Chapter Text
“Do you wanna go outside?” Kirby asked. “You can hide in my body if you want!”
“M-Me? Um…”
Zero… doesn’t know what to say.
For one thing, it wants to see what lies in Dreamland. On the other hand…
“What if people find out?” Zero asked.
“Ehh,” Kirby shrugged. “They may be a little miffed about Susie being there, due to the ‘mechanize everything for infinite prosperity’ thing, but they don’t mind her business!”
“…if you say so.” Zero has a feeling that they didn’t mind her business because of fear.
Its curiosity won, however. The fallen god could make up a lie, or dodge the question entirely. After all, the townsfolk in Dreamland do not mingle in other's secrets.
It wonders why sometimes.
“I’m not forcing you out if you don’t want to, poyo,” Kirby said. “If you want, you could stay and watch, or something.”
Zero looked around nervously. It had to say it, or else…
Well, it might regret not going later.
“…alright,” Zero finally said.
“Okay! You can take my body now.”
That sounds weird out of context. And he said it so casually too…
Ah well.
Right now, he has stepped into Cappy Town, a town filled with cappies.
…at least, it was filled with cappies.
In practice, while there are cappies here and there, it’s actually filled with many species from all around Popstar. Waddle dees, bronto burts, chips, and- wait.
Is that a human?
‘Oh that? That’s Adeleine!’ Kirby said. ‘She isn’t from around here, poyo.’
“I see,” Zero mutters to itself and Kirby.
Suddenly, a waddle dee greeted the pink puff.
“Oh hey! Looks like you’re wearing contact lenses again,” the waddle dee said.
“Uh, yeah!” Zero said, trying to imitate its host’s enthusiasm. “I feel that a change is needed once in a while, poyo.”
‘…I don’t say things like that,’ Kirby said. Drat, it messed up!
“I see! Well, good luck on your fashion!” the waddle dee said without any suspicion, then left.
“Bye bye!” ‘Kirby’ said, waving the waddle dee off. Complete with standing on his tiptoes.
Zero then looked back at Adeleine to see that she’s right in front of it.
“Woah! Didn’t see you there,” ‘Kirby’ said. Which is the truth, but the tone isn’t Zero’s.
“Hey Kirby!” Adeleine greeted. “Are you seriously going to wear these contact lenses more frequently?”
Zero thought. One could rephrase this question to be ‘would Zero want to go to Dreamland again?’ Not that it’ll say that to Adeleine’s face for obvious reasons.
“Hmm… I’m thinking about it,” ‘Kirby’ answered with a smile.
“So! Wanna paint with me?” Adeleine asked. “I’ll bring in Ribbon and Gooey!”
…Gooey?
‘Um, this is awkward,’ Kirby said from within Zero’s subconscious.
There is a possibility that Gooey could detect Zero’s presence within Kirby’s body and attack, but both Kirby and Zero wanted to go.
“I’m… I’m sorry, Adeleine, but as much as I really want to go painting with you, I think I have to hold off for the day,” ‘Kirby’ lied.
“Huh? Why is that?”
“…well, I’m afraid that the eye contacts might make Gooey think I’m possessed or something, poyo,”
“You could clear up the confusion, though?”
“I am… not removing my eye contacts,” ‘Kirby’ answered without a smile.
“Attached to them I see,” Adeleine said. “Welp, see you next time, then!” She then walked away.
“Okay. Bye bye, Adeline!”
…
“Was I good?” Zero whispered to Kirby.
‘While it’s good, I have a feeling that you planted the seeds of doubt in her mind,’ Kirby answered.
“…was it something I said?” Zero asked. It just wants to explore this place in peace.
‘No. It’s just… she’s paranoid, and scared of all things dark matter.’
“She doesn’t seem to be scared of your ‘eye contacts,’ though,” Zero said. “Unless she doesn’t know about the symptoms of possession?”
‘She is very aware,’ Kirby answered. ‘I can see her fear in her eyes.’
Now that he said that, Zero did see the fear and worry underneath that happy facade.
“Great. Now my trip in this town is going to be ruined…” Zero said in sadness.
Meanwhile, Adeleine heard all of that behind a tree.
Was this, perhaps, a friendly dark matter? Or perhaps one pretending to be a friendly one, exploiting poor little Kirby’s kindness?
…
She decided to observe for now.
To be continued…