Chapter Text
Bandee had to admit he wasn't the picture-perfect warrior he wished he was. He was supposed to be the King's strongest and most loyal warrior and, while that was still true when compared to the other Dees, Bandee still saw his faults.
One would think a warrior would prefer ripping roasted hunks of meat right off their bone with their teeth to nicely cut apple slices, but Bandee preferred the latter. And you wouldn't expect a fighter at the top of their class to freak out when the hand of a boy who drove them up the wall brushed against their own. Still, these were things Bandee was growing to accept about himself. And did facing these fears about how you see yourself not make you strong? Was that strength and courage not the true essence of a warrior?
This was the logic Bandee was going with as he stared at his closet. It contained a number of the same tan, orange, and blue ensemble uniform baring the King's crest upon them. But there was one other outfit, a lone standout among the uniformity. Something that Bandee had gathered up the will to buy in town and secretly stow away to his room, hoping his profuse nervous sweat wouldn't ruin it. Thankfully it hadn't and in the two months since then he had made sure to wash and iron it, just to make sure it was perfect. Important things demanded perfection and, as he laid it out on his bed, he knew it was.
Now all he had to do was not chicken out of wearing it.
He looked it over again, for the fiftieth time of knowing he was stalling and probably the thousandth time overall. It was a simple design; orange above the torso and blue as it flowed out to the skirt. The skirt. Bandee repeated to himself. It was a dress and he had bought a dress and today, of all days, he had decided that it was a good idea to wear a dress for the first time in his life like what he was going to be doing in the dress wasn't nerve-wracking enough. It wasn't like there was such a thing as gender norms in Dreamland and plenty of the male Dees wore skirts and bows— heck, the boy that Bandee refused to think the name of for fear of having a complete nervous breakdown wore them all the time— the issue is that this kind of outfit was cute and Bandee was a soldier. Bandee was not cute, but today he needed to be so he was going to force himself to wear the dress.
Bandee was shaking like a poor leaf as he poked his head out of his room. He had somehow managed to put his dress on and a pink jacket over it just for personal comfort. He liked the color pink, he realized, long before he met that boy. It wasn't as much of a favorite color as his beloved orange and blue, but it made a fine third.
He sighed, realizing he was now ranking his colors instead of focusing on the mission at hand. Maybe that would put him in a calmer place, if he thought of it as a mission or assignment. But, no, that would contradict his real goal. He wanted to tear down his own barriers, if at least just for today. That was another reason he wore the dress, just to remind himself he was doing something uncofmortable but that he liked. It wasn't just him putting up barriers to keep things out, he had realized that barrier of his own self-image was keeping him from things he enjoyed.
Still, he carried his spear with him for the comfort it gave him. And it was his most cherished item, so if he was going into being unabashed about the things he liked then the spear definitely deserved to come too.
"Bandee!" A cutesy voice shouted from down the hall and made the mentioned boy jump in place. Bandee turned to find Kirby, racing toward him and waving before coming to a stop before him. "Hehe. Not often you're the one inviting me out. Oh and look at that dress! You look so cute in it!"
Bandee couldn't tell if he was blushing more from embarassment or from the compliment. Figuring it out could wait for later; he needed to respond.
"Thanks! You too!" Then he mentally kicked himself. Kirby wasn't even wearing a dress. He was just in a t-shirt and shorts. Super casual compared to the effort Bandee put in. Though with how plain it was, maybe the dress was casual and it was Bandee who was just used to not being casual. But he did spend a lot of time picking it out while Kirby probably just put on whatever he had lying around. Hopefully it was actually clean and didn't just not have stains on it.
While Bandee was lost in the labyrinth of his thoughts, Kirby just giggled at the awkward response. "So, what'd you wanna do? A picnic? Stealing from Whispy?"
"I was. Y'know. Thinking that we should check out Magalor's new amusement park." Then, he hurridly added. "Y'know, just make sure he's not up to any tricks with it and all. I know he said he's good now, but you can never be too careful!" Did that sound natural? It must have sounded natural and not like an awkward, stuttery mess. Bandee told himself he did good. Excellent, maybe. Even if Kirby might be looking at him a little weirdly right now, there was no way the boy knew what he was up to. Bandee was doing perfectly and everything was okay and fine.
Kirby stuffed his face with a large puff of cotton candy and shoved the rest in front of Bandee. "Half shom," he said. Bandee assumed that between the full mouth he meant to say, "Have some."
Bandee carefully picked a piece of fluff off the treat. It felt weird and sticky in his fingers. Everything felt weird without his gloves on but it was important to not have them on today for reasons he couldn't quite understand but felt were crucial to the whole of everything. He was so focused on the importance of not wearing gloves, he forgot to taste the cotton candy as he put it in his mouth and swallowed.
The soldier looked over to his friend. A face stained with pink, sugary residue looked back at him, cheeks full of what was once on the now-empty paper stick he held. He had only take the first bite of it before offering Bandee some and now it was all gone. Bandee guessed he wouldn't get a second chance at tasting it.
And yet, even with Kirby's usual shiny object syndrome and lack of forethought only amplified by the candy-wrapped consumerism of Magalor's amusement park, it was a fun day. Kirby dragged Bandee everywhere, sure, but it was always to a new ride. That, or a food stall. Actually it was 75% food stalls, but to be fair this was something Magalor made and the park was 75% overpriced food stalls in the first place. Plus, Kirby was acting a little weird each time they approached one.
"Want me to get you something?" Kirby had asked. It was something Bandee had only first heard out of his mouth today and he kept repeating it each time he eyed a food stall. Usually when he saw somewhere selling food, he'd run up and start ordering before asking Bandee to spot him some money he would never return.
Bandee often wondered exactly why he liked Kirby.
And then, there it was. As the dark of night started to overtake the daylight, that spare thought wormed its way into his head. Why do I even like him like that?
Bandee knew the answers, of course. He was always kind and cheerful, willing to lend andyone a helping hand or give them a second chance. He cared about his friends to the point they were the one thing he would ever truly get serious about, even if the untrained eye would think all he cared about was food. It was because Kirby had all this power and used it to be kind. He liked Kirby because Kirby made him content with who he was, even if maybe he wasn't the strongest soldier in the world. That he wasn't just another Waddle Dee, one who happened to be in a bandana, but instead he was Bandee and he mattered.
These thoughts, of course, translated out of Bandee as him babbling nonsense to himself under his breath. Half syllables as he urged himself to calm down and that everything was fine and everything was okay and did he already say everything was fine? Because it was. He was a composed Dee who didn't afraid of anything. That last sentence made perfect sense because now is not the time to be freaking out and he was not freaking out!
"You okay there, Bandee?" Kirby asked. "You just kinda stopped and started shaking and looking at the ground." He got close to Bandee and carefully took his hand. This did not help Bandee's state. "Oh, and you're burning up! Why don't we take a rest and just ride the ferris wheel for a bit? Unless you're scared of heights or they make you dizzy or something."
"Uhmadger—" Bandee coughed to unfurl the ball of words in his throat. The ferris wheel. Right; that was the perfect place to go through with his plan. "I mean, that sounds good."
Kirby held out his arm and Bandee awkwardly linked his own around it. Kirby giggled. "Hehe. No, silly, you look like you're about to collapse. You can lean on me if you need to."
Bandee wanted to refuse, but he did know that between his own heart about to give out from nerves and Kirby's kindness that he needed the assistance even if it made him that much closer to a heart attack. So Bandee leaned on his crush, who, like the strongest soldier of them all, managed to ignore every stall trying to hawk food at him as he marched onward toward the ferris wheel.
The air was crisp with the night's chill by the time they reached the wheel. Bandee shivered, not having thought of how flimsy his outfit would be when night came. Though to be honest, he hadn't really thought too far ahead about this whole plan and, as he looked up at the wheel towering over them, he wondered if he should even go through with it at all. But no, he thought, this was too important. This would fix all of his problems.
The cabin swayed as Bandee stepped onto it, making Kirby steel his grip on the soldier just a bit more. And despite how Bandee's touchy nature, he had no hesitation turning around and holding out a hand to help Kirby on after him. It was just a small thing, but Bandee always noticed and stressed about the small things yet here and now he didn't. He didn't even consciously notice it as Kirby smiled in appreciation and sat opposite him.
Once the door was closed Kirby giggled and kicked his feet, playing with the cabin like a swing. Bandee stifled a scream to not do that, especially as he heard the clunk of a rusty nut hitting the floor. Leave it to Magalor to build a giant death trap even once he was reformed. On any other day, Bandee would have thought better to never have even approached this place, but he needed to pull off his plan and he needed to do it now.
