entering the room, Time didn’t see any sign of anyone having stayed here overnight. That worried him, and he immediately got to searching the room for Four. He checked in the closet, behind the bed, and underneath it. Nothing.

Time took a deep breath. There was no need to panic. Maybe Four had gone to another part of the house. The window didn’t look like it had been open or like someone had made their way outside, and he’d stayed awake late into the night, meaning that he would’ve heard if someone had left the house.

He pulled his phone out and sent a quick text to Malon to see if she’d seen Four before he made his way to the main floor of the house. He received a text back within a few seconds saying that she’d heard Four leave the room and go to the bathroom, but didn’t hear him go back, and asking if everything was okay. Time told her how he couldn’t find Four before changing his course from the stairs to the bathroom, hoping that Malon was right and Four was just hiding in there.

The door to the bathroom was closed when Time got to it. He knocked on it and called out Four’s name, much like he’d done when he’d knocked on the bedroom door earlier. After a few minutes of silence, he knocked again. The only sound he heard this time were footsteps coming up the stairs, followed by Malon’s voice.

“Did you find him?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Time replied. “I’ve been knocking for a few minutes, but no one’s answered.” Malon hummed before motioning for Time to scoot over a bit. This time she tried knocking on the door, putting her ear up against it to see if she could hear anything. A moment later, she pulled away with a frown on her face that had Time incredibly worried.

“I can hear whispering, so I’m sure he’s in there.” 

Time breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t lost the child he’d volunteered to take care of. That was a good thing. However, Malon hadn’t finished speaking.

“But I can’t make out what he’s saying. I think he’s scared, Time.” She turned back to the door, knocking once more before she warned Four that she’d be coming in if the door was unlocked. Malon turned the handle, finding that the lock hadn’t been clicked when Four had entered, and once again warned him of her presence. She left the door open the slightest bit but made no move to let Time in with her.

That was probably for the best, in Time’s opinion, because he honestly had no idea how he’d handle the situation. Malon had always been better at making those around her feel safe and secure, so he let her work her magic and hopefully get Four to come out.

Chapter Text

A knock on the door was what brought Four back into focus, followed by Time calling their name. They didn’t respond, instead choosing to remain as still and silent as possible, hoping that he’d go away and they could be left in peace. With their luck, however, it wasn’t likely that Time would just up and leave, and the fact that the knocking continued proved that.

Four sincerely hoped that Time would think that no one was in the bathroom and give up, but when another voice could be heard from the other side of the door, they knew it was a lost cause. They could hear Time and Malon talking to each other, concern filling both their voices.

“Four, I’m going to come in if the door’s unlocked,” they heard Malon say.

Crap, did we lock the door? Green asked in a panic.

No, I don’t think we did. We were too busy trying to find a place to hide, replied Vio.

Why did we pick the bathroom of all places? And in the bathtub? There are tons of other spots we could’ve hidden, including some that aren’t in this house, said Blue.

Red panicked and brought us here, and neither you nor Green protested.

Red, I swear… and you didn’t do much to prevent it either!

Guys, Malon’s opening the door, so stop blaming me and focus!

That made Four peek out slightly from behind the shower curtain. At least Red had been somewhat thinking when bringing them in here and didn’t leave them completely out in the open, but they also had no way of escaping once someone else entered.

Light filtered in through the crack in the now open door, causing Four to once again retreat behind the curtain. They heard Malon’s soft footsteps get closer before stopping right in front of the tub.

“Four?” she whispered. “Is that you, sweetie?”

Four remained silent, trying their hardest to keep from making a sound. It seemed that a lack of response wasn’t going to deter Malon, however, since she just kept talking.

“Well if it is, I just want you to know that Time and I, and probably also Twilight, are worried about you. We just want to make sure that you’re doing okay and if there’s anything that you need whether you are or not. There’s no need for you to be scared, but I can understand that you are. It’s probably scary being stuck in a new house with new people that you’ve never met before, isn’t it?” She paused for a second. Maybe she was waiting for Four to speak up, or maybe she was gathering her thoughts, Four couldn’t tell. Regardless, she continued.

“Look, we all want what’s best for you here. If you’d like to come out, I can show you around the rest of the house. There wasn’t enough time to show you everything last night, and maybe we can try to convince Time to take us all down to the ranch we own. We’ve got a whole bunch of animals down there that I’m sure would love to meet you.”

We can’t stay in the bathroom forever, reasoned Vio. Red seemed to agree, humming in agreement and adding that they might as well get to know everyone better.

But we don’t know how safe it is here, hissed Blue.

I know you don’t like it, Blue, but what other choice do we have? Running away isn’t going to do us any favors, you saw how it went last time, and there isn’t anywhere else for us to go.

Blue seemed to be thinking about it if the silence was anything to go by. Eventually he relented and allowed for the others to take them out of their hiding spot. Four pulled back the curtain and saw that Malon was crouched down on the floor a few feet away, looking at them with the gentlest look they’d ever seen on a person.

“Well, hello there,” greeted Malon. Four offered a small wave in return, still not up to actually speaking to anyone. “Time’s right outside the door, and I believe I just heard Twilight come inside. Would you like to say hi to them or find something else to do?” Four shrugged. It didn’t really matter much, so whatever Malon wanted to do was alright.

“How about we just say hi to Time first. I know he’s been worried about you all morning and I’m sure he’d love to see you. Then, if you’re feeling up to it, we can see what Twi’s up to. He said something about cleaning out the room you’re staying in so it feels less like a guest room and more like yours. What do you think? Does that sound like a good plan?”

Four took a moment to discuss amongst themself the situation. Red and Green agreed with Malon’s plan entirely, Vio was indifferent, Blue still wasn’t happy about it but didn’t protest, and Shadow chose to remain silent and see what would happen. Eventually they nodded, watching as Malon stood up and took a few steps back to allow them some room to get out of the bathtub.

Next thing they knew, they were outside the bathroom and greeting Time. Time looked as though he had lots of questions he wanted to ask but refrained from doing so, something that Four was thankful for. Instead, Time simply greeted them and checked that they were doing alright, to which Four replied that they were by nodding.

Malon then led the way downstairs to the living room. She began to give Four a tour of the rest of the house, going through the living room and kitchen fairly quickly since Four had already been through both those areas before making their way to the rest of the house. Time followed along behind the two, making sure to keep enough distance that his presence was known but hopefully not going to cause any issues.

Somewhere along the way they managed to come across Twilight, who also joined in on the tour. Every now and then he’d pipe up, adding to what Malon had to say about each section of the house.

So far Four’s favorite part had to be the living room due to the sheer amount of books that were in there. They knew where Vio would have them spending a good amount of their time. The thought made Blue groan. He hated reading unless the book was action packed, which wasn’t something any of them saw often. Red enjoyed reading picture books and got really excited when he saw a couple of them scattered amongst the other books.

Once they finished the tour of the main floor, Malon led them all downstairs into the basement, explaining how it wasn’t finished, but they were welcome to come down if they ever needed or wanted to.

“Well, I believe that concludes the tour of the inside of the house. There isn’t much outside other than the backyard, but maybe we can go take a look at the ranch later tonight. For now, I’ve gotta figure out what we’re having for lunch. Any suggestions?”

“We could do something like sandwiches and have a picnic out in the yard,” said Twilight. “Then we can kinda show Four outside and you don’t have to worry too much about cooking.”

“That’s actually a pretty good idea, bud. What do you say, Four?” Time asked. Four thought about it for a second before nodding. Getting to go outside and not have to worry about watching their back and staying alive seemed like a great plan. And if Malon made sandwiches like she made spaghetti, they were bound to be delicious.

