An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Summary: There's a smoothie shop right outside Moldak State Park. Familiar faces enjoy frequenting the smoothie shop. Smoothies and friendship await!!!!
Very specific, sit-com style modern AU of @heroesspirit! @wildsage00 came up with the idea and I made it into words hehe
Chapter 1 Summary: Eras has his first day at his new job. Twilight gets a smoothie on his way to work. Kiri drives a large number of children to school. 2.7k, fluff.
Excerpt under the cut :D
Eras steeled himself as Sky pushed the key into the lock and then twisted the sign to display OPEN. His first day at his new job just officially began. You can do this, he reminded himself. A smoothie shop couldn’t possibly be more difficult than an active war zone. Surely.
“Show time,” one of the other employees said. It was the teenager with pink hair— Legend, he remembered. He flipped the switch to turn the drive thru on then pressed a button on his headset to connect it. Beside them, Herb finished setting up the last of the smoothie equipment, head bouncing to the beat of the music playing through their headphones. They tapped on the order display screen in front of them and it flashed to life.
Sky joined Eras behind the counter and sat on one of the stools in front of the register screen. Eras rested his cane against the counter, low enough that it wouldn’t be seen by the customers, and settled on the other stool.
“You don’t have to worry about hiding your cane,” Sky said kindly. Eras glanced at him nervously, ears pinning back against his head.
Sky smiled softly. “I mean, I’m not going to make you show everyone who comes in, obviously. But I want to be sure you know this is a very disability friendly workplace. I’m disabled, and so are most of the people I hire.”
“Oh,” Eras said. His chest filled with warmth at Sky’s words, pushing out some of his insecurity. He was still learning to navigate his disabilities, so he wasn’t yet confident enough to share them with the world.
“No pressure,” Sky said. His ears wiggled slightly as he spoke.
Eras racked his mind for a proper response. Once again, he was saved by a ringing; this time, it was the bell above the door. The sound was enough to let the employees know someone was entering, but not too sharp of a noise.
Eras straightened his back, nerves alight in his chest, and glanced at Sky. Sky’s posture was relaxed, one leg casually resting over the other and his elbow on the arm of the stool. Beneath the end of the leg of Sky’s pants, Eras could see brightly colored, long socks with cartoon birds on them. He smiled, and turned to face the first customer.
“Hi, welcome to Gold Medallion! What can I get for you?” Sky asked.
The process really was simple. Sky put the orders into the computer and took the payments, then Herb and Legend made the smoothies. There was one drive thru order that Legend took while Eras was watching, but he didn’t focus too much on that. He wouldn’t be trained on drive thru for a few weeks.
“You think you’re ready to try on your own?” Sky asked.
Eras took a deep breath. “Yes.”
Sky beamed. “Great! I’ll watch the first few while you get the hang of it, so don’t worry if you forget something.”
“Okay,” Eras said. There was no one else in line, so Eras rehearsed the words in his head with the background noise of smoothies being blended.
Hello, welcome to Gold Medallion. What can I get for you?
Of course. Do you want to add anything to that?
Can I get a name for the order?
Your total is… Are you paying with cash or card?
The door bell rang. Eras watched as a man in a cowboy hat walked through the door and made his way to the counter.
“Hello, welcome to Gold Medallion. What can I get for you?” Eras asked.
“Can I get one mangonada and one grassamel, please?” The man asked. He had an accent Eras couldn’t place. His voice was smooth— Eras had to hold back a smile at the unintentional pun.
“Of course. Do you want to add anything to those?”
“Nope, just as they come,” the man said with a smile.
Eras tried to smile back, but he was pretty sure it didn’t work. He was too focused on pressing the correct buttons on his screen.
Swamp Bugs: Bugs Not In Space And Not Quite On Land
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Even MORE @heroesspirit bug fic because I absorbed Cori's bug special interest and I still cannot be contained
Summary: Cori takes Sky, Twilight, and Sailor to look for bugs. Tensions are high.
Notes: 1.9k, very light angst. Bugs. This is set chronologically before Land Bugs: Bugs Not In Space when the heroes are all together but the smaller groups are not friends with each other yet
Cori hadn’t touched a bug in six days. He was counting. It was nearing the longest uninterrupted bugless span of his life. The quest they were on was important, he knew that, but the other heroes were making things far more tense than necessary.
He hadn’t had a chance to sneak off in weeks. The last time he touched a bug wasn’t even for fun; he just took a spider off of Kiri’s boot. He didn’t even get to figure out what species it might have been before he had to race to catch up with the group.
It was far past time, Cori decided, to touch some bugs.
