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“Hai King Dedede!” An obnoxious, chipper voice said.
I let out a groan, tapping a hand on the armrest of my throne. The waddle dees standing guard next to me gave the pink puffball a secret wave that I noticed anyway. I’ve given up trying to suppress that long ago. They’re too friendly to pass up a hello.
Kirby had, once again, decided that he’d meet me. The puffball had made no attempt to warn me, per usual. Most annoyingly was his habit of meeting up with me by randomly showing up to a window. As much as I don’t like thinking positively about Meta Knight, at least he doesn’t give me a heart attack every time we meet! The knight keeps a strict schedule, always comes at least five minutes early, arrives at the front door, goes through due process like a normal person, and is always to the point with our meetings. The pink menace is anything but that.
I stayed silent while he stared at me. I don’t even give him a glance. I just wait for the puffball to do his usual ramble.
The pudgeball continued talking, unbothered by my silence. “Just here to check up on you! You know the drill. Things have been pretty chill on my end since the Nightmare thing. Some family and friends were a bit jostled by the event, but they’re fine now! How you holding up after the whole incident? Everyone at the castle doing alright?”
I said nothing, staring ahead at the wall. The waddle dees by my side turned to him with a brief thumbs up. They tried to hide it, pretending they never stopped guarding, but I noticed it. Not like I can do much about it.
“... No insults today, huh?” They said, sounding disappointed. “I’ll take that as a ‘doing okay’. You know, it’s pretty wild how different sleeping was when the Dream Spring wasn’t active! I don’t know about you, but eventually I got used to the lack of dream mist in the air and got some sleep. But it was never truly good sleep. I just kinda… slept. It was decent, I had a dream once, but it was nowhere near as vivid and nice. A few times I had a hard time waking up ‘cause I would still feel a bit sluggish, even after having a full night of rest! It makes me wonder how others experienced the lack of dream mist… Did some people head over to the temple path to visit the fountain because of the whole situation? Or even try to go through the Rainbow Resort? Oh, that reminds me! I got a good look at the Astral Lights! You should have seen it! It was even prettier than how anyone described it would be! People always said that it…”
I let let out a sigh. Don’t know why I bother listening to that blabbermouth. They’re just rambling to themself. Am I that bored? Eh… probably. It’s a slow day today. Like a lot of days, really. You would think people would still murmur amongst themselves after losing their dreams for around a month and nearly having them corrupted by an evil wizard of terror. But in less than a week, everyone was back to their usual. They don’t even talk about Kirby’s heroism or my role in the whole incident. It’s almost like it didn’t happen. It’s honestly starting to get on my nerves how nobody seemed to care what happened. I hardly even heard anybody talking behind my back about how I broke the Star Rod! What is with these people!?
“Hey, Dedede! Maybe we should visit the Rainbow Resort together! Oh, even better idea! Maybe we could do a pilgrimage to the Fountain of Dreams together!” Kirby’s words snapped me from my thoughts.
I let out a groan, turning to them. “The hell is up with you!?” I blurted out, the words escaping my mouth before I could put a halter on them anymore.
“... Huh?” He said with a tilt of his head, face blank.
I faceplamed and dragging a hand down my face. “Why ya actin’ all chummy like ya’ve known me fer years!? Ya barely know me! What’s yer plan, ya pink freak!?”
The pink puffball frowned, “I just want to get to know you! I noticed no one seems to really talk to you or pay visits, so I figured I’d come by and have a talk every now and then.”
“Talk? Whaddya mean no one talks ta me!? I talk plenty with the people here! Right guys?” I said as I turned towards my guarding waddle dees.
They flinched upon noticing my focus was on them. “Uh, yes, my King.” “Plenty, my King.”
“See?” I said to the pink puff. I could feel a bead of sweat forming, but hopefully he won’t notice.
The concern on Kirby’s face already put a hamper on that hope. “... I think I’ll keep visiting. Can't hurt to have one more person to talk to, right?”
There’s no stopping them, is there? Letting out a sigh, I slipped off my throne. “Fine. If you’re gonna be such an annoyin’ brat, might as well get somethin’ out of it. C’mon.” I gestured them to follow. They let out an obnoxious squeal and chirped out a couple “Poyo!”s before hopping down from the window, trailing beside me.
“Poyo! What’s the plan today? Are we gonna chase each other through the halls? Play hide and seek? Maybe play pool?” Kirby said as he patted his paws together.
