Ness stared, blinking slowly at the mass of laundry sitting in the hamper.
"We've only been here a week! How on earth did everyone wear this much clothing in a week?!" He muttered, shaking his head. "Half the people here don't even wear clothes!" Piling up the laundry into a basket, he stumbled towards the basement, grumbling under his breath. Reaching the door, he twisted the knob with telekinesis, seeing as his hands were full. He began the stumbling journey down the stairs.
Finally reaching the concrete floor below, Ness dropped his basket full of laundry on the floor. He began sorting it into piles of lights and darks, wondering briefly where his partner in this dull task was. He received an answer a moment later as he heard the door shut, and someone walked down the stairs. Glancing up, Ness saw Samus, wearing full armor as per usual. He carried two bags. "I've already sorted these." Samus muttered in a slightly gruff tone.
"Great." Ness replied. "I'm still sorting these." He tossed a pair of blue boxers in the darks pile. Samus knelt and started to sort as well.
"How did we even go through this much laundry in a week?" Samus said, shaking his head in an annoyed way.
"My thoughts exactly." Ness answered, tossing a pair of his own socks in the lights. "Some people definitely got easier chores than others. I mean, we have to do all this laundry. Mario and Luigi have to cook dinner everyday. And then you've got people who have easy jobs! Like vacuuming, for example. You only have to do that twice a week."
"I suppose someone must do it." Samus muttered. The laundry now sorted, the two stood up.
"Looks like the darks pile is bigger. I guess we run that first." Ness mused, scooping up some of the clothes. Samus followed with the rest, as well as the bag, which he hadn't emptied. Ness found it somewhat peculiar. Why hadn't he emptied the bag?
"You gonna take those clothes out of the bag?" The raven haired psychic asked, raising an eyebrow as he stood on his toes to put the clothes he held into the washer.
"They're delicate. They have to stay in the bag or they'll get ruined." Samus snapped. Ness held up his hands in a calming manner.
"I was just asking, dude. No need to bite my head off." He said with a shrug. Samus sighed as he dumped his clothes and the bag in the washer.
"Sorry. I'm a bit on edge." He mumbled.
"It's fine, man. I think laundry makes everyone irritated." Ness replied. The psychic reached up to turn on the machine, but ran into an obstacle rather quickly - he was unable to reach the dial. He tried again, half climbing onto the machine. Still, he couldn't reach. Finally, flushing red in embarrassment, he turned to Samus. "Umm...could you..."
Samus said nothing and simply twisted the dial to 'ON'. Ness felt a rush of gratitude that he hadn't said anything regarding his lack of height. The washing machine started with a mechanical groan, filling with water as the two leaned back and waited. Finally Samus spoke. "I guess we don't need to stay here. Let's come back in an hour, and tend to this then."
After putting in a second load of laundry and drying the first, Samus and Ness were folding the darks while the lights rolled around in the dryer behind them. Ness had tried to talk to him for a bit, but Samus wasn't very chatty. However, he did listen to what Ness said, and the psychic appreciated that quite a bit. He listened as Ness talked a little bit about himself, occasionally making a quiet comment. Other than that, the two sat in silence as they worked, though it didn't necessarily seem awkward.
And the next day, when Ness went to the basement to grab something he left downstairs the day prior, he smiled upon seeing a wooden footstool sitting near the washing machine.
Ness had to say, he kinda liked this Samus guy. He seemed like a pretty cool dude.
Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter of Way Back When. I know this chapter is kinda short, but this entire story is just gonna be random one-shots that link together partially. I just wanted to kind of introduce this scenario of doing laundry, which will pop up throughout the story. I really like the idea of Samus-Ness friendship.
And yes, those are 'girl clothes' in the bag Samus has.
Leave a review if you wish, I'll appreciate it!
-EBC