#gameverse

Thinkin' about King Dedede hosting a big feast in the castle and there's all this delicious food (he does this on the anniversary of the day he stole everyone's food, kind of an apology, now a tradition) and everyone is invited. Everyone is invited and everyone is there at one big table.

Yet Meta Knight's invite says "don't eat before you come! Er, okay, maybe eat a tiny bit!" in triple-underlined fashion.

So Meta Knight shows up, and he sees the big table, and he sees all of the people, and he sees the empty seat with no plate right next to Dedede. On the other side is Kirby and beside him is enough space for all the Meta-Knights.

And it's a blast for the first hour. Laughing and talking and drinking (soda for Kirby!) and cheering, but Meta Knight starts to get a little hungry and starts to get a little drained, so he finds the one moment where everybody's looking away to slip out of his seat and head towards the door.

Only when he reaches the front gate, the Waddle Dee guards cross their spears in front of him. Odd. Disquieting. He thought Dedede knew him better by now, knew better than to force him into these sorts of things-

"Wait!"

He turns around to find Dedede huffing, having sprinted from the dining hall.

After a moment to catch his breath, Dedede says, "I got your meal. C'mere."

And Meta Knight follows him back to the kitchen. Except they walk past the kitchen. Dedede hasn't produced a to-go bag yet or even shows any sign of gathering any food for him to take back to the Halberd.

Dedede opens an unnoteworthy door, and Meta Knight is just about to ask what kind of prank is about to be pulled when the scent of fresh chocolate lava cake smacks against his mask.

Dedede excitedly waves him in, and he steps through the door to find that this minor side room has been appointed as royally as the main hall. A veritable cornucopia of food is spread on the larger table at the side of the room, and in the center is a table seated for one. Why, there's even a rack just beside the table, one typically for coats in the rainy season, now obviously purposed here to hold his mask.

"And then over there's a book. I know ya' sometimes need your time or whatever. I tried to pick the one ya' always seem to be readin'."

Sure enough, as Meta Knight follows Dedede's pointing finger, is a cozy chair by the fireplace, and on the seat is the book about Dreamland's history that he's been piecing through whenever he's had a spare moment while visiting the castle.

"Whaddaya think?"

"I. . ." Meta Knight fights to keep a stubborn bit of moisture from slipping out of his eyes.

(He's fought far easier battles in actual combat than this.)

". . . it's perfect. Thank you. Sincerely."

"Aw, you're welcome!" Dedede claps his shoulder plate. "Now go enjoy it before it gets cold!"

Dedede lightly pushes him in the direction of the desserts first. Meta Knight hears him grab the handle, then the creak of the hinges, but he hesitates for a moment.

"Oh, and I got my best out here to keep watch. They won't let anyone come barging in here, not even me. Got that?"

"Unnecessary, but," Meta Knight replies, "thank you."

A glance over his shoulder shows Dedede giving a knowing smile before ducking out of the door.

When the latch clicks shut, Meta Knight tears his mask off, throws it on the rack, and grabs the plate from the table. He gets to work.

---

Exactly forty-five minutes later, Meta Knight returns to the main hall. His cape is spotless, his mask is spotless, and he takes back his original seat. Most of the plates on the big table are empty; even Kirby and Dedede have moved onto the last remnants of dessert, slurping a frothy boba milk tea through their straws.

Kirby's face lights up. He runs across the table and shoves a chocolate milk tea with an extra-long straw into his hands.

"Many thanks, but I cannot." Meta Knight offers the drink back. "I am full."

---

Dedede and his attendants go to the little side room after the party for cleanup only to find that the room is spotless. The whole room, sans the book left neatly on the chair. The table where all the food was? Where Dedede told and told his cooks to pile on even more, because he didn't want Meta to feel like he was just getting the leftovers?

The table is polished down to the plates.

"We kept finding all these little innuendos where it seemed like maybe Peter and Harry like, maybe had a thing when they were a little bit younger. We'd be like, "Yeah, Spider-Bros! Spider-Bros forever, man." It kept like spiralling into this, like, romantic thing where we're like, 'Yeah, we can't talk about it in the game, you know!'"

🟢 "Original character."