Cori nodded to himself as he stood up. There was plenty of water nearby in the swamp. It would be a perfect opportunity to practice his aquatic insect identification.
“Where are you going?” Kiri asked quietly.
“I want to look for bugs. There’ll be cool ones next to the water,” Cori said.
Kiri raised an eyebrow. “By yourself?”
“No,” Cori said. He turned and stepped over to Sky and Twilight, who were sitting near each other but far enough away to keep from being friendly.
“You have a bug net.” Cori pointed at Sky, then at Twilight. “And you’ve caught bugs before.”
Sky and Twilight glanced at each other, then back at Cori. Twilight nodded.
“I do,” Sky said.
“I’m going to look for bugs in the water. Do you want to come?” Cori asked. Sky’s ears shot up and he grinned.
“Sure!” Sky said.
Twilight’s expression wasn’t as excited, but his ears were perked curiously. He glanced around the camp, making quick eye contact with Taylor, then nodded. Twilight stood and reached his arms over his head to stretch.
“I could use a walk. Haven’t found bugs in a while, either,” Twilight said.
Cori grinned widely. “I’ll be right back.”
Cori went back to Kiri, only bouncing a little bit, and smirked. “See? Not alone.”
Kiri frowned. “One of us should go with you.”
“You don’t like bugs.”
“Alright, fair. Take Four, then.”
“Four’s fixing chainmail.”
Kiri sighed and crossed his arms. He glanced at Twilight and Sky then back to Cori. Cori glanced behind him as well. Sky was frowning and Twilight had his arms crossed with an angry expression on his face. They were not helping his case.
“I’m just going to the edge of the water. I’ll take my knife. You’ll hear me yell if anything happens,” Cori promised.
Kiri looked deeply displeased. “Fine.”
Cori smiled as he strapped his knife to his belt. Kiri didn’t smile back, but his frown did fall from his face. A neutral expression was a win, in Cori’s mind.
“Ready to go?” Twilight asked. He glanced at Kiri warily, then focused on Cori. His ears were twitching uncertainly.
Cori nodded and turned to lead the way towards the swamp. He glanced back to make sure Sky and Twilight were following. They were walking an awkward distance apart from each other, but there were following. Cori would take what he could get.
“Wait!”
Cori stopped and turned around. Sailor was jogging to catch up with them. Cori glanced towards the group and saw Kiri and the soldier both watching Sailor closely.
Sailor stopped in front of Cori and huffed to catch his breath. “I’m coming too!”
“Do you like bugs?” Cori asked.
“Uh, yeah, sure. Bugs are great,” Sailor said. Cori wasn’t great at interpreting tone, but he could tell Sailor was not as enthusiastic about bugs as he was.
“Uh huh.” Twilight crossed his arms and stared down at Sailor. “You sure about that?”
Sailor scowled at Twilight. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe a certain soldier wants you to keep an eye on me,” Twilight said.
Sailor’s glare intensified. “What, you think I can’t make my own decisions? I’m not a child, you know.”
“You are, actually,” Sky said.
Sailor whirled on Sky to respond, but Cori stomped into the middle of the group. “If you’re gonna fight, leave. I’m going to find some bugs.”
Cori marched towards the water, not bothering to turn and see if anyone was following him. The awkward silence in his wake was practically tangible. Six steps away, Cori heard light footsteps following him, then heavy ones, then the third set.
Good , Cori thought; more people meant more bugs they could catch. He didn’t know where they were, exactly. The swamp was similar to the Castor Wilds, but more… damp. Many of the group complained about the dampness of the soil and the air. Cori didn’t like his things getting wet, but any discomfort he felt was far outweighed by the potential for bugs.
Sailor caught up and fell into step next to Cori.
“So… what exactly are we doing?” Sailor asked.
“Looking for insects,” Cori said.
“Right, right.” Sailor glanced over his shoulder then back to Cori. “And… what exactly are we looking for?”
“Any insects. There will be a lot of them here. Lots of insects use damp areas or standing water to lay their eggs.”
“Gross!” Sky said happily.
“There’s also a lot of amphibians and freshwater crustaceans in swamps, so you have to make sure the things you find are insects,” Cori continued.
Sailor’s brows were furrowed and he was frowning. “How do I do that?”
Cori’s steps faltered. He caught himself before he fell, and whipped around to look at Sailor, who had his hands out as if he was going to catch Cori. Cori ignored that.
“Do you know what an insect is?” Cori asked.
“Of course I know what bugs are.” Sailor huffed and crossed his arms, but his ears turned pink on the tips and flattened against his head.
“Hm.” Cori realized Sailor might not know how to identify insects. He had no idea how someone could go through their entire life without wanting to learn about the technical definition of an insect.
