There's a certain liberating feeling when it comes to writing oneshots like this. It makes me feel like there is no pressure to make a linear narrative and instead just events loosely connected. Any ways I hope you guys enjoy!

A whimper wasn't exactly what one would have expected out of the Cunning God of Death Ridley. But when the space dragon opened his beak like mouth to show Shovel Knight all the plastic wrap coating his razor sharp teeth the little knight felt pity.

Apparently, Popo had played an ill advised prank on the dragon with the help of Kirby. They had swapped the space pirate's steak burrito with one filled with a saran wrap lining. If the two would have thought about it a bit more they would have realized that this could have potentially killed the dragon.

Luckily for Ridley, he had realized as soon as he bit into his food with his long maw that there was something wrong. Spitting out his food onto his plate wasn't enough to dislodge the plastic his teeth had punctured.

No one dared help the villain out. Many had heard from Samus how ruthless the pirate could be and had no interest in tempting fate with him. Everyone had left, no interest in being there if the space dragon went berserk.

Shovel Knight normally would have agreed with him and steered clear of the monstrous fighter but today was a bit different. For once, in the month that he had been here, Ridley looked honestly and truly distressed. The dragon was clawing at his mouth and starting to draw blood.

Steeling himself, the knight approached.

"Stop. You will only injure yourself that way." The dragon surprisingly stopped, his orange gaze sweeping over the treasure hunter. "Let me help you get that out."

Ridley growled warningly, raising a claw threateningly.

"Look do you want that out of your mouth or not?"

Ridley hesitated, then lowered his claw.

"Good. Now come over here to the table."

Ridley begrudgingly obeyed, watching Shovel Knight clearly as the stalwart one hopped up on the table. Satisfied with where he was, the blue burrower reached up to stick his hands into the dragon's mouth.

Only to realize that even on the table his hands only made it to the large monster's waist line.

Ridley snorted, before getting down on all fours. Opening his mouth wide enough to take in the little knight in one bite.

"If you bite me, I will make a new set of armor out of your hide, dragon."

The dragon rolled his eyes. Taking that as acknowledgement of his promise, the armored man gingerly began to grasp at the thin film with a surprising amount of dexterity for one wearing a gauntlet.

"You should brush more. Your breath quite literally smells like the undead."

Another snort. Shovel Knight shook his head as he threw away some of the offending substance. He still wasn't sure why he was doing this, but so far the intelligent monster had been cooperative.

If anyone had walked in during this, it was likely they would have laughed at the comical sight of a knight an eighth the size of the dragon cleaning the mouth of the beast. Likely it would have ended with Ridley mauling said laughing party for daring to laugh at him.

"There. It's all gone."

Ridley blinked, exploring his maw with his tongue and not finding any trace of the hellish wrap. Shovel Knight hopped off the table with a clank. Observing the dragon for a moment, before gathering up the bloody wrap and walking away.

"Thank you."

The voice was gruff and horse, like an old rusty gramophone. Shovel Knight stopped short and gave a nod of acknowledgement before looking for the closest trash can.

He was going to need to deep clean his armor after that.

Shovel Knight stepped off the teleporter into the assist trophies' waiting room. He had just been summoned to aid Sephiroth in his match against Steve. The silver haired man was cold, calculating, and easily picked the miner apart. The curious block man had not been ready for the l prowess Sephiroth had shown for battle. The assist hadn't even been needed. The space pirate was up in the two's 10 minute endurance round by at least 5 points. Glancing to his left at the nice TV they had been provided to watch the fight, he could see Ridley had won by 8 points at the end.

It was the blue burrower's 4th match that he had been on call for today. He had another 3 that he had to do later after dinner, but for now he had some free time to do what he pleased. For a moment he entertained the idea of finding Luigi and spending time with the other introvert, but he dismissed the thought as it came. Luigi likely had a few fights today and the last thing Shovel Knight wanted to do was distract his friend from them.

Shrugging, the little knight decided to go back to his room and get a cup of joe. While it had pained him to buy it at the time, he was very happy with the purchase now that he had it. Sure he had to hop up on the counter to be able to brew his coffee and that was a bit inconvenient, but it beat walking to the cafeteria to get one there.

Making it to his door, the little knight hopped up to insert the key into the keyhole and jumped again to turn it. Luigi had taught him that during his first week. Walking in he closed the door behind him and jumped again to push the deadbolt lock in place. Then hopping up again to flick on the lights

The blue burrower felt much better now that he was in the privacy of his own apartment. He even began to hum to himself as he walked over to his coffee machine, pulling himself on the counter.

"You know, I could always help you get up there if you need to…"

The treasure hunter turned to see Corrin giving him a small smile. She was dressed in more casual clothes instead of her armor. A light pink tank top and skinny jeans. The little knight chose to ignore the comment.

"No matches today?"

"Master Hand gave me the day off since I had extra matches yesterday." The princess reached into the closet next to their door and pulled out a dark grey jacket. "So I'm going to go out with Zelda and Rosalina to go shopping."

Turning back to the machine, the knight placed the filter in, and brought the kettle part over to the sink to fill it.

"Sounds like a good time. Everyone needs a break sometimes."

After hearing nothing the treasure hunter turned to see that his roommate had vanished. Likely leaving while he had his back turned. He shrugged and turned back to his coffee. Eagerly dumping the water in the back and placing the glass back in its slot and hitting the silver button at the bottom. Maybe he would see if Luigi was free.