Inkling Boy eased his fighting stance but remained on the defensive. What was this? Was Ness putting Lucas up to this just to mess with him?
"Hi…?" Inkling Boy said, his voice more question than greeting.
"Sorry, I wasn't gonna bug you but Ness kind of forced me…" Lucas said, getting quieter as he spoke.
Inkling Boy wasn't sure what to make of this but he dropped his guard anyway, whatever anxiety Inkling Boy was wearing paled in comparison to how visibly upset Lucas seemed to be now.
"Oh, you're not bugging me. I was just coming back from, uh" Inkling Boy stopped himself and corrected, "I was just coming to get some lunch."
Inkling Boy pushed past it and tried to pretend like nothing happened. Meanwhile Lucas' face turned red and he looked awkwardly to the side. Inkling Boy got second hand embarrassment from Lucas' second hand embarrassment and ended up mirroring the gesture.
After a few seconds he broke the silence between them. "So, what's up?"
"Since we're rooming together I thought we should meet…" Lucas said, his voice trailing off again.
'What's with this kid?' Inkling Boy thought to himself. "Well nice to meet you," he said anyway, forcing a smile. He wanted to room with Ness, not this nobody who got booted from the roster and brought back in out of pity. The blonde boy looked so hapless, though, and Inkling Boy figured he should try not to make enemies, at the very least. "So have you met all out cabin mates yet?"
Lucas nodded. "All the boys stayed together last time around. Then I moved in and they split us into two cabins."
"How'd you guys decide who stayed with who?" Inkling Boy asked.
"It was random!" Lucas blurted out, a bit too quickly and forcefully.
"Ok…" Inkling Boy said, entirely unconvinced.
Just then Pit came up to them. "Come on guys, Isabelle asked me to get my cabin mates and meet her in the corner."
Lucas sighed in relief, happy to be saved from himself.
Inkling Boy followed behind them, taking a quick detour to grab some snacks and punch as he passed by the food table.
When he got there he saw all the children, sans Ness and Pokemon Trainer, standing in a big circle talking amongst themselves. He got in the circle alongside Inkling Girl, who was listening intently as Young Link spoke in depth about fishing to Villager, who was reacting to everything but not speaking much. Inkling Girl gave Inkling Boy a friendly nod.
Inkling Boy looked around the circle as he gobbled up his lunch. His eyes first focused on Dark Pit, who was brooding next to Pit and not saying anything. Pit was talking to Toon Link, again, the latter of whom saw Inkling Boy enter the circle. Toon Link beamed a large smile at him and went back to his conversation. Lucas was standing next to Toon Link, seemingly too anxious to join in any conversation. Then, standing between Lucas and Inkling Boy, were the Ice Climbers, Nana and Popo. They seemed entirely invested in talking to each other.
Inkling Boy breathed a little easier. Maybe no one had given his accident a second thought?
Isabelle, Ness, and Pokemon Trainer approached the circle. "Sorry to keep you guys waiting," Pokemon Trainer said. "Isabelle and Ness were helping me do a final check on all the Pokemon before we head up stairs."
Toon Link piped up. "Hows squirtle?"
Pokemon Trainer laughed. "He's fine, you can play with him later. For now they're all getting set up in their Pokeballs."
Isabelle clapped her hands. "Okay everyone, listen up. You should all know your cabins by now. We'll go together to get our luggage then you should find your counselor and head to your rooms. Girl's Cabin, you're with me. Cabin A, you're with Ness.."
Dark Pit gave a petulant "Hmph," clearly not happy with his counselor.
"And Cabin B, Pit will be looking after you," Isabelle continued. