Dedede bid Axe Knight farewell, sending him back off to the Halberd. And good riddance. Being around other alphas had proven to be difficult at best, their scents usually amping up his competitive side significantly. Not that many people had presented yet though, and normally it wasn't enough to bother him, but Axe Knight's scent drove him up a wall. Sure, Dedede had agreed that people having multiple packs was more than likely normal, but he hadn't expected this. Why had Axe Knight of all people presented as an alpha? Out of the entire Halberd crew, he would have thought for sure Meta Knight would have been the one to present as one. Instead, his second-in-command had, and Meta Knight's own scent was all over him. More than anything, this sent his competitive drive completely into overdrive.
This distressed him, because he knew Meta Knight didn't like that, but it was so hard to keep it under control with another alpha suddenly in the picture. Thankfully his competitive drive had died down ever-so-slightly with Meta Knight's departure, and he had been able to talk with Axe Knight in a fairly civil manner. The knight's concerns were nothing he hadn't already dealt with. Raging instincts, sudden anger and impulses, the need to claim. It was a bit much when you weren't used to it, and even Dedede, who had been an alpha for two weeks now, still struggled to get his instincts under control.
Between certain unfair alpha instincts and how horribly they clashed with Meta Knight's insecurities, Dedede was shocked nothing horrible had happened between them after their one argument in the beginning. He could only hope the same could be said of Axe Knight and Meta Knight, though Dedede knew how deathly loyal Axe Knight was to his captain, and how he'd never intentionally do something to hurt or distress him. That whole crew spent more time fussing over their captain and making sure he felt safe and happy than anything else.
Certain things like that really made Dedede wonder how that particular pack would work out, especially since they officially had an omega to pamper instead. Either way, Dedede was honestly afraid for how anyone else he knew would present. What if Meta Knight did end up an alpha? He'd heard nothing of multiple alphas being in packs, so he didn't know how all of that worked. His parents were both alphas, so he figured a relationship like that would work. Of course, he also realized that betas were so much more common than alphas and omegas, and there was a good chance he'd remain a beta. Considering how insecure and uncomfortable Meta Knight had been with everything going on, Dedede wondered if there'd be any more arguments and consoling between them in the future. If he and Axe Knight couldn't get their competitive instincts under control, he more than expected such a thing to happen.
There had to be some way to help him overcome that. While he knew Meta Knight still had his insecurities and likely always would, he knew the puffball had been getting so much better about it in recent times. Just how many steps had he taken back due to all of this? Contemplating how to help Meta Knight out, Dedede wondered if maybe Kirby would be of any assistance. It hadn't been until Kirby first showed up in Dreamland that Meta Knight had truly begun to recover from his issues.
Speaking of which, Dedede just realized that Kirby was still banned from the castle. Oh. And Kirby was supposedly a part of his pack, if the way he, Bandana, and Meta Knight spoke about said pack was anything to go by. That might need to remedied sometime soon.
The next day went by, and all Dedede knew was that there was an overjoyed pink puffball bouncing off the walls of his castle. More than anything, Dedede was surprised that Kirby had restrained himself from storming the place during the past two weeks. The little pink menace smelled an awful lot like various other betas, who Dedede figured were probably all of his different animal friends. That group was definitely already a pack, and Kirby didn't appear adverse in the slightest to being in a pack with Dedede, Bandana, and Meta Knight ("After all, you guys are my bestest friends ever!").
Apparently, none of Kirby's other friends had presented at all, and the thought of Dedede being an alpha both intrigued and excited him. Needless to say, the puffball jumped all over the opportunity to be scented by his new pack leader.
Speaking of which, Dedede vaguely wondered how all of that pack leader stuff worked with Kirby's and Meta Knight's other packs. Who was the head of Kirby's pack if they were all betas? A dominant beta, perhaps? It was always difficult to tell with betas, since there were never really any obvious differences between the two, aside from scents. Even then, he decided not even that was a surefire way to tell. Meta Knight had that typical sweet scent associated with submissive betas, but that didn't really fit with his attitude and personality, did it? Besides, who was the head of his pack over on the Halberd? Would it be Axe Knight, or would it be his captain? Dedede knew if Axe Knight ended up being head of the pack, Meta Knight would be struggling with his insecurities even worse than he had been recently.
Feeling someone else jump into his arms, Dedede snapped back to attention. Bandana Dee had shown up to join in on solidifying his pack status with Kirby. The three sat and cuddled enthusiastically near the king's throne, Dedede only regretting that Meta Knight wasn't there to join in. It'd be nice to get the entire pack together for once, now that he actually remembered to allow Kirby over. Maybe he'd order his knight over for dinner or something. Who knew when he'd come over of his of volition. It was always so damn random and sporadic.
Naturally, an order to come over and eat dinner quickly turned into a party between close friends, and Meta Knight somehow found himself with his fellow puffball glued to his side. Understandable, considering by that time Kirby had more than scented enough with Dedede and Bandana Dee.
A ridiculous amount of food sat before the group, the puffballs and Dedede digging in eagerly, Bandana following at a slower pace. As fun as it was having the whole group over, Dedede was secretly dreading restocking the kitchens afterwards. Considering he was a big eater himself, allowing the two puffballs to go at it was more than enough to run his stock near dry. Thankfully, Meta Knight stuck almost exclusively to junk food and anything sugary, but Kirby wasn't so picky. That was one puffball who truly ate everything.