“Then it’s settled,” said Malon. “I’ll get started on a few sandwiches and maybe a couple other little snacks. How about you three go look for some blankets to lay out on the grass and see if there’s any yard games somewhere in the garage that we can play afterwards?”

“Oh! I know the perfect game,” Twilight said before hurrying up the stairs. He stopped halfway, looking back down at Time and Four. “Are you coming or what?” Four looked at Time, trying to determine whether it was okay to follow Twilight or not.

“I’ll be there in a bit. You guys go ahead and get started on gathering the stuff,” he said. “I’ve gotta tell Malon something real quick.” Malon raised her eyebrows, wondering what her husband had to say.

Twilight nodded, leading Four upstairs and out to the garage towards a pile of plastic boxes labeled ‘yard games’ and ‘entertainment’. The two began to sift through all the different games, trying to find the one Twilight seemed so excited about.

Eventually Twilight found it, exclaiming triumphantly and holding the game up. After grabbing a few more games that seemed interesting, Four was once again following Twilight through the house, only this time their journey led them to the sliding doors leading out back. By that point it seemed that Malon and Time had finished talking since they were both in the kitchen making sandwiches and gathering snacks.

Well, Malon was making sandwiches and gathering snacks while Time stood off to the side, trying but failing to find a way to help.

“We got the stuff,” said Twilight, causing Time to look towards the two.

“Great!” he said. “Anything that needs to be set up?”

Twilight held up the bag he had been eager to find. “Could you help us set up the badminton stuff? I can’t ever get the net to stick in the ground.” Time nodded, making his way outside. Twilight began to follow, but Four stayed behind for a second.

“You gonna go join the others, Four?” Malon asked. Four looked between her and the doors leading outside. On one hand they really did want to go outside, Red especially, but on the other they weren’t sure.

“If you don’t want to just yet, that’s okay, too,” she continued when he didn’t answer. “Would you like to come help me finish some of the snacks? I need someone to help me with the ants on a log by putting on the raisins.”

Four looked at her questioningly. Did they eat ants and logs in this house? And why did Malon need help putting raisins on them?

Seeing how confused Four looked, Malon explained further. “Come over here.”

She motioned for them to go and see what she was doing, and continued speaking when they reached the counter.

On a small cutting board were sticks of celery cut into small, log shaped pieces. Each piece had what looked like peanut butter and something else on them.

“These are ants on a log. The raisins,” she pointed towards a box of them just off to the side, “go on top of the peanut butter and cream cheese. They act like ants on the ‘logs’ of celery.”

Four made a small ‘o’ shape with their mouth. That made a lot more sense than eating insects and dead trees.

“Feel free to put as many or as little raisins as you’d like.” Malon handed Four the box of raisins, giving them free reign to decorate the snacks as they pleased.

We should add a ton of raisins on some of them, and leave some with just one, suggested Red.

Why would we do that? asked Vio. Wouldn’t that be unfair to whoever gets the single-raisin ones?

I think it’d be funny, Shadow spoke up. And Malon did say we could add as many or as little as we wanted.

Whatever we end up doing, Blue interrupted, we need to start now. We’ve been staring at the celery for a bit too long and I think Malon’s beginning to get worried.

Four looked up at Blue’s words, realizing that Malon was looking at them with a confused look on her face. They quickly turned back to their little workstation and focused on doing the task they were given.

And if Red managed to convince Vio to leave a few with just one raisin, well, no one else had to know. Besides, they were all curious as to how the others would react.

“Why do half of them only have one raisin?” asked Twilight when he saw Four carrying the plate with ants on a log on them. They just smiled, offering no explanation and sitting down on the grass across from him. A few feet away from their picnic spot was Time, trying his best to set up the badminton net, but it seemed the wind seemed to have other plans. The net was blowing everywhere, hitting Time in the face every now and then, and making him get his arms and fingers tangled in the small holes.

Malon laughed at her husband’s antics, setting down the tray with the remaining food that she had brought out and making her way towards Time to help free him.

“Need some help there?” she asked as she got closer.

“Maybe,” Time responded, still struggling with the net and getting it to stay in place. “The wind’s not being very nice today.”

“I can see that. Now, where do we start?”

While Malon helped Time free himself and finish setting things up, Twilight did his best to start a conversation with Four.

“Have you ever played badminton before?” he asked. Four shook their head. They’d never even heard of the game until Twilight was looking for it and had asked Four if they could see it amongst all the other bags and boxes.

“Well, I’m not really the best at explaining stuff, but you basically have these rackets —see those big paddle-shaped stick things over there; the ones by Time’s feet?— that are used to hit the birdies. They’re not actually birds,” Twilight clarified at the face Four made, “They’re technically called shuttlecocks, but I think birdie is a lot more fun to say. It’s also easier.” Four nodded, still confused as to why there had to be so many weird names for things, but they couldn’t say much considering what they went by.

“Anyways, you hit the birdies over the net that Time and Malon are setting up, trying to keep it from touching the ground on your own side. You want whoever's on the opposite side of the net from you to miss the birdie and let it fall, but you also can’t hit it out of bounds because that’s cheating if you make it impossible to get. You can play either singles or doubles, we’d likely play doubles if we all play at once, and I can’t remember how you decide when someone wins, but Time keeps track of all that, so it’s not our problem,” Twilight finished. He explained how there were a few more rules and did his best to tell them to Four, but it was clear he was struggling to remember the exact details.

“Any questions?”

Four shook their head. They didn’t quite understand how the game worked, but Vio could more than likely learn quickly enough, so none of the others had to worry about learning more about it.

Eventually Time and Malon came to sit beside the two of them, asking if they were enjoying themselves. Twilight said that he was having a great time, although he questioned Malon as to why the ants on a log were put together so strangely. She laughed and explained that she’d left Four in charge of finishing them up and made them that way for reasons unknown to her. Four shrugged their shoulders when asked about it. Red giggled and even Vio had to admit that it was hilarious seeing the confusion on everyone’s face, although no one dared steal raisins from the pieces of celery with way more than enough.

Maybe being part of a family, or at least this one, wasn’t quite as bad as they’d originally thought.

Hey, I’m still not sure about this, Blue reminded everyone. I’m only going along with it because it makes you all happy.

Aww, you care! said Red. And don’t you try to deny it. We all know you’re a big softie.

Blue grumbled, muttering how Red was the softie, not him.

“Are you gonna try some of the food, Four?” asked Time, pulling them away from the conversation between Red and Blue. “The sandwiches Malon made are pretty great. Some of her best work, if I do say so myself.”

Four grabbed a sandwich, taking a small bite out of it, much like they’d done the night before with the spaghetti. It was a simple ham and cheese sandwich, but it tasted incredible and cemented the idea in their head that Malon was the best cook out there.

Eventually all the sandwiches and snacks were gone, only a few crumbs that Twilight gave to a few wandering ants remained. Time and Malon had gotten up to play some badminton and properly explain how it was played. Turns out Twilight had gotten pretty close to explaining each rule almost perfectly but missed a few key points. He and Four joined in to play after some time.

Four was given the choice to play with whoever they wanted and whether all four of them played or if it was just a singles match. In the end they chose to team up with Twilight and let Malon and Time play together on the other team.

They played until they all felt like collapsing from exhaustion and decided to call it quits for the remainder of the day. Four and Twilight lost 2-8, which had been expected so the two didn’t really mind.

As they made their way inside, Four stayed back for a bit. That was the most fun they’ve had in years, and while it made most of them smile, there was still some skepticism lingering in their mind.

What if they were only doing all this to make them feel safe?

What if they weren’t actually wanted here and they’d be sent away?

What if they were seen as a freak if their secret ever got out? It’s not normal to have multiple people in the same body, and it’s caused them a multitude of problems in the past.