“Do you even know how to play pool?” I asked with a raised brow.
They nodded eagerly, “Yep! One of my parents used to take me to a place that had a pool table! I’m okay at it. More importantly, it’s fun!”
I turned my focus ahead with a huff. Of course they know how to play pool. And of course they’re good at it too. They know just about every game that’s ever existed, and they’re a master at everything on top. I don’t bother saying any of this, I won’t encourage them. Not like it matters. They paid no mind to my silence and kept breaking it with a question or a ramble. Talking to themself on end.
We walked all the way to the terrace, arriving at a table with several chairs. I grabbed the pink puffball, causing them to squeak and halt their talking. Placing them in one of the chairs. I made sure the seat was tall and cushioned enough to let them sit comfortably at the table, as it was more set for me. They watched as I took the opposite seat from them.
“So… What is it you wanna tell me?” I asked, bracing against whatever they had to say.
The pink puffball rubbed at the back of his head. “Oh geez, there’s a lot I’d like to tell! It's just a matter if I can remember it all. Like… uhhh…” His eyes gleamed, leaning forward and slapping the table with his paws. “Oh! Did I ever tell you about the recent farming near the ocean? There are some coastal people that have taken a liking to growing banana trees! They’ve started sorting them into breeds too! Oh, and have you heard about the fishing going on there? I heard that the sea bass are starting to get pretty big! I’m thinking of heading over there with some buddies and going fishing over there.”
“Is… that it?”
“Nope, I got more!”
“No, I meant like… You got any problems with me?”
Kirby hummed to himself, “I dunno… I can’t think of anything recently. I mean, I’m pretty happy you’re actually responding to me and not just throwing an insult back!”
I let out a sigh, “What’s your deal, kid? Where’s your grudge? Where you bottlin’ that anger?”
He shrugged back, “What use would I have in keeping a grudge? Sure, you’ve done bad things, but you haven’t done anything serious on repeat. It’s not like you caused any permanent harm. Heck, the last ‘big bad thing’ you did was you trying to stop an evil wizard from infesting people with nightmares!”
“Poorly.”
“It was still a good shot! And it kind of worked. It just wasn’t perfect, nor permanent.” He said with a warm grin.
I huffed at him, turning away and crossing my arms. So I basically did nothing.
Silence settled between us. Very strange, considering the obnoxious ball usually yammers for hours with no hope of stopping. When I glanced back at the puffball, I noticed he wasn’t looking at me. His focus was turned downward, his grin ever so slightly lowered. Eyes glazed over.
I’ll find out what you’re hidin’.
“Somethin's eatin’ at you.” I said after a pause.
“Huh?” The pudgeball’s focus snapped up and blanked.
I leaned forward, looking him in the eyes. “You got that look in your eye. Somethin’s on your mind. Go on. Spit it out.”
“Oh, don’t worry, it’s nothing serious!” He said with a cheerful smile. But his eyes gave away his lie.
“Don’ try an’ fib. I can smell it. Tell me what’s goin’ on.” I steeled myself again.
His smile faultered more, his voice growing softer. “You sure? It’s about the recent incident with Nightmare… Think you can handle it?”
I took a deep breath, nodding. Get ready, Dedede. Here comes the tirade…
The puffball turned his focus to the table again. The sugary face melted completely, becoming… sad? Worried? Maybe a fleck of anger. It’s hard to tell…
After a long moment, he focused on me.
“I think I messed up.” He said in the weakest little voice I’ve heard from him. Showing exhaustion I haven’t ever seen before. “I know this will sound weird, but… I think I was too fast to fight with Nightmare. I don’t think I slowed down enough to give him a chance to make a turn around. I kinda just wanted to get everything over with in that fight. Maybe if I had taken a rest before it…”
I blinked as the puffball continued to ramble off. Worrying over the wizard and what he could have done better. Dragging himself for shutting down what I had to say at the start of everything. It was weird hearing him be such a downer on himself. He never wavered in anything he’s done before.
“... and I should really work on my patience. I’m pretty bad at that…”
“Kid, what are ya on about?” I butted in, causing him to blink. “You’re, like, the most patient little bastard I’ve ever met! Ya got the patience of stone! I mean, all I’ve ever done is act like a ravin’ idiot ta yer face for nearly a year… an’ you’re still here somehow! I dunno if you’re crazy or stupid, but… you’re still here. Somehow.”