Still, the evening went on, Kirby asking about how things were going with alphas and omegas running around. Meta Knight and Bandana Dee mentioned Sailor presenting, though the other waddle dee had yet to end his heat. Mace Knight had been doing an amazing job at taking care of Bandana's twin brother, and didn't appear to show any signs of waning his efforts. Unfortunately, they couldn't say much more about omegas until Sailor was back to his usual self. Kirby learned more than enough about alphas though, thanks to all of Dedede's confident boasting.
"I gotta tell ya, Kirbs, it's been pretty great being at the top. I'm not just perfect, I'm like a god in the peoples' eyes, now. Havin' their king as an alpha is truly a gift!" he bragged, more than proud of his status.
"Don't let him fool you, he's exactly the same as always," Bandana stage-whispered to Kirby, causing them both to giggle.
Dedede gave a huff in mock offence, and was about to go on before noticing how wary Meta Knight appeared. The mask had come off in order to eat, and his expressions were always way too easy to read. Deciding against saying anything about it, Dedede went off on a different topic.
"So, how's things with your other pack, huh?" he asked, directed at Kirby. "Anyone present yet? Who's the head of the pack?"
"No one's done anything! We're all betas, I think!" Kirby chirped, followed by shoving a whole roast in his mouth and eating it. "I don't think anyone's really the leader, either. Maybe we don't need one!"
"Huh, sure. Just wait until some of you start presentin'. You'll probably find your pack leader real fast after that." Dedede gave a quick glance at Meta Knight, still wondering how the whole pack leader situation was with his crew, but was too afraid to ask. His knight appeared nervous enough as it was talking about all of this.
"I don't know," Bandana supplied. "Not everyone wants to have someone running their friend group, you know. I realize it's a pack thing, but still. It seems unrealistic that everyone's gonna have a person to lead their pack. We only ended up with one because, you know, you're you."
Dedede's grumbled "What's that supposed to mean?" was easily drowned out by Kirby's excited "Yeah! Dedede's the best leader!" Considering it was praise for him, Dedede took it and didn't bother to complain.
"Still, I feel a group of only betas is the only time where someone might not step up as pack leader. And how likely is it that they're all even going to stay betas? Someone's bound to present eventually."
"Yeah, I guess," Bandana pondered. "People have been presenting left and right lately! I mean, we have Sailor and Axe," he went on, gesturing towards Meta Knight, "and I know Masher and Bonkers both presented as alphas not too long ago, and a bunch of the waddle dees have been presenting as omegas. I keep thinking it must be some common waddle dee thing; I've only seen maybe two or three alpha waddle dees."
"Masher presented as an alpha?" Meta Knight finally spoke up, getting Dedede's attention once more.
"Yeah! It wasn't too long after Dedede did, I think," Bandana responded.
At that, Meta Knight remained silent, wings tense. Considering his shaky history with the other swordsman, Dedede could wager a guess as to why this was bothering him. As the puffball continued to slowly finish off the massive sundae he'd somehow managed to put together, Dedede could feel his own nervousness welling up. After everything, he didn't need Meta Knight worrying himself over this. If the damn guy would just stop overthinking everything all of the time, their life would be so much less stressful.
Letting loose a gruff sigh, Dedede tried to ignore it. This was supposed to be a fun time, after all! No mopey puffballs were going to get in the way of that. The night continued on, Dedede, Bandana, and Kirby all goofing off with each other while Meta Knight remained silent in the background. Kirby was eventually able to get him to come around, as he declared that he was going to make a far better ice cream sundae than Meta Knight ever could. This was enough to get the quiet puffball out of his stupor, and both Dedede and Bandana could only watch in awe as the two proceeded to construct the largest, most complex sundaes they had ever seen.
Kirby ended up winning their little competition, though Meta Knight claimed it didn't count since the ice cream supply had run out, leaving Kirby with the bigger sundae. Besides his claims, he didn't put up much protest against his fellow puffball's victory, and took more satisfaction in eating the concoctions they had actually made. A little full, but unable to resist having a sundae himself, Dedede made sure to steal as many scoops as possible from Meta Knight's sundae. It was boyfriend privilege, obviously.
The rest of the night went in a similar fashion, Meta Knight loosening up as it got darker out. Eventually, the four found themselves cuddling together in Dedede's bed, their pack status more than solidified by that point. Kirby was reveling in the attention, soaking up as many cuddles as physically possible. It was clear that if anyone was enjoying all of the new pack dynamics, it was the pink puffball. While Meta Knight viewed the whole thing as controlling and immoral, Kirby appeared to think of it more as a way to become even closer to his friends than he already was.
Thinking about it some more, perhaps Kirby really could help Meta Knight to better adjust to pack dynamics. Their thought processes were so completely opposite from each other that it was ridiculous, but Meta Knight always appeared open to Kirby's ideas, as simple and naïve as they often were. It wouldn't hurt to try and get them to talk more about the issue together. At the rate he was going, Meta Knight was bound to send himself into a full-blown breakdown in no time. That was for sure something Dedede wanted to avoid at all costs, so if Kirby could help in any way, then Dedede was going to make sure he got on that as soon as possible.
In the meantime, he supposed it was late, and the other three were already asleep cuddled against his side. Instead of being like Meta Knight and worrying too damn much, perhaps he should focus on getting some more sleep.
So off he went, falling into a deep sleep alongside his now completed pack.