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"Hey asshole!"
Ness snapped his eyes towards a chubby figure sitting on the room's sofa. His eyes widened in recognition, only to be filled with anger shortly after.
Him, Paula and Jeff were investigating the Monotoli building, not knowing what to expect. The building had many floors, and many people resided in it, but Ness hadn't expected to see his friend, Pokey, here of all places. Not only that, but he was acting like a piece of shit towards him for no reason. It filled him with rage.
Paula and Jeff remained quiet, Paula was off put by the amount of energy emanating from Ness, and Jeff probably caught on that this was rather personal and it'd be better not to meddle, for now.
"What are you doing here, huh? Came here to beg for more money?" Pokey laughed, and then continued his condescending words, "I heard some ratty looking kids were looking for Monotoli, was that you… Pig's Butt? I mean, Ness?" Pokey chuckled at his own insult, snorting in the process.
After noticing how quiet Ness was being, Jeff decided to answer, "You wouldn't know where he is, would you?"
"Hmm…" Pokey brought a hand to his chin, "Why yes, I do know where he is, I am his right hand assistant after all!" He leaned in, "But this isn't a place for the likes of you! Get out of my sight!"
With that, the body guards stepped towards them, about to get them out of the room, only to get blasted by blinding raw PSI coming from Ness' hand. Pokey gave a high pitched scream at the explosion, and yelped as he felt his suit get grabbed roughly by him.
"Ness!" Paula yelled, pulling his shoulder to try and pry him off of Pokey, "That's enough!"
"Shut up!" Ness exclaimed as he turned his head towards her. His face dawned an expression she had never seen before, and that was enough to creep Paula out and make her step back. She had never expected to see Ness like this, and Jeff looked just as unnerved as she did.
"Please don't hurt me!" Pokey started sweating and trying to break free, "I'm sorry! Ness, you're my best friend, you wouldn't hurt me right? I'll give you all the money you want! Please!" He seemed so nervous it looked like he was almost crying, which maybe he was, but it was difficult to tell due to all his sweating.
Ness tightened his grip, baring his teeth, "Do you have any idea of how long I've been looking for you?"
Pokey suddenly stopped struggling when he processed Ness' words, "Huh?"
"Yes, you idiot!" His voice only rose in volume, "I've been looking for you everywhere, you had me worried sick!"
Pokey stared at Ness, trying to understand what was being said to him. It didn't really make much sense. "Why? I've been nothing but mean to you!"
"Because you are my friend, you said it yourself just a few moments ago." Ness' eyes remained still, his pupils having a subtle red tint inside them, "Everything was getting in my way, and you weren't making it any easier. You can't even begin to imagine everything I've killed to get here. I don't even know if your bodyguards are alive after that."
Both their pair of eyes looked back at the defeated figures behind them. They looked like they'd need a visit to the hospital, but they still were breathing, and the blood seemed to come from their impact against the wall and not from the blast of energy itself.
"... So you still… care about me?" Pokey mustered up, turning his eyes to look at Ness, "Even after everything I've done to you? You still… like me?"
Ness' eyes softened, and he let go of him softly, making him stumble onto the ground, "Of course I do, Pokey. You'll always be my best friend."
Pokey looked down and away from Ness, seemingly out of embarrassment and shame, "I still like you too. I missed you a bunch." He admitted, fiddling with his suit to fix it up.
"Well you don't need to miss me anymore." Ness smiled at him, and offered his hand, "You can come with us, it'll be fun!"
"What? But, I don't know how to fight!" Pokey seemed deathly afraid of the prospect of having to get into dangerous situations that could risk his life.
Ness gave him a sympathetic look, "Oh don't worry, I'll protect you, just like I did that night." He kept his hand in place patiently, "You can be in a safe distance, using our bombs and such that we otherwise wouldn't have the time to use ourselves!"
Pokey seemed hesitant, but the prospect of hanging out with Ness again after so long was very, very tempting. Besides, he did a good job protecting him that night they saw the meteorite. He has no reason to believe Ness wouldn't risk his own life to protect him, especially after having gone through all this trouble to find him in the first place.
Slowly, he lifted his hand, inching it closer and closer to Ness', until he grabbed it and felt his hand being grabbed back with affection.
Ness pulled him up, and gave him a tight hug. Pokey had never actually been hugged before, surprisingly. But this, it felt good. Like he had been wanting this all his life. Ness' body was warm and he could feel his heart beating against his chest, and the tightness of the hug said many things in just a few seconds that words would take much longer to convey.
With all this, he was quite overwhelmed, and began to tear up a little bit. After a few seconds, he gave the hug back. And they stayed like that for a while.
Neither of them paid mind to the other two conscious people in the room, staring at them having a moment.
"Wait, does this mean we are gonna have to team up with him?" Paula asked Jeff in a low whisper that she hoped was quiet enough for them not to hear.
"Seems like it." Jeff took off his glasses to clean them, "I'm not complaining, we could use the extra help with our storage space."
"I guess, I just hope he doesn't end up being a burden to us during battle." Paula crossed her arms, pouting.
"I doubt it, if everything goes well he'll never be truly harmed." Jeff put his glasses back on, "You seem pretty upset about it. Why? Are you jealous?" Jeff smirked at Paula, trying to poke fun at her.
"What?! No!" Paula stomped her foot, "That dick locked me up in a cabin so I could be used as a sacrifice! And now Ness is hugging him! Why is he hugging him?! He almost had me killed!"
Jeff contained his laughter as Paula made it increasingly obvious she wished she was the one getting hugged and not Pokey, "If you want a hug so bad I could give you one, no need to make a fuss about it!"
Paula immediately stopped her angry ramble and widened her eyes at him, a blush slowly becoming more visible. "Um. Uhh…" She laughed and looked away, scratching the back of her head anxiously.
Jeff chuckled at her reaction, "Aw come on, I give great hugs!"
"Hey guys." Ness' voice interrupted their moment, making them both turn their heads to him, "Sorry about earlier… I was very emotional. I hope you don't mind Pokey tagging along either, he can't simply go back home…" Ness rubbed his arm looking at Pokey, who was standing next to him and being shy in front of his friends.
"Of course not, Ness." Jeff answered cordially, earning a grumpy huff from Paula and making her cross her arms again, "Nice to meet you, I'm Jeff Andonuts."
"...Hey Jeff." Pokey answered shyly, probably still ashamed of his previous behavior, "My name is. Um. Pokey Minch. But just call me Pokey, I don't like my last name."
Jeff nodded in understanding, and Paula stepped forwards to introduce herself as well.
"I'm Paula Polestar." Paula spoke up a bit deadpanned, "Nice to meet you, Pokey."
"Nice to meet you too, Paula..." Pokey answered, still as shy as before, "I'm sorry about all the trouble I've caused you."
Paula didn't expect to hear an apology from him, but she was pleasantly surprised. "Oh don't worry about it, I'm glad you apologized."
Ness smiled at the both of them, happy to see them welcome Pokey to their team, "See? It'll all be alright, and fun too!"
Pokey's face lit up in a hint of excitement as they began exiting the room together. He had his best friend back, and maybe two new ones too. Maybe this adventure won't be so bad after all.