Now’s not the time to be worrying about all this, said Green. Besides, we need to get inside before they suspect something’s wrong. I’m pretty sure they’re already suspicious of something.

The rest of them agreed. Their little stunt in the bathroom this morning hadn’t helped their case at all, so it would only make sense for the others to be on high alert in the event that another situation happened.

However none of that mattered at the moment. Four took another minute to take in the fresh air before heading inside. There was still almost half a day left and they wanted to see if Malon would keep her promise on taking them to the ranch she’d mentioned earlier.

Red really hoped they had some cute animals they could pet.

Chapter Text

Malon did indeed keep her promise to have Time take them all to the ranch.

An hour after they’d gone inside she’d told everyone to get ready to leave, and that they had better be all set to go in the next ten minutes. Seeing how Twilight could get ready in five and Four didn’t seem to have anything that needed to be done beforehand, those two were done quickly enough.

Now they were only waiting on Time.

“For someone who goes by ‘Time’, he sure is great at being late,” said Malon.

They sat in the car for another five minutes before Time finally showed up, rushing out the door before locking it and making his way towards them. Once he’d gotten all settled in the driver’s seat, they took off. When asked what he’d been up to, he simply shrugged, saying he had been looking for carrots but couldn’t find any.

“There should be some left over at the ranch from a few days ago,” said Malon. “Now let’s get going, you’ve kept us waiting long enough.”

Twilight turned to Four, a smile on his face.

“You’re gonna love the ranch, I just know it.” Four offered a small smile back before he turned away. It saddened Twilight that Four had yet to say anything, but he supposed it was understandable.

Maybe he’d see if Four wanted to help turn the guest room into his own space when they got back from the ranch. Hopefully that’d help them get to know each other better and help Four feel more comfortable living with them.

Ten minutes later they were pulling up to Lon Lon Ranch. The journey there had been mostly silent save the occasional comment about whatever was outside the window from Time, followed by Malon having to constantly remind him to keep his eyes on the road.

Twilight was the first out of the car, opening the door before Time even had the chance to put it in park.

“Come on, Four!” he said, turning back to face the person in question. “It’s time for a tour of Time and Malon’s ranch!”

Once Four was out of the car and they were given permission to wander around the ranch, Twilight led the way towards a fenced off area containing some of his favorite animals: the Ordon Goat.

Twilight grew up with them, watching them from both near and far as a child. On occasion they got close enough that he was able to pet and care for them, playing games day in and day out when he was allowed outside.

He had been ecstatic when he learned that Time and Malon raised them on their ranch.

Now, as he walked towards them with Four trailing behind, he couldn’t help but wonder how Four had grown up. Were there any animals or other special things in his childhood? If there were, Twilight would love to hear about it someday.

“Have you ever seen an Ordon Goat?” he asked. Four shook his head, looking on with a curious but fearful expression. Twilight noticed that he looked rather afraid of the gentle creatures and did his best to assure Four that they wouldn’t bring him any harm.

“Well, they’re really gentle giants and aren’t really known for hurting people. These fellas just hang around all day unless they see something they deem threatening.”

Four continued to look at the goats apprehensively, but made a move to reach over the fence and touch one, looking back at him to make sure that it was okay to pet them. Twilight nodded, reaching over the fence himself to show Four where the goats liked to be pet the most. His movements were copied soon after, a smile spreading on Four’s face when he felt the soft fur.

After a few minutes of petting the goats and playing with them, Twilight suggested they go take a look at some of the other animals.

“Whaddya say we go take a look at the cuccos?”

In hindsight, maybe taking Four to see the cuccos hadn’t been his best idea.

Everything was fine at first. They’d entered the cucco pen and were watching as the birds walked around, flapping their wings every so often. Twilight had even given Four some food to feed the cuccos, which was probably where things started to go wrong.

As soon as Four had run out of food, the cuccos were determined to find more. They simply walked around him at first, pecking at the ground and occasionally Four and Twilight’s shoes. When they didn’t find any there, some had begun to jump and attempt flight to check out their pockets.

At that point Twilight could tell that Four was beginning to get uncomfortable with the cuccos jumping and running around. He did his best to grab a few and kick away others, but that only seemed to anger them even more.

“Uh oh,” he whispered before calling out. “Time! Malon!” He really hoped they could hear him. “The cuccos are mad, help!”

It took about a minute of yelling and wrestling with cuccos before Time came running around the corner, Malon not far behind. Without missing a beat, Time helped pull some of the birds off Four while Twilight finally managed to get rid of the ones attacking him. Malon quickly did her best to distract the cuccos by grabbing a handful of food and throwing it to the other side of the pen before ushering everyone out once cuccos went after their feed.

“Are you both okay?” Malon asked as she checked the two of them over once she’d locked up the pen.

“I’m fine, what about you, Four?” Twilight looked over at Four, who seemed a bit spooked but looked fine otherwise.

Four nodded, glancing back at the cuccos as they devoured the food. Once that was gone, they began to walk around their pen, searching for more but not finding any.

“We should get outta here before they realize we’re not giving them any more,” said Time. He turned to Twilight and Four. “How would you boys like to go visit the blupees?”

“Oh, I forgot about those!” said Twilight, not missing how Four flinched ever so slightly at Time’s words. He’d have to ask about that later. “They arrived a few days ago, I believe, and they’re some of the cutest things I’ve ever seen,” he explained to Four as they were led towards where the blupees were kept.

“And they’re much nicer than the cuccos,” added Time.

After visiting the blupees, which were indeed nicer than the cuccos had been, Time led them to the stables to introduce Four to the horses, stopping by the small house at the entrance of the ranch to grab the carrots Malon had mentioned earlier.

“Now this,” Time began, “is my absolute favorite part of the whole ranch.”

Four looked at Time curiously, which Time seemed to notice as he proceeded to elaborate on what he’d just said.

“These stables house the most magnificent creatures to ever exist; horses!”

“In case you couldn’t tell, Time really loves his horses,” said Malon. “Especially that one there.” She pointed to one stall in particular. Time nodded, getting closer to the stall as he spoke.

“This here is my trusty steed Epona. She’s been with me through thick and thin, never abandoning my side. Not even once.” Time opened the gate, walking in for a moment before coming back out with the horse in tow.

Four seemed to inspect Epona for a moment before slowly approaching. Time offered Four a carrot, showing him how to feed it to her and avoid being bitten.

Now it was Epona’s turn to eye Four curiously, sniffing the carrot held out to her before taking it, chewing quickly and nudging his hand for another one. Time handed Four another carrot to give to her before giving one to Twilight as well. Twilight waited until Four’s second carrot was finished before approaching and offering his own.

The next few minutes were spent petting Epona and hearing Time tell tales of the two of them and their adventures around the ranch. Eventually Malon had to interrupt and say it was about time they head home, causing everyone else to become slightly disappointed before she added that she’d be making a special treat to go along with dinner that night.

That seemed to excite everyone once more, and soon they were all piling back into the car for the short journey home. Time once again took the wheel with Malon in the passenger seat, leaving the back seats for Twilight and Four.

Overall, the trip to the ranch seemed to be successful in getting Four more comfortable around them, and Twilight couldn’t be happier.

Chapter Text

Twilight was making his way towards the guest room with Four in tow, a handful of cleaning supplies in hand as the two of them discussed how to make the room more Four-friendly. Or really, Twilight did the talking and suggestions while Four nodded along, making it clear what he agreed or disagreed with.

“Okay, so we’re going to clean up the bed, clear out as much of the closet as possible, and see if we can find a few things to add here and there. Does that sound about right?” Twilight turned to ask Four once he’d set the stuff he’d been carrying on the side table by the bed. Four nodded, giving Twilight a thumbs up for good measure.