“Well, you’re lucky I’m here. I know everything there is to know about insects, so I can teach you everything,” Cori said. He bounced excitedly as he walked.
“Insects are invertebrates that have three main body parts: head, thorax, and abdomen. They also have six legs that are attached to the thorax, two antennae, and zero or two pairs of wings, and two compound eyes.”
“Uh,” Sailor said.
“They’re usually pretty small, so it can be hard to see the different parts of their body without a magnifying glass. Look for little creatures with six legs.”
They reached the edge of the water in the swamp. Cori immediately sunk into a crouch and peered into the shallow water, searching for eggs or other signs of insects.
“Did you know insects are the only invertebrates capable of flight?” Cori said without taking his eyes off the water.
“Huh. I didn’t know that,” Twilight said.
Cori turned and beamed at him. “It’s true.”
“Cool,” Sky said. He pulled out his bug net, which was huge, and went a few steps away to search the trees. Sailor crouched down next to Cori and Twilight walked in a slow circle around them.
The buzzing of cicadas was a pleasant backdrop to the bug search. Cori swayed gently side to side as he surveyed the water, happily humming along with the cicadas’ song.
A water strider glided across the surface of the water. Cori gasped and put his hand down next to Sailor to get his attention.
“Look,” Cori whispered as he pointed to the water strider. “That’s a water strider. It could be a number of species, most likely Aquarius remigis . Can you see the six legs?”
“Woah.” Sailor leaned forward to get a better look, and his ears were perked forward towards the swamp. “Yeah, I can see it! How is it doing that? It’s standing on the water!”
“They’re small enough that they can float. Their legs also have hairs that help them to not go under the water,” Cori explained as he bounced on his toes.
“How do you know all this stuff?” Twilight asked. Cori glanced up in surprise; he hadn’t heard Twilight approach. He was too focused on the bug.
“I like bugs,” Cori said. “I’ve read almost every book about insects in the library. And, now that Zelda can let me in the Royal Library, I have even more insect books to read! I haven’t gone through all of them yet, but I’m going to.”
“We learned about insects in school, but not this much. I’m impressed,” Sky said.
Cori smiled up at Sky. He was starting to like Sky, even more than he did when he found out Sky has a bug net. Anyone with a bug net was cool, unless they used it to hurt bugs. Anyone who hurt bugs on purpose was decidedly not cool.
“Will they all be on top of the water like that?” Sailor asked.
Cori bounced to turn back to Sailor. “No! Most aquatic insects will be underwater, actually. Some insect larvae have gills, like fish, but most actually still need air. Here.”
Cori scooted forward until the tips of his boots were just shy of the water’s edge. He gently reached into the water and put his fingers on a moderately sized rock. Carefully, so he didn’t accidentally turn the rock and squish anything, he lifted the rock out of the water and turned it over.
There were three small sections of tiny rocks stuck to the bottom. Cori pointed to those first. “These rocks are caught in the saliva of larvae. It could be a few different species, probably caddis flies.”
Next, he pointed to a round insect nearly flattened to the rock. “This is a water penny beetle larva! I’m surprised to see one here, actually. They usually like to be in the shallow sections of moving water. The water here must be really clean.”
As he spoke, he pinched the bug very, very gently until it released its hold on the rock. Cori slid it onto his finger and held it up in between himself and Sailor so they could both look at the bug.
Twilight hummed and looked out over the pond. “There’s a small stream on the other side, looks like, so the water is cycled.”
Cori glanced up to see if Sailor liked the water penny, but Sailor had turned to glare at Twilight, who crossed his arms with a smirk. Cori frowned as Sailor stood up and put his hands on his hips.
Sailor took a step away from the water towards Twilight. “I bet I can find more bugs than you.”
“No chance.” Twilight shook his head.
“Whoever finds the most bugs before the sun sets wins,” Sailor said.
“Uh,” Cori said. He didn’t know why they had to make this a competition. Searching for bugs was supposed to be soothing and fun.
“How do we keep track?” Twilight asked.
Sailor pointed at Cori. “Cori can judge whether it's a bug or not.”
“Hm. Yeah, alright.” Twilight nodded.
“You’re all going down,” Sky said.
Cori shrugged. He didn’t want to compete, but he couldn’t complain about getting to see all the bugs. “As long as I get to look at bugs.”
“On three. One, two, three!”
They raced off. Sky went for the trees while Twilight and Sailor went in opposite directions along the pond. Cori carefully put the rock back in the water exactly where it was before he picked it up, then huffed a sigh and let his head fall onto his knees. Traveling with so many other people could be stressful.