He gripped is spear for comfort and strength. He was a warrior. He helped fell gods, both wannabes and actual ones. He'd stared nightmares from other worlds dead in the face and won. And yet he couldn't even manage to open his mouth now.
The wheel started with a hard lurch, sending Bandee flying out of his seat and across the admittedly cramped cabin, face-to-face with Kirby. Kirby, of course, smiled and giggled. "Hey there."
Bandee's face was redder than ever as he made a tactically hasty retreat back to his own seat. He thought of what to say but those words went to war with the words he was already trying to form in his head. This was it; this was his last opprotunity. He just needed to speak.
It was Kirby that ended up opening his mouth, though. "So, it's just the two of us," he said in his usual sing-song tone. "I know they say silence is golden, but it feels like we should talk about something."
Bandee did not respond.
"You know, it's been really nice hanging out with you today. And you in that cute outfit too. You're really going outside of your comfort zone and I'm proud of you!"
Bandee could not respond.
"But we haven't really been doing much surveying or whatever you said we were gonna be doing today. And I know you and you'd wanna bring the King with you if you thought we were gonna be fighting something or someone today. It makes me think that was a lie."
Sweat hit the floor as it fell from Bandee's forehead.
Kirby leaned across the cabin, his nose rubbing up against Bandee's. Was Kirby onto him? No; was he toying with him? "Wonder if you have a secret reason for inviting me out on an amusement park date."
Kirby smiled in a grin as he cocked his face slightly to the side. Bandee shrunk beneath his gaze, his vision going uneven and swimmy as he clammed up. The words in his head fought for dominance.
He said date. That's not what this is. We're not dating. But is he teasing me? Or is he just joking around? Does he know I like him like that? But he can't know that; I've bene playing everything cool. He can't know. He can't know. Then why did he say that? Why is he staring at me like that? What the heck is he doing? Heck, what am I doing? He's just been dragigng me around all day, like I'm putty in his hands. But I am! It's always been like this! I have to take control. Say something! Do something! Before you lose your chance!
Bandee moved by instinct. He was a warrior and fighting was his comfort place. So he pushed Kirby back and thrust his spear forward. Its tip stopped right at where the other boy's heart rested beneath his clothes. Bandee panted as Kirby stared at him in wide-eyed surprise.
"You!" Bandee shouted. "I— I'm gonna defeat you! Here and now! Then I know I'll be strong enough to— to— Nevermind!"
Kirby giggled. "You wanna fight? It's awfully cramped in here." Then he started using that sing-song voice that always made Bandee angrier. The soldier swore he did it on purpose. "And I think I know what you wanna be strong enough for."
"D— Don't mess with me like that! Are you ready or not? I'm not gonna beat you the coward's way!"
"Alrighty, if ya wanna fight that badly. Let's say whoever can pin the other wins. Three, two, one. Let's go!"
"Wha—"
There was no pause in Kirby's words, not even a breath taken, before he casually moved the spear aside and punced on Bandee. The startled boy dropped his weapon as one hand went to his right and the other two his left. Kirby's face was right against his own once again and before he could even think, the puffball boy's sugary lips were against his own.
Bandee's brain broke in the second it took for Kirby to pull back. He just stared forward into an unending distance.
"Oops," Kirby said, a finger on his lips like he was tracing the impression Bandee's own left on them. "Maaaaybe I went too far. But I think we killed two birds with one stone. Right, Bandee?"
"Kirby," was the only strained word to escape Bandee's mouth. It sounded both sweet and salty.
Bandee threw open the cabin's door as soon as it stopped in front of ground. The Dee manning the ride— Bandee was beginning to think the Dees weren't actually a platoon like the King called them— stepped back in shock.
"What is with you!" Bandee shouted as he stomped away, not looking back. "Why would you do that!"
Kirby poked his head out of the cabin. "I said I was sorry! You still wanna do a picnic tomorrow!"
Bandee turned around. "Of course!" Then he went back to storming home.
Kirby cupped his hands and with the power of a megaphone shouted. "Cya then! It's a date!" Then he laughed to himself as Bandee nearly tripped over those words and followed after. After all, he needed to walk his boyfriend home.