“Alright, then, let’s get started!” Twilight looked around the room, trying to decide on a good place to start. He settled on tackling the closer first, pulling out boxes and bags that he figured could easily be stored in the garage or basement for the time being. He’d have to see when Time and Malon planned on getting the shed they wanted built so they could move some of the extra stuff they had out there and Twilight wouldn’t need to keep cleaning things out. Not that he minded it all that much, but it would probably be nice to not have it scattered around the house. Maybe he’d even see if they’d allow him to help put it together.

Once all the stuff from the closet had been gathered in a relatively neat pile next to the bed, Twilight asked Four if he’d brought any belongings with him that he’d like to put in the closet. Maybe a couple clothes or shoes or something. He was shocked when all he received was a slight shake of the head, followed by Four looking slightly down in what appeared to be shame.

“Do you really not have anything with you?”

Another head shake.

Twilight frowned. “That won’t do. We’ve gotta get you some stuff, then. I’ll see about talking to Time and Malon about that; maybe find you some stuff in the meantime.”

Four, like always, remained silent and only offered a small nod, although this time he appeared to be slightly hesitant to agree with Twilight’s words.

“For now, though, we should bring this stuff downstairs for now to clear up space. I’m sure you don’t want to have to sleep in a room with all this stuff in the way.”

The two of them proceeded to grab as much as they could before heading down the stairs to find a good spot to store everything. As they passed by the living room, they found Malon seated on the couch, watching a movie on the television.

“Hey, you two,” she said when she saw them, pausing her movie so she wouldn’t miss anything. “Whatcha got there?”

“Just some things that were in the guest room’s closet. Is there anywhere we can put them?” Twilight asked.

“You can take them down to the basement for now. I’ve got to go through them to see if we really need everything, but I’ll worry about it later.”

“Alright. Come on, Four. To the basement! Adventure awaits!” Twilight began to dramatically make his way towards the basement stairs, marching in an exaggerated manner to get his point across. Four giggled, a soft sound that left Twilight rather shocked. He’d managed to get a sound out of Four, albeit a small and quiet one, but a sound nonetheless. He couldn’t help but smile as he continued to lead the way, making a show of all his actions.

Once they’d made it downstairs, he made sure to carefully set down everything before saluting Four, who was also setting things down.

“All the items have successfully been delivered to the basement,” he reported. Another smile crossed Four’s face, this time staying for much longer as he went to salute Twilight back. The simple act had Twilight beaming. He dropped his hand shortly after, happy he was able to get Four out of his shell just a bit more.

“Now, let’s go see what else needs to be done in your room. Pretty sure the sheets need to be changed.”

The two of them quickly made their way back upstairs. Twilight had the idea that they race back up to see which of the two was quicker, something Four agreed to almost immediately. Once they took their starting positions and Twilight counted down, they were off. Four seemed to have the advantage as he managed to overtake Twilight easily, beating him to the guest room by a long shot.

“Nice job,” Twilight congratulated Four. “You’re definitely much faster than I am. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone run up stairs that fast. How did you even do that?”

Four shrugged, pointing towards the bed to remind Twilight that there were still things that needed to be done. Twilight shook his head, agreeing that they should probably keep working if they were going to finish before dinner.

They got to work. Twilight focused on stripping the bed of its old covers while Four took care of cleaning the window that gave a clear view of the backyard. Once those tasks were done, they once again headed downstairs to stick the sheets in the washing machine and ask Malon if they had any spare ones they could use until Four got his own.

She directed them to the linen closet in the downstairs hallway and told them to pick whatever Four liked the most. After searching for five minutes through all the different sheets and pillowcases, Four picked out some blank white sheets to fit over the mattress, but couldn’t decide on any pillowcases. Twilight saw that he kept eyeing four different colored ones, a troubled look on his face as his eyes scanned between red, blue, green, and purple.

“Can’t decide, huh?” Twilight asked. Four shook his head. “Well, there are only two pillows, so you could pick two different colors. That helps make the decision a bit easier, right?” Four didn’t look convinced. Clearly there was something special to him about the colors, and Twilight was determined to find a solution that would work out.

“Here, let’s do this,” he picked up all four pillow cases, motioning for Four to follow him back upstairs. As they walked, Twilight explained his plan. “We’ll bring all of them up to your room and you can cycle through them. You can change them out every day or once a week or whenever you’d like. Heck, you can even change them multiple times a day if you’re feeling up to it.”

That seemed to help Four make up his mind if the determined look on his face was anything to go by. If Twilight had to guess, he was already putting together some sort of rotation schedule for all the pillowcases. He’d have to talk to Time and Malon about taking Four to the store at some point to get him some of his own things if he was going to be staying for a while.

Come to think of it, he’d also have to ask if they knew how long Four’s stay was.

He felt Four poke him, causing him to turn around and take a look at the bed. What he saw made him laugh louder than he probably should’ve, but he couldn’t help it. Clearly Four had a much smarter approach to the pillowcase situation that Twilight never would’ve thought of.

Four had taken the green and blue pillowcases and put them on the pillows normally, but what really got Twilight was the fact that the other two pillowcases had been partially tucked into themselves before being put on the pillows, making it so each pillow was half one color, half another color.

“You know what, Four, that’s genius,” Twilight managed to get out through all the laughing. “I never in a million years would’ve thought to do that.”

A knock on the doorframe had them both turning towards the door. Standing there was Time with a curious look on his face.

“What’s going on in here?” he asked. Twilight pointed towards the pillows, moving slightly out of the way so Time had a better view as to what Four had managed to come up with.

“Four couldn’t decide on which colored pillowcases he wanted to use,” Twilight explained. “So, he figured out a way to get them all on there. I think it’s pretty impressive if you ask me.”

Time nodded. “I agree. That’s a pretty good solution you came up with,” he addressed Four who had tensed up when Time had first entered but now seemed to relax. Four offered Time a smile as a way of thanks.

“Well, I came to let you both know that Malon’s just about done with dinner. We’re having chicken with mashed potatoes.”

Half an hour later Twilight was helping Malon clear the table while Four went into the living room to check out some books after Time noticed he’d taken interest in them on their way to the kitchen and told Four to ‘have at it, we need someone in this house to read them all.’

After he finished washing the dishes, he headed towards the living to see if Four was still in there by any chance. Malon followed shortly after.

The sight that greeted them was one neither expected to see, at least not so soon. On one of the armchairs was Four, an open book in hand. The book, however, was not being read. Apparently it had been long enough of a day for Four to fall asleep while reading, his head leaning against the back of the chair.

What made the whole situation even better was the fact that Time was in a similar position in the other armchair. The only difference was that Time was snoring rather loudly, making for a funny sight.

Malon put a hand on Twilight’s shoulder to get his attention, whispering that they should probably head upstairs and get to bed themselves. If either of the other two woke up, they’d hopefully find their own way to bed.

Chapter Text

Time woke up to a scream.

He jumped up from the armchair he had been sitting in —when had he fallen asleep?— and looked around, trying to locate where the sound had come from. Eventually his eyes landed on Four, who was also sitting up in an armchair, but had this panicked look on his face.

Time wanted to rush over and immediately check on him, figure out what was wrong, and solve the problem, but he knew that would only make things worse. Instead, he made sure to walk into Four’s line of sight as slowly and loudly as he possibly could at the moment. No doubt that Twilight and Malon were likely also woken up by the scream, and the sound of soft footsteps approaching only confirmed his thoughts.

He turned around and saw the two of them standing at the bottom of the stairs, unsure as to what they could do. Malon mouthed something that was likely an ‘is everything okay?’, to which Time responded by shrugging his shoulders. It was still dark out, the only light coming from the upstairs hallway, which had been turned on by either Malon or Twilight as they made their way down.