"Long day" with Hero's Spirit for the three sentence game?
(Characters from @heroesspirit. I'm imagining this set in the era of the Brothers fic)
It was the end of a long, long day of running through the swamp. They were trying to stay ahead of the other group while also searching for more medallions, and also trying to keep each other fed, warm, and safe. Legend was exhausted, frankly. The damp air was making his joints ache, and the constant running was sending spikes of main through his muscles.
He wanted a break.
"Ugh!" Sailor flopped onto the soggy ground. His clothes hit the wet grass with a squelch that made Legend flinch.
"Fuck," Sailor said eloquently.
"Here." Captain offered Sailor a hand and pulled him up.
Sailor tried to twist around to see how much of his back was wet, but he couldn't quite reach and ended up looking like a dog chasing its tail. Legend stifled a laugh and then stifled a wince as he stepped over to help. He pulled Sailor's tunic so he could see and grimaced at how wet it was.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
More @heroesspirit bug fics bc I cannot be contained
Summary: Cori and Agitha lead the second official meeting of the Bug Squad.
Fluff, 1.4k. So many thank yous to @wildsage00 for beta reading <3
“Welcome to the second official meeting of the Bug Squad!” Agitha said as she twirled in a circle and threw her arms in the air. Cori bounced a little where he was kneeling and clapped his hands together. Wayra squawked loudly and Sky laughed with him. Sailor scooted closer to Twilight, farther from Wayra, though he still had a smile on his face.
“Roll call,” Cori said. He picked up his notebook and pencil and turned to a specific page.
“Co-leaders Cori and Agitha, here,” Cori said.
“Heeeere!” Agitha sang.
Cori turned to Twilight and stared expectantly.
“Oh, uh, Twilight. Here,” Twilight said.
Wayra squawked, evidently deciding it was his turn. Sky laughed again and put a hand on his neck to calm him.
“Wayra and Sky, here!” Sky said.
“Sailor, here,” Sailor said.
“And that’s everyone!” Cori said, pencil scratching in his notebook.
“Where’s the other one? Wild?” Agitha asked. Twilight’s eyes widened and he immediately made a stop motion with his hands. Agitha didn’t notice.
Cori’s gaze darkened. “He is not allowed in the Bug Squad.”
“Why?” Agitha asked.
“He tried to eat a stag beetle!” Cori exclaimed. Agitha gasped and put an affronted hand on her chest.
“What?” Agitha yelled.
“He will never be forgiven,” Cori said.
Sky, Sailor, and Twilight made awkward eye contact while Cori and Agitha stared at their bug collections with ire. Sky cleared his throat.
“So… bugs?” Sky said hesitantly.
Cori brightened and bounced again. “Yes! Bugs. Very important. Does anyone have any new bugs to share?”
“Oh! I do!” Sky said. He excitedly rummaged through his bag until he pulled out a beetle and displayed it for the group. “I found this one on a tree. Caught it with my bug net.”
Cori and Agitha both gasped and leaned forward reverently.
“A western Hercules beetle!” Cori said excitedly. He glanced at Agitha with a wide grin then back to the beetle.
“Oh, oh, oh boy! What a li’l cutie!” Agitha said. “Li’l beetle, li’l beetle, li’l beetle!”
Cori cupped his hands in front of Sky’s so the beetle could crawl onto his palm. After a bit of investigation, it did. The beetle was big enough to cover his palm from one side to the other. Cori giggled as its legs tickled his skin. He carefully twisted so he was holding the bug up between himself and Agitha.
“ Dynastes grantii !” Cori said. The others crowded around to get a look at the beetle and Wayra peeked his head over the group.
“Nice horns,” Twilight said.
It took all of Cori’s willpower not to bounce with excitement. He didn’t want to scare the bug. Instead, he hummed to release his happy energy.
“It has cool spots on its wings,” Sailor said.
“Not wings,” Agitha corrected. “Elytra.”
“Which is…?” Sky asked.
“Hardened forewing. It protects the wings,” Cori explained. “The spots are cool! They’re different on every beetle. Did you know, in places that are really warm or humid, they’ll have so many spots that they look black?”
“I did know that!” Agitha said excitedly.
“I didn’t,” Twilight said with a grin.
Sky sneezed. The beetle quickly opened its elytra and extended its wings to fly away. Cori watched it fly into Agitha’s tree with wonder.
“Oops,” Sky muttered apologetically.
“It’s ok,” Cori said.
“Who else has a new bug?” Agitha asked.
“I brought one!” Sailor dug around in his pouch until he produced a small creature Cori didn’t recognize. “Ta da!”
Everyone leaned in. Wayra squawked.
