Title: two feathers of a bird

Rating: K+ (again with the innocence, but with a plus for Ness's repressed potty mouth.)

Genre: humor, friendship, (slight [b]romance?)

Summary: Ness tries to reassure Porky about something.

World: Pre-Mother 2/Earthbound

Note(s): A short shot based on something I was thinking about when I was trying to sleep the other night. There are so many fat jokes about Porky, and then I thought, when people make those jokes, they're including Ness into that, too. Because no matter what someone tells me, Ness is a chubby little cute thing, too, even though Porky beats him in terms of who's chubbier. (Don't believe me? One of the police officers in Onett called Ness a 'fat boy' and he's got a little bit of fluffy going for him in SSB.) I guess you now know what's this one-shot's about – you guessed it; total BROMANCE!

Warning(s): Short, attempted humor, cuteNESS that might give you a sugar rush, Out-of-characterNESS.

Disclaimer: It's a good thing the Mother/Earthbound series doesn't belong to me. I'd probably mess the story up by constantly concentrating between Ness and Porky's relationship.

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Ness could tell something was wrong just by looking at his best friend.

He was silent. (Not a common thing, despite what many may think. Porky Minch loves to talk.)

He nervously looks up every other minute. (Nervous, Porky? That doesn't mix! People go on about him being so 'assertive' and stuff… it's because his friend's rubbing off of him that Ness's so bold!)

He hadn't touched the hot dog they bought at the stand by the post office. (Porky isn't jumping over his food – there must be something wrong going on at the other end of the world.)

His hands kept resting on his round belly. And then it clicked.

"Did someone make fun of you again? I swear I'll go after them…"

This snapped his friend out of his trance. "What are you talking about?"

"Someone said something about my friend and they're going to pay." Ness made to stand up, but was pulled back sharply by the arm. He landed harshly on the porch, the pain numbing his rear end. "Hey, what the heck?"

"It's nothing, Ness. Don't worry about it."

"Heck yeah I'mma worry! You haven't touched your dog, and that ain't right."

Was it the wrong thing to say? Porky's hands went back to his belly, and at that point Ness nearly snapped, only managing to keep his cool at the thought of wanting to know what was ailing his friend.

"You can tell me what's bothering you."

It was silent for a while longer, time spent watching Porky nervously wring his hands and bite his lower lip.

"I'm just big fat lug, aren't I?"

Ness blinked. "What makes you say that?" Okay, not the smartest thing to say – everyday, Porky receives hints from everywhere and everyone about the excess girth on his mid-torso. He still held Porky's gazed when the boy glared at him for the otherwise unintelligent response.

"I can't fit through tight spaces, I get out of breathe easily, and people are repulsed by the way I look. What'd you think?" He sniffed, for all the world looking like a wounded puppy.

"Well, you're you, Porky. We can't all be thin and fit."

Porky adopted an incredulous look. "Yeah, you're one to talk."

"No, no, really, even I'm not thin."

"Skinnier than me."

"Look, Porky." What happened next went by too fast.

One of his hands lifted his striped shirt, high enough to expose his somewhat rounded belly; the other grabbed one of Porky's hands and brought it against his cool skin. Both of them drew in a sharp breathe at the contact.

It was silent.

Then thick fingers started running against his sensitive belly. Ness squirmed, a giggle inadvertently slipping out of him. "That tickles!"

A grin now dominated the lower half of the young Minch's face. "Yeah, you do have a little bit of plump here." He pinched a good amount of the tender flesh, tugging at it a bit.

"Y-yeah! See, I told you – stop that tickles!"

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A/N: Chubbies rule! (I could resist, okay? XD )