Time made his way towards the stairs, whispering once he got close enough.

“I don’t know what happened, and I don’t know what to do.”

“We’ll figure it out, don’t worry,” Malon whispered back. “First course of action would be to calm Four down.”

Time turned back around. Four was still sitting but was now curled in on himself, as if to protect himself from something. The thought made Time frown. Whoever had hurt this kid had another thing coming for them if Time ever found them. He spared a quick glance back at his wife and Twilight before once again walking slowly and loudly into Four’s line of sight.

He crouched down once he deemed himself close enough to be able to talk to Four comfortably, but also leave as much space between the two as possible. It was important here that he didn’t cause any more stress or panic than what was already there, and getting too close could send things spiraling. Time took a few moments to decide what he was going to say, during which Twilight had gotten closer, following the same tactic that Time had in approaching. Malon quietly called out that she would be heading to the kitchen to make some hot chocolate in the hopes that it would help afterwards.

Twilight looked at Time, concern written all over his face. Time had no doubt that he wore a similar expression, but still tried his best to offer a reassuring smile. It wouldn’t help if all of them were overly worried since someone had to take charge and do their best to help Four get through whatever it was that was happening.

However, after spending the next few seconds observing Four and trying to determine the best course of action, Time was still at a loss. He had no idea how to help, and that began to tear him apart. When Twilight had come to them, he’d also been a mess, but it was easier to comfort him since Twilight would talk about what was bothering him without much prompting. It also helped that Twilight loved physical comfort and would accept any and all hugs he and Malon had to offer.

He doubted Four would respond well to even a pat on the shoulder, let alone a hug from any of them.

In the end, Time didn’t have to worry about what to say since it was Twilight who spoke up first.

“Hey, Four,” Twilight said in one of the gentlest tones Time had ever heard him speak in. Four didn’t react to the sound. “It’s me, Twilight. Time’s here, too, and Malon’s in the kitchen making us something warm to drink.”

Still nothing. Twilight continued anyways.

“She likes making drinks like coffee or hot chocolate whenever someone’s having a rough time or she thinks they need something to cheer them up. I guess that’s almost the same thing, but you get the point.”

A pause to wait for some sort of reaction.

“Do you like warm drinks like that?” Twilight asked. “I do. I especially love the little marshmallows she sometimes puts in the hot chocolate.”

Despite the fact that Four remained unresponsive to all of Twilight’s questions, he kept talking about anything and everything that came to mind. He talked about other comfort foods Malon was known for making, then moved on to talking about some of his favorite things, and finally just rambled on about different shows and movies he thought Four would enjoy, and that they should totally watch them together one of these days.

The longer that Twilight spoke, the more aware Four became. Time noticed that instead of being curled up tightly into a ball, Four had relaxed significantly and now seemed completely focused on what Twilight had to say.

By the time Twilight ran out of things to say, Malon showed up with mugs of steaming hot chocolate. She set the tray she brought them out on down on the coffee table before grabbing one for herself and sitting down on the floor next to Time. At some point during Twilight’s story telling he’d sat down, as had Twilight. He reached for his own mug, noticing how there wasn’t only marshmallows in the drinks but also pieces of shaved chocolate and what looked to be pieces of crushed up peppermints. Where Malon had managed to find those, Time had no idea, but was happy with it all the same.

He heard Twilight offer a mug to Four, and assumed that Four nodded or made some sort of gesture to show that he did want it because Twilight was soon handing the third mug of hot chocolate to Four before grabbing the last one for himself.

The four of them sat in silence for the next few minutes, the only sounds being the sipping of hot chocolate and the ticking of a nearby clock.

“Are you alright now, Four?” Malon asked after a while. Four looked up at her and nodded ever so slightly.

“We’re- I’m sorry,” Four whispered, voice barely audible with how quiet it was kept. Time looked at Four in a bit of shock. He hadn’t heard the kid speak since the police station, and even then all they’d gotten had been Four’s name.

“Oh, don’t be sorry. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

Four shrugged, going back to quietly sipping the hot chocolate left in the mug he was holding. Time waited a moment before asking Four if he wanted to talk about what had frightened him so much. Four seemed to think about it for a moment before shaking his head.

“That’s okay,” Twilight piped up from where he was sitting. “Wanna talk about something else instead?” This time Four nodded. “Okay! What should we talk about then?”

“Dunno,” was Four’s reply.

Time was definitely shocked now. He would have thought that Four would go back to simple nods and smiles instead of continuing to speak, but clearly that was not the case. Even if they were short and easy words, something was something, and he supposed that was all he could ask for.

“How about we talk about books?” Twilight eventually suggested. “I take it you enjoy reading, seeing how that’s what you were doing when you feel asleep.”

Four hummed in response, making his way off the couch to sit across from Twilight. Okay, so maybe he still kept to his nonverbal ways of communication, but that was just fine. So long as everyone in his house was comfortable and felt safe, Time would gladly allow Four to communicate as he pleased.

Chapter Text

Everyone ended up staying awake the rest of the night. They talked and talked about a wide variety of things, each one of them pitching in whenever they saw fit and a topic interested them. Four would even say a word or two every now and then, which had Twilight overjoyed if he was being honest. He had really hoped that Four would become more comfortable around them as time passed, although he didn’t expect for it to be so soon.

That didn’t matter at the moment, though, since Four seemed content for the time being and Time and Malon appeared a bit more at ease. Twilight had seen how tense they both were when Four’s scream had woken them all up and they couldn’t figure out what to do. That was one of the main reasons he’d decided to step in and start rambling about whatever he could think of.

Eventually the sun began to rise, causing light to filter in through the blinds. Time suggested they all go out to the front porch to properly watch the sunrise, so soon they were making their way through the front door. Malon had everyone grab their jackets before heading out, handing a fuzzy blanket to Four who didn’t have a jacket before saying they’d all go out some time this week to get him all his necessities.

That reminded Twilight; he still had to ask how long Four would be staying.

However he couldn’t do that now, not when they were all having such a nice time together, watching the beauty of the sun making its first appearance of the day, slowly coming up from behind the horizon.

After sitting outside and lightly chatting for a while, the four of them soon headed inside to grab some breakfast before getting started on their day. Malon went inside first to see if there was anything in the kitchen that she could throw together for them to eat, and Four quickly followed after Malon asked if he’d like to help her.

As he and Time made their way inside, Twilight asked if there was any news on Four’s stay and whether they’d be fostering him for longer than they already had been.

“We haven’t gotten any sort of call or text about it, and Malon and I have been wondering the same thing. We’re planning on calling Four’s social worker today to see what the plan is going forward, however, so I’ll let you know then what we find out. Seeing how we haven’t been told anything yet, chances are that Four will be staying with us for an extended period of time, and if that is the case, we’re going to have to sit and talk some things out. Mostly between me and Malon, but I know I want you two involved in some decisions, and I’m sure Malon would want the same.”

Twilight nodded, satisfied with Time’s answer for now. He really hoped Four got to stay. The past few days, yesterday and this morning especially, were some of the best moments he’s had in a while, and he was more than certain that the same likely applied to Four as well. In the meantime, though, he’d see if any more help was needed in the kitchen, and if not, he’d find something to keep himself busy with.

When he got to the kitchen, Twilight found that Four and Malon had decided on making waffles with some bacon and eggs. When he asked why they chose waffles over pancakes, Malon explained how Four had apparently never had a waffle before and was interested in the concept of them.

Twilight was baffled by the fact that Four had never tasted a waffle before and asked if the same went for pancakes. Somehow Four had tried pancakes at one point, but that was forever ago and he couldn’t remember what they tasted like, so Twilight didn’t count it.