Kirby gave a soft smile, “I always like making new friends where I can. I don’t entirely know about you, but when I don’t have anyone to hold a real conversation with, I start to feel pretty low. It… kinda got me down during the whole Star Rod hunt.”
I blinked. They were… feelin’ down? It was hard to imagine. They always shined a smile whenever they showed up, and had an absurd amount of optimism. Even when I was hurling insult after insult at them, hardly did they falter. If anything, it just made me falter over time. Hearing someone say that there’s always a chance to be better, that even the smallest step was worthwhile, even though I know it wasn’t true in any way for me… some part of me was starting to believe it.
Well… There’s no arguing about how Kirby’s feeling here. They certainly seem pretty down on themself right now.
I rubbed at the back of my head, “Listen, kid, I’m probably the worst person ta choose when it comes ta advice. But if there’s one thing I know, it’s that you tried your damn best. You gave your all ta get the Star Rod together, an’ you gave your all ta fend off Nightmare. An’ it worked! It took ‘bout a little over a month, but you did it! More than I can say for myself…”
“But you tried, too! And it did work! You kept Nightmare sealed away. You prevented him from being able to corrupt the Fountain of Dreams. Who knows, maybe shattering the Star Rod was a good choice!”
“I highly doubt that.”
“Yeah… It’s still a possibility, though. And in the end, the Star Rod is together. The Fountain of Dreams is okay. Everyone is safe. And that’s important. Sure, you messed up, but what you did led to this. So… was it really all that bad?”
A growl rumbled in my throat, but as I looked around… It was obvious. Kirby was right, as much as I really don’t want to admit it. We were still here. As much as my stupid actions messed things up, we were all still okay. I guess. Everyone still walked around, still talked their usual talk, and still enjoyed the calm breeze. Really, there wasn’t any reason to feel guilty about things…
“... Same can be said to you.” I said with a smirk.
Kirby jolted, wide eyed. “I- uh ‘b-bout what?”
“Psh, don’ act all coy! You just went on a tirade against yourself! I won’ have that!”
“... Really? I mean, I really think I messed up. He might still be here if-”
“Ah ah! Don’ start that again!” I interjected. “I mean it! You’re my rival! If I’m gonna beat you fair an’ square, I need you in tip-top shape! What kinda King am I if I try ta beat you up while you’re already turnin’ yourself into a pulp? It ain’ right! If anyone’s gonna top you once an’ for all, it’s gonna be me!”
Kirby let out a chuckle. “Thanks for this. I think… I really needed something like that said to me. I guess I’m going too hard on myself. It was a pretty tough journey.” Letting out a sigh, they leaned back in their seat. “Thanks for listening. Glad you could understand. This was really nice.” His posture was completely relaxed now. Loose with heavy eyelids, but grinning warmly to me.
“... Good. Now that you’re better, why don’ you beat it? Go out an’ tell one of those friends of yours ‘bout those worries. I’m sure that’d keep your spirits up.” I said, waving him away.
He only sat there, smiling up at me. I tried not to look him in the eye. (I failed… but it was only a split second!) Slowly, he crawled onto the table. Walking across the sleek surface.
“What’re you-” Warm paws clasped onto my sides. Giving me a squeezing embrace. Even if I was too big for them to fully wrap around.
“You already have.” They whispered. Leaning into me.
Somehow, I kept my lungs under control. Just barely. My arms, raised from the sudden touch, eventually lowered down. Though my hand trembled, I managed to touch them delicately on the head. Not daring any more than that.
After what felt like forever, they split away. “This was really nice. I think I’ll head out now. Look forward to seeing you next week!” They said, hopping off the table and sprinting off. Calling the warpstar and flying off into the sky.
…
They think… I’m a friend?
“I see you are taking the time to talk.” I turned my head towards the gentle voice. It was my advisor, wearing his signature round glasses, Penee. He was carrying a clipboard under one arm while Dandee held his open paw. Dandee was still a little guy, his head spotted like the dappled forest floor they had come from, his fur a vibrant reddish-orange.
“Yeah. What about it?” I snipped at him.
“You normally don’t talk to people. Especially that Kirby fellow.”
I turned away, crossing my arms.
“So… How was it?” Penee asked.
“... Something.”
“Something…?” He pressed.
I let out a sigh, “Something… nice.”
Nice. That will do for now. Whatever we have going on.