Prompt: Lucas/Ness/Jeff fluff.

"Are you sure we're supposed to be in here?"

"We'll be fiiine."

"What if the Hands see us?"

Ness pretended not to hear Lucas as he strolled through the assist trophy storage hall, gently pressing his hand to each one he passed by. Finally he reached one that appealed to him, and he pulled his trademark baseball bat from seemingly out of nowhere.

"Okay, here goes!"

SmaaaaAAAAAaaaaash!!

Lucas flinched as the sound of shattering glass echoed through the hall. Surely someone would hear that, and then they'd be in for it! There was another sound, too - the rustling of clothes - as whoever had been contained in the capsule tumbled out. Curiousity piqued, Lucas peered over Ness' shoulder to see a blonde boy with thick glasses. Something about him seemed familiar.

Said boy was busy trying to light a match with one hand, holding a stand of rockets in the other. Ness grabbed his wrist and pulled it away from the fuse.

"Heya, Jeff!"

The other boy looked up, confused for a moment, then relaxed. "Oh, hey. Sorry. I... thought it was another brawl."

"Nope. Just a visit! How's the whole assist trophy business treatin' ya, anyway?" Ness grinned and put his elbows on Jeff's head. Jeff ducked and stood up before it happened again.

"Dark. Cramped. It's kind of scary to be tossed around in some capsule with a bunch of explosives." He laughed softly, blue eyes flicking toward Lucas. "A new friend?"

"Oh, yeah!" Ness took a step back and, with flourishing gestures, introduced the two. "Jeff, meet Lucas. Lucas, Jeff."

"Jeff Andonuts." Jeff stuck his hand out. Lucas accepted it with some hesitation.

"Andonuts? But he's..." At a questioning look from the other boys, Lucas just shook his head. "It sounds familiar."

"Dr. Ando-- er, Dad is kind of famous, I guess," Jeff said sheepishly. After a moment of painfully awkward silence, he cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. "So--"

"Jeez, Jeff. Those are a mess."

"What?"

Ness reached out and snatched the glasses right off Jeff's face before the boy could move away. "These! Didn't you ever take up your boyfriend's offer to clean them?"

"Tony?" There was a short pause before Jeff quickly added, "he's not my boyfriend, you twit!" He made a grab for the glasses, but Ness waved them away.

"Is so. You shoulda heard him that time he phoned us. It's true love!"

Another lunge for the glasses. This time Ness let Jeff take them. He put them back on, looking uncomfortable. "It's not- I don't... go that way."

Ness put a finger to his chin, grinning. "We'll see."

"...What?"

Suddenly Ness flung himself at Jeff, puckering his lips and making kissy-noises. The blond stumbled backwards, yelping and trying to push Ness' head away. "Cut it out!"

Ness just tightened his grip. He glanced at Lucas, who was torn between laughing and running away for dear life. "Come on, Lucas! You get his back!"

Lucas nodded, then made an awkward attempt at maneuvering behind Jeff and trying to pin his arms behind his back. Before he could manage, Jeff had accidentally trod on Lucas' feet and fell backwards, knocking the timid boy down with him. Ness fell on top of them, as he was still holding Jeff, and somewhere along the line someone's flailing limb knocked an assist trophy over... which fell into another. And another.

The boys stared up silently at the domino effect, forgetting all about being entangled in one big pile of testosterone. One by one the assist trophies fell; one by one they shattered. The hands would not be pleased.

"I told you!" Lucas shouted above the din of breaking glass. "We're doomed!"

But Ness was too busy laughing. It was infectious, and soon enough the other two joined in, feeling happy for the closeness of friends amidst the chaos of flying Lakitus, Excitebikes and Knuckle Joes.

Until the Hands showed up.