“Well, just like every other thing she cooks, Malon makes the best waffles I have ever tasted,” Time chimed in as he walked into the kitchen behind Twilight. “And I know I say that a lot,” he continued at the look he received from his wife, “but it’s true, isn’t it?”

“That’s for sure,” said Twilight as Four nodded. Malon smiled, turning back towards the drawer she had been going through.

“Whatcha looking for?” Twilight asked.

“A whisk. I can’t seem to find them where they’re supposed to be, and I’ve checked every other drawer in this kitchen,” Malon replied. “I don’t suppose you know where they are, Time?”

“Hmm? A whisk?” Time walked over to where Malon was standing, looking over her shoulder to see inside the drawer for himself. “No, I don’t usually mess with stuff in here, you know that. It almost never ends well.”

Malon frowned. “I know it’s gotta be somewhere. I mean, it’s not like it just grew legs and walked away.”

“Is there anywhere you haven’t checked?” asked Twilight. “Maybe it’s in some other part of the kitchen, or somewhere else in the house.”

“No, it should be around here somewhere, I just don’t know where. Oh, well. I guess we’ll just have to use a fork for now. Now come on, we’ve got some waffles to make!”

Once all the waffles had been made and the table set for breakfast, the four of them sat down to enjoy the meal they’d all worked hard on. While Malon taught Four how the waffle iron worked, Twilight was out in charge of cracking eggs into a bowl and beating them in order to make scrambled eggs. She had him keep most of them plain and simple, but told him to set aside a portion to add cut up pieces of sausage into. That was her favorite way of eating them. Time had been put in charge of cooking the bacon to perfection since he was the best at it.

Everyone began to dig into the food, enjoying the fluffiness of the eggs and the crispiness of the bacon. When Four made a move to grab a waffle, everyone slowed down in their eating and did their best to gauge whatever reaction Four had to them without being too obvious that they were watching.

Four looked around the table at the others, who had all grabbed their own waffles a few minutes prior and were all eating them in different ways. Malon had simply poured syrup on hers and was using a fork to hold the waffle down as she used a knife to cut it up into pieces. Time had used his hands to tear it up into quarters along the lines running through the waffle and was dipping it in syrup as he ate. Twilight had taken a completely different approach from the two and had piled so much whipped cream on top of his waffle that you could barely see it from underneath.

Twilight watched at Four then looked around the table to check out the different waffle topping that had been set out. Besides the syrup and whipped cream, there was also chocolate syrup, a variety of fruits, peanut butter, and some different flavored jams. After a moment of what appeared to be some sort of internal debate, however, it seemed like Four had decided to forgo the topping and try the waffle as is. A smart decision, honestly, since this was the first time he’d be trying the breakfast food.

Four slowly picked off a piece of the waffle. It wasn’t a big piece, but it also wasn’t so small that the flavor of it would be lost in its size. The piece was then eaten almost equally as slowly as Four took in the taste of it before he finally swallowed and looked up at the rest of them who, despite their best efforts, were indeed watching him eat.

Twilight asked what Four thought and received a thumbs up in reply, followed by a quick “good, kinda plain” as a way to describe its taste. Twilight suggested that he add something to it to see if that would help, to which Four responded by reaching over for the syrup.

Once the syrup was added, Four took another piece similar to the other one, only this time it was eaten much quicker than it had been before. This time Four’s face lit up a bit more at the newfound sweetness the waffle contained.

“Good?” asked Time. Four looked up at him and nodded, quickly grabbing another piece and stuffing it in his mouth. Once the whole thing was finished, Time asked if Four would like another one seeing how they had plenty to go around. Four immediately agreed, this time trying the waffle with whipped cream at Twilight’s suggestion.

In the end, Four deemed both ways of eating waffles acceptable. A third waffle was eaten, this time combining both methods by pouring syrup and topping it with whipped cream. That seemed to be Four’s favorite by far if the look on his face after tasting it was anything to go off of.

It made Twilight happy that Four seemed happy to be with them, and he hoped it would last for some time.

That afternoon as he was making sure he had all his homework done for the following day, Twilight heard a knock on his door. He turned towards it, calling out to whoever it was and telling them to just come on in.

A few seconds later, Four could be seen peering in through the crack in the door before opening it fully once Twilight motioned for him to come in.

“Hey, Four,” Twilight greeted. “Did you need something?”

Four shrugged.

“Well, welcome to my room. I can’t remember if I ever showed it to you while we were giving you the house tour, but you’re more than welcome to explore and check it out.”

When it was clear that Four had no intentions of actually looking around the room other than a quick glance at everything, Twilight continued speaking, determined to find out why Four had come to him.

“How are you liking it here?”

“It’s nice,” Four whispered after a moment. “Different.”

“Different from what?” Twilight asked. A shake of the head was all he got as a response. “Well, whatever it’s different from, I’m glad you’re enjoying it.” This time he received a small smile, although it didn’t last long as it seemed that Four was quickly pulled into his thoughts.

“Are-” Four began after a moment, pausing after the word before continuing. “Are they nice? Always?”

“Who? Time and Malon?”

Four nodded, looking almost as nervous as Twilight had seen the first day Four was with them. It surprised him to think how that was only a few days ago. He knew that it had taken him much longer to adjust and he honestly didn’t understand how Four had seemingly become this comfortable so quickly.

“Yeah, they are. They haven’t done anything to you, have they?” If they had done something to hurt or upset Four in any way, Twilight quickly decided that he would not stand for it and would defend Four in whatever way he could. After all, Twilight was beginning to get rather used to having him around. It was almost as though Four was always meant to be with them.

“No,” Four quickly answered. “Just asking.”

“Gotcha,” said Twilight. “Can I ask why?”

“Not now. Later, maybe.”

“Alright, no worries.” Twilight offered Four a smile which was returned, although not quite as big or bright. “Hey, you wanna see something cool?” Four raised an eyebrow, looking at Twilight questioningly. “Come on, I’ve got to show you all my animal figures. I’m sure you’ll love them.”

Chapter Text

When Twilight got home from school the next day, he hadn’t expected to be called into the kitchen. He also hadn’t been expecting to see everyone sitting around the table, clearly waiting for him to arrive.

“What’s this all about?” he asked as he took his usual seat. Four looked at him briefly before going back to staring down at the table. He seemed nervous. “Did something happen?”

“No, everything's fine,” Time assured him. “Just need to talk to you about something real quick.”

“We got the phone call today about Four,” Malon started.

“It’s nothing bad, Twi,” Time interrupted at the look on Twilight’s face.

“With the way everyone’s acting, it sure feels that way.”

“As I was saying,” continued Malon, “the phone call was to let us know that, to put it simply, Four’s going to be needing a place to stay for a bit longer. They called us to ask if we wanted to keep providing him with a home as long as it’s necessary, but we told them we have to have a talk between the four of us before any final decisions are made.”

“We were just waiting for you to get home,” said Time. “We finished talking to Four about it not too long ago, now we just need your opinion on it.”

“Four,” Four looked up at Malon’s voice, “how about you head to the living room real quick and pick out a book to read. We’ll call you back in once we’ve talked it over, yeah?”

Four nodded, sliding the chair backwards by pushing on the table before exiting the kitchen. Once Four had left, Time and Malon turned towards Twilight and began to explain the situation. It still remained uncertain as to where Four had been before coming to their house, but they had managed to gather enough information on Four to give a bit of an idea as to what his background was.

“While it’s not as much as we’d hope to know, we at least have a general date of birth, meaning we know which month, as well as his biological family’s information. We’re not going to tell you much on that since it’s more Four’s business than anyone else’s and it’s up to him to share, and that’s not a concern at the moment,” said Time. “Right now we want to talk to you about him staying here for as long as it’s needed.”

Twilight nodded. “I’d be happy to keep living with Four,” he said.

“That’s good,” said Malon, smiling as she said that. “We want to be able to provide him with a place to stay so long as both you and Four agree with it. Time and I already talked it over this morning.”

“Four didn’t really give us much of an answer when we talked to him about it, but we think that’s because he wanted to hear your thoughts on it first,” Time added.

Twilight looked towards the living room where he could barely hear Four flipping through a book. “Can Four come back in now?” With Time and Malon’s approval, Twilight went to get Four to bring him back to the kitchen. Like Twilight had suspected, Four was sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table going through a book that seemed to be about the different elements.

“You reading up on the periodic table?” Twilight asked, causing Four to look up at him. Four shrugged, shutting the book before pointing behind Twilight towards the kitchen entrance.

“Yeah, I came to get you because Time and Malon said you could come back in.”

“Fast.”

“What was fast? The conversation” Twilight asked. Four nodded. “Well, it was easy to come to a decision.”

Soon enough they were back in the kitchen and taking their previous seats. Malon took the time to explain to Four what had happened in the few minutes he wasn’t present and how, if Four wanted to, they would all love for him to continue living in their home until that was no longer necessary.

It seemed to take Four a minute to process all the information if the silence was anything to go by. Eventually Twilight began to worry and shifted in his seat so he could get a better look at Four’s face. Tears were beginning to make their way down Four’s cheeks, and it looked like he was trying his hardest not to make a single sound. Once he registered the fact that Four was crying, Twilight immediately asked if everything was alright, to which Four responded with a small sniffle.

Time came over, kneeling down next to Four’s chair on the side opposite of Twilight. He rested his hand on the top of the chair.

“In the end, the decision is up to you, but I want you to know that no matter what you choose, we’ve got your back and will always love having you around.”

“Want to stay,” Four said after a minute. Twilight smiled, as did Time and Malon, who looked at each other before Time turned back to Four.

“That’s great,” said Time. “And now that that’s settled, how about we go out and do something fun. Sound like a plan?”

Four nodded as Time stood back up, turning to face Twilight with a look that he could only describe as happiness.

Chapter Text

Following a quick celebration from Twilight, in which he ran a couple laps in the backyard with Four following close behind, big smiles on both their faces as Twilight exclaimed that he now had someone his age to hang out with, the four of them were soon making their way to the mall a half hour away.

“So here’s what I was thinking that we could do,” said Time from the driver’s seat. “First I figured we could stop by a few of the bigger department stores they’ve got at the mall to pick up a few things that you’re going to be needing, Four, and then what do you think about stopping by the food court to pick up some ice cream or something of the sort?”

Four thought about it for a moment. They hadn’t been expecting that their outing would include getting things for them, and while the idea of it was really nice, they were skeptical about it.

What exactly are they planning on even getting us? asked Blue. I mean, we’ve got everything that we need: our clothes and a place to stay. Besides, we might not even stay that long before we’re kicked out or forced to leave again.

Come on, Blue! said Red. You’ve gotta start thinking more positively! So far they’re the nicest people we’ve come across; I doubt there’d be any reason for us to leave.

Plus, we do need some more clothes, Vio spoke up. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to get out of this outfit. We’ve been wearing it for days straight, and it smells.

Hey, at least we managed to snag something relatively clean before we were caught, said Green. But, yeah, I agree with Vio. New clothes at the very least, please.

Fine.

“Okay,” Four answered Time. The rest of the car ride was relatively silent save for the occasional comment from Twilight about a bird he saw flying by or a horse lingering in a field off in the distance. Once they arrived at the mall and Time found a place to park, they all got out of the car and made their way towards the nearest entrance.

“Alright, first things first,” said Time as they stepped foot into the first store of what was likely to be many. “Clothes and other similar items.”

Four didn’t think they’d ever seen so many different shops in one place, not that they had much to compare the mall to. They looked around as Time led them to the clothing section of this particular store, looking up at the signs to find the right section to begin the search for clothes.

I’m still not so sure about this, said Blue. Do we really need to make them spend money on clothes for us? I mean, all we’ve got to do is find a way to clean what we’ve got on, and we’ll be fine!

Look, I know you’re not happy about it, Blue, but do you really want to be stuck with the same shirt and pants for the rest of our life? Because I sure don’t, said Green.

I don’t either, Red piped up. I’d like to wear something that isn’t starting to get holes in it.

“Well, here we are,” said Malon as they all came to a stop. “What do you say we start taking a look at the different options they’ve got here, yeah?” she asked Four.

Four nodded as they followed Malon towards a clothing rack not too far away from where they had been standing. This rack seemed to hold different types of T-shirts that ranged from ones with designs on them to others that were just a solid color. Four couldn’t recall a time when they might’ve come across so many shirts in one place, and they were just getting started.

Since all of this was a new experience, they weren’t sure what to do at that moment. Were they supposed to start looking through all the different options, or was the decision up to Malon, and they were there simply to make it look like they were giving an opinion?

That question was quickly answered when Malon, as she looked through the clothing rack, spoke up.

”Is there anything in particular that you prefer to wear?” she asked. “A certain type of fabric, perhaps, or a color maybe?”

Wait, we actually get to choose? Red couldn’t help but marvel at the fact that not only were they getting new clothes, they were also getting to pick the type of clothes they wanted. Do we each get to pick something out?

There’s five of us, said Vio. Are we allowed to get five things?

I don’t know. We can always ask.

“How many?”

Malon paused her search at Four’s question.

”How many of what? Shirts?” she asked when she realized what they were likely referring to. When Four gave confirmation that that was indeed what they’d been asking about, Malon’s expression went from one of confusion to what looked like a pained one.

What happened? Red began to panic. Did we do something wrong? Were we not supposed to ask that?

“You can get as many shirts, sweaters, pants, socks, whatever as you want.”

Four couldn’t help but give Malon a skeptical look, but when they looked at her face once more, they saw that there was only kindness in her eyes. There didn’t seem to be any trickery or malice in them, which was something they had gotten used to over the years. Someone would offer them something they needed, something they wanted, only for them to take it back or turn on Four the moment they finally felt safe enough to trust that person. Green, more than any of them, had vowed to never let it happen again.

Eventually it was Shadow who broke the silence in their head, ruining the rare peace and quiet that only happened when all of them were lost in thought.

I call dibs on first pick!

Hey, no fair! You’ve barely spoken up this whole time! exclaimed Blue. Why do you get first pick?

Because I claimed it.

That’s not how this works, Shadow!

So then how does it work?

I don’t know, but it’s definitely not like that!

Stop fighting, said Red. Why does it matter who gets to pick first if we all get to pick something in the end?

It’s the principle of the thing, Red, said Shadow. Since I want first pick, Blue wants first pick, which makes me want first pick even more just to mess with him.

While Blue and Shadow continued to bicker back and forth about who got to choose their first new item of clothing, the remaining Colors began to pay attention to the different options in front of them. Malon had turned away from them, going back to sorting through the rack as she waited for Four to respond to her earlier question.

“Do they have different colors?” Four eventually asked, causing Malon to turn to look at them. Red slightly panicked upon having her attention turned to them once more but did his best to keep it from showing. It helped that the others were there to keep them in control.

“They’ve got so many colors here,” Malon answered. “And if there isn’t a color or piece of clothing you like here, we’ve got plenty of other stores to go to.” She gestured for them to come towards her. They took a few small steps to stand beside Malon, who proceeded to show some of the things she had found and asked if there were any that interested them.

I really like that one right up front, said Green. The white long-sleeved shirt with the green sleeves. Looks like they’ve got different colored sleeves, too!

