#lu frog

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Twilight was asleep.

Or maybe unconscious, but Time would prefer to think of it as him being asleep.

He could almost fool himself into thinking Twilight was perfectly fine, if he ignored the bandages wrapping around his chest, and the way his face was twisted with pain even while unconscious.

How his breath seemed shallower than it should be.

Time sighed and rubbed a hand across his eyes, ignoring the tiredness that pressed at them. Hyrule had worn himself out about an hour ago and was asleep on a chair nearby, and Four hadn’t returned yet from “getting some air” as he’d put it. Someone needed to keep an eye on Twilight, and Time was fully prepared to stay up all night in order to do so.

A scratching noise outside the window made him raise his head, and Time narrowed his eyes as the noise grew louder.

He stood and made his way to the window, peering out into the shadows of the recently set sun, and nearly got clocked in the face as a shadowy figure dove into the window.

He leapt out of the way and was about to yell for Hyrule to wake up when the figure threw back his hood, waving his arms in an attempt to keep him quiet.

“Shh old man, don’t wake them up!”

Time stared at the figure, now revealed to be Wild, then crossed his arms, a surge of both relief and annoyance making itself a nice home in his heart (which was certainly not beating a bit faster than normal).

“Champion,” he said in a stern voice, “have you heard of a wonderful invention called doors?”

Wild scratched the back of his neck, but shrugged, walking up to Twilight’s bedside.

“Is he any better?” he asked quietly, and Time shook his head.

“No change.”

Wild drooped and nodded, then took Twilight’s hand in his own, giving it a squeeze. The rancher shifted at the touch, then blinked his eyes open, and Wild startled, obviously not having expected a response.

Twilight looked at him and smiled, and Wild swallowed.

“Hey Twi,” he whispered, and Time could see him squeeze his hand again. “I think I brought something to help, you... you wanna see it?”

Twilight nodded curiously, and Wild reached into his pouch, carefully pulling something out.

Something small. And green.

And croaky.

“What is it?” Twilight murmured, and Wild held his hands out, a little green frog perched in his palms.

“A frog,” he said, and Twilight tilted his head and stared at the little creature. The frog stared back, and if it had had eyebrows they probably would have been raised.

“You... brought me a frog?”

Wild nodded, and held the frog closer to Twilight’s face. “Yeah. I know you like animals, and Epona won’t fit up here, so... frog. I named him Hopkins.”

Twilight blinked at Wild, processing that.

“Hopkins?”

Wild nodded. “Yeah. Hopkins.”

Twilight stared.

Then his face split into a grin, his shoulders beginning to shake as a couple snickers escaped his lips.

“Hopkins. Hopkins. You named a frog... you named him Hopkins, because he— he hops, Time—”

Hopkins let out a loud croak, and Twilight broke into laughter.

Time felt his own face turn upward at the sound of it, and Wild grinned over at him as the rancher continued to wheeze with mirth. Hopkins then decided to leap out of Wild’s hands and onto Twilight’s head, which only made him laugh harder.

As Time watched him laugh, and despite the sound being wheezy and certainly nowhere near as healthy as it should sound, he felt the hope in his chest rise from where it had earlier faded.

So now I present the headcannon that Hopkins can do sign language

That’s hilarious oh my gosh I love it

Wild, having a crisis: maybe if I just calm down and look and listen to nature for a bit I’ll feel better

Hopkins, signing: yes!! Good coping methods! You want some soothing frog croaks for your nature sounds?

ALL HAIL HOPKINS

You’re darn right I did

Back when he first showed up everyone was yelling about the animals and there was talk of naming the snail “effervescent”, so I decided the frog needed a name and suggested Hopkins. It caught on, and voila, Hopkins it was.

YEAAAAAH HOPKINS!!!!! WOO WOO WOO!!!!

All of us really just went