“I don’t recognize that one,” Cori said with a frown. “Are you sure it’s an insect?"
“I dunno.” Sailor shrugged. “It looks like a tiny lobster. It could be a bug.”
“That’s a crawdad, not a lobster,” Twilight said.
“What? No it’s not. That’s a crayfish,” Sky said.
“Fish? So, not a bug?” Agitha asked.
Cori frowned and huffed out an irritated breath. Why would Sailor bring a fish to bug squad? Although, Cori thought as he leaned in for a closer look, it didn’t look much like any fish he had ever seen. He didn’t pay much attention to fish. They weren’t bugs.
“No, not a bug. Sorry,” Twilight said to Cori and Agitha. Agitha hmphed and crossed her arms. Cori frowned and leaned back on his heels. He was ready to go back to the bugs.
“But not a fish either,” Twilight continued.
“I know it’s not a fish, that’s just what we call it,” Sky said.
“Why would you call it a fish if it’s not a fish?” Twilight asked.
“That’s just what it’s called!”
“That is not what it’s called! It’s a crawdad!”
“Um,” Cori muttered.
“Why would it be called a crawdad?” Sky asked, voice dripping with disgust.
“Why would it be called a crayfish ? It’s not a fish!” Twilight argued.
“Guys?” Sailor asked.
“It’s not a dad either—” Sky said.
“You don’t know that,” Twilight replied with a scowl.
“—or a craw , whatever that is.”
“How is that different from cray?”
“It’s clearly— ”
Wayra screeched loudly in Twilight’s direction, flapping his wings and shaking his head. Cori slammed his hands over his ears and scrunched his eyes shut. The bird was far too loud.
He could hear Sky saying something, but couldn’t make out any of the words. There was a light tap on his knee, and Cori cautiously opened one eye. Sky was smiling apologetically at him and Wayra had moved farther away from the group.
“Sorry. He won’t do that again,” Sky said; Cori read his lips.
Cori carefully lowered his hands from his ears and glanced at Wayra. His head was hanging low and he looked apologetic, as much as a giant bird could. Cori glanced at the others and noticed Sailor pressed against Twilight’s side, face pale.
“I have to disqualify the– that,” Cori pointed at Sailor’s creature, “from bug squad. Sorry.”
Sailor shrugged and put the creature in his pouch. “Yeah, that’s fine.”
Cori looked around Agitha’s room for a suitably cool bug to bring to the group next. He saw a mantis perched on a branch and jumped up to get it. He carefully nudged it onto his hand, then went to kneel beside Sailor.
“Here.” Cori nudged Sailor’s arm until he held his hands out, then pushed the mantis gently into his palms.
“Li’l mantis, li’l mantis, li’l mantis!” Agitha cheered. Her hands flew to her cheeks as she grinned and appreciated the bug.
“This is a mantis. I think it’s in the Paramantis family, but they can be hard to distinguish,” Cori explained.
“Cool,” Sailor said. His smile was back and he wasn’t leaning so heavily against Twilight. Twilight met Cori’s eyes and grinned. Cori looked back at the mantis and smiled.
“Did you know praying mantises can turn their head 180 degrees?” Cori asked.
“Woah,” Sailor said.
“Mantises are the only insects in the world that can do that,” Cori continued excitedly. “It helps them when they’re hunting their prey.”
The mantis jumped off Sailor’s hands and scuttled away.
“Did anyone else bring a bug?” Agitha asked. Everyone shook their heads.
“We could go catch some?” Sky suggested. He pulled a giant net out of his bag with a conspiratorial grin. Cori leapt to his feet, eyes wide.
“Yes. Now,” Cori said.
“Ok,” Sky agreed with a laugh. “Where’s the best spot to catch bugs around here?”
“South Hyrule Field is closest,” Twilight said. “There’s plenty there.”
“Let’s go!” Cori grabbed Twilight’s hand and dragged him to the door.
“Ok, ok, I’m going,” Twilight said with a laugh.
“Not fast enough!” Agitha exclaimed.
“Oh yeah?” Twilight barked out a laugh and stopped in his tracks. Cori’s tug on his arm did nothing. Agitha put both hands on his back and pushed as hard as she could, feet sliding against the floor.
“You’re too heavy!” Agitha complained. Sky and Twilight both laughed and Wayra bounced around the group.
Sailor leapt onto Twilight’s back and pinched his ear, tugging it towards the door. “Onward, lowly steed!”
“Ah, ow, okay, fine!” Twilight laughed and let himself be pulled to the door.
Cori threw it open and bounded into the streets. He couldn’t contain his excitement. With Sky’s massive net, there was no telling how many bugs they would catch!