Four turned to fully face the shirt in question. Green was right. There were different colors, and it would help keep them all from fighting over the style of shirt, which was a big problem with them. They were always fighting over whose choice was better, which only really succeeded in giving them a massive headache by the end of the day.

That honestly seems like the best option for now, said Vio. I’m sure we can keep looking later on, but since we don’t want to get too many things at once, Malon should be okay with us getting that one in different colors, right? It even has all the right colors for each of us.

I like that idea, said Red. Blue?

Yeah, I’m good with whatever. If it gets us out of here sooner, go for it.

With their decision having been made, Four got Malon’s attention.

“That one?” they asked, cautious when they spoke up, just in case. Malon smiled, happily walking towards the shirts Four was pointing to, once again assuring them that they could get whoever they wanted. When asked what color they wanted it in, Four responded with, “green, blue, red, purple, black? Too many?”

“No, it’s not too many, if that’s what you want. Do you know what size you are?” Four shook their head. The clothes they had on at the moment fit them, for the most part, but they didn’t know what size each item was due to the tags being ripped off at some point. Vio and Blue couldn’t stand the feeling of something on their back, so it was easier to get rid of the small pieces of fabric than to hear the complaints all day long.

“Well, that’s not a problem,” Malon said. Four looked at her, shocked. Her tone seemed genuine, as though them not knowing what size clothes they wear truly wasn’t an issue or inconvenience whatsoever. “How about we grab one color in a couple sizes and find a dressing room where you can try them on? Then we can come back and pick the others out in your size once we know what that is.”

Four nodded. That seemed like a pretty reasonable plan, after all. At the very least it made Vio happy knowing that they had a system in place to best accommodate them, as bad as they all felt for needing those accommodations that Malon was so graciously offering.

Man, what did we do to get here? asked Red. What I mean is, why is it that everyone in this family is so nice to us? he explained further once the rest of them seemed confused.

Beats me, answered Green.

I still don’t trust it, said Blue. It almost feels like they’re trying too hard to make us comfortable.

—

It took a while, but after trying on what felt like way too many different sizes, they’d managed to find the right size for Four. They then immediately went back to the area they’d been in and, with much help and reassurances from Malon, Four picked out all the different shirts and sweaters they’d like to have.

This still feels like a lot. Are we sure we can get all this? asked Vio.

We’ve already tried telling Malon we don’t need more than a shirt and some pants, but she insisted we should get more than just that. I’m pretty sure she’s thinking about getting us some new shoes, too, answered Green.

But our current shoes are fine, said Shadow. These ones don’t even have holes in them yet!

Four looked down at their shoes. Shadow wasn’t necessarily wrong, but he wasn’t right either. While there were no holes in the soles of their shoes, there were small ones in the fabric around the sides, and it seemed as though they would only get bigger with time.

So long as we’re careful, we can make these last another year or so, Shadow began to argue his point once more, going on and on about how they’ve worn the same pair of shoes for even longer before and nothing bad had happened to them. Or that if Malon kept insisting that they needed new shoes, they’d all convince her to get some secondhand ones as opposed to brand new ones. They were already getting new clothes.

Sometime during Shadow’s shoe rant, Malon had somehow led them towards the pants section of the store. Much like in the previous section, it took a lot of convincing on Malon’s end and trying on a bunch of different sizes on Four’s end (none of them were happy with having to take off their current clothes to try on the new ones, but if it got Malon off of their back a lot quicker, then so be it) before they had a cart full of more clothes than Four thought they’d ever seen in their life.

It was almost scary.

They couldn’t dwell on it for too long, however, since Malon had once again taken them to a different area of the department store. This one had Shadow starting up his argument about not needing new shoes, with Four voicing those thoughts aloud. Unfortunately, Malon was adamant that they needed new shoes. She guessed that they likely hadn’t had a new pair in quite some time, and since they were already here, they might as well take a look at the very least. If there truly weren’t any shoes that Four liked, they’d leave it at that and go to a thrift store later on instead.

Shadow, pleased with this arrangement, allowed the rest of the Colors to browse the shoe section with Malon trailing a good distance behind in order to keep an eye on them. They walked around for a while, looking at all the shoes on display but finding none that they could all agree on. Green and Blue seemed to prefer a more sport-oriented style, one that would allow them to run around and keep good traction on the ground beneath them if they ever came across a dangerous situation that they needed to get away from. Red and Vio didn’t like the way those shoes felt. In their opinions, running shoes felt a bit too constricting and uncomfortable if you didn’t know which brands to look for and what style was best. And they most certainly did not possess any of that knowledge. Shadow could care less about the type of shoe. He was going off of how cool they’d look.

Just when they thought they’d be leaving empty-handed, much to Shadow’s joy, they came across a shelf lined with boots of all shapes and sizes. At first there wasn’t anything special about any of the ones they could see. They looked like your typical boots.

Then Red spotted it.

The pair Red had managed to catch sight of wasn’t much different than the ones around it, but something about them gave off a very different feeling to each and every one of them, including Shadow. They were simple brown boots with a slight slant in the way the fabric was cut at the top. They seemed to reach ankle length, maybe a bit higher, but that didn’t matter to them. Four didn’t like the feeling of too much on their feet anyways. The boots also had a slight heel to them, which may have helped in getting them all to appreciate them even more.

It seemed as though Malon had noticed them eyeing something on the shelves in front of them. She got closer to ask if anything had caught their eye before following their line of sight. She walked up to the boots Four was watching, picked them up, and asked if it was those that they were looking at so intently. Four gave a slight nod, embarrassed that they’d let it slip that they were interested in something. Now Malon was definitely not going to take no for an answer.

With a brief look towards Four that they just barely managed to catch, Malon pulled down a box of shoes that she seemed to believe would fit Four. They assumed the look was to make sure they were okay with her grabbing the box, and for once Four couldn’t find the words to protest.

Malon opened the box, handing Four the shoes for them to try on. To their surprise, they fit perfectly. In fact, they didn’t think they’d ever felt more comfortable shoes in their life.

They looked up at Malon with a smile, and it was decided. There was no way they were leaving without these shoes.

—

Once Four and Malon had finished paying for all the new clothing items (Blue had tried looking at the price, only to be stopped by Malon telling them it wasn’t important), the pair made their way out of the store and back into the center of the mall. Malon pulled out her phone to send Time and Twilight a quick text to tell them that they’d finish and to ask where they’d gone off to. In the meantime, she led Four towards some chairs a few feet away, telling them to take a seat while they waited for the other two.

“You can put those new boots on, you know,” Malon spoke up after watching Four eye them for a few minutes. Four hadn’t even realized they’d been looking down at the box in their hands before she’d said anything. “They’re paid for and everything. They belong to you now.”

Belong to us, said Vio. Huh. That’s quite a strange thought.

Can we please put them on, Green? Please? Red pleaded. They were so soft in the store, and our feet are getting sore from walking around with these old shoes on.

It took some convincing from Red to get everyone to agree, but eventually Four was taking their old shoes off and pulling the brand new boots on. They really did feel much more comfortable than the ones they had been using, but it was also strange to not have their feet hurt when they stood up to walk around and test them. All in all, though, Four was beyond happy with them and couldn’t wait to show Twilight and Time what they’d found.

Since when did we get excited to show people things? asked Blue.

Since we came to this house, I suppose, answered Vio. Although, I do think we should remain cautious for the time being. As much as I love to argue with Blue, he’s right to question how long this will last.

“How do they feel?”

“Huh?” Four looked up at Malon, confused as to why she would be asking than when they’d already tried them on in the store. “I tried them on already.”

“I know, but it’s different out here than in the store. Trust me.” Malon smiled at Four. It was a comforting smile, one that didn’t make them feel like looking away.

Man, today’s been a weird day, said Green. Everyone agreed.