#and then skyloft calls ordon over to hold minish while he takes care of their leg

[triforce-of-mischief]

Febuwhump Day 6: "You lied to me"

Notes: The prompt is more loosely implied this time, neither character says it but both Skyloft and Minish are thinking something along the lines of it.

Characters are from @thatbrokenpromise by @batrogers

****

At first, Skyloft didn’t realize that anything was wrong with Minish. It was nearly impossible to tell what was going on beneath those long robes, which was how Minish had hidden their secrets for so long after they first met. Their tail was freed now, inches from dragging on the ground as the group continued their trek. Nobody else was paying much attention to Minish, but they had fallen to the back of the group with Skyloft, which they didn’t normally do. Skyloft couldn’t help but keep looking at them, indulging the nagging feeling that something was off- more so than usual, given Minish’s nature.

Eventually, Skyloft was able to place it; nearly concealed by their robes, Minish’s gait was slightly off. They held themself normally, but Skyloft started to suspect that under those layers, Minish was limping.

“Minish?” Skyloft called.

The younger hero jolted, then walked closer to Skyloft, already looking uneasy.

“Is everything okay?” Skyloft asked gently.

Minish tilted their head a little and nodded. “Fine.”

“All right. I just wanted to check,” Skyloft said, glancing at Minish from the corner of his eye. This close, he could see that Minish was definitely limping, but he couldn’t exactly force them to let him see.

Minish ducked their head and grumbled, “Of course it hurts. Can’t let him know it hurts.”

Without thinking, Skyloft asked, “Where does it hurt?”

Minish yelped, hands fluttering as they repeated, “Fine.” Another quiet afterthought, “He doesn’t know he can’t understand don’t let him know it hurts.”

“I’m going to sit for a minute,” Sky sighed, and pointed to the nearest tree. “Can you join me?”

Minish mumbled again about hurting and understanding, but reluctantly followed Skyloft to the tree. Sky settled with his back against the trunk, Minish sitting across from him and well out of reach. They squirmed in place, making a face of poorly concealed pain.

“I’m not going to force you to do anything,” Skyloft said calmly, “But if you’re hurt, I would like to help you. I can ask Chief to come over-”

Minish shook their head anxiously.

“-Or I could take a look myself. I’m trained as a healer too.”

Minish planted their fists in the grass, bared their teeth, and hissed.

It was a display of what the others called Minish’s wrongness, everything intimidating and not-right-at-all about them. Even Ordon had admitted that it was hard to face sometimes, but Skyloft simply waited as Minish transformed into something that would give any sane person nightmares. There may have been an inhuman growl emanating from an unending black maw, ringed by rows of fangs, but Skyloft knew that this was a test. Minish was just a scared kid, defensive and hurt, and it was up to Skyloft to earn their trust.

After a few seconds, Minish shrank back into themself, aggression giving way to defeat. They whined and pointed at their leg, not meeting Skyloft’s eyes.

“Your leg hurts?” Skyloft confirmed.

Minish nodded miserably.

“Thank you for telling me. I’ll see what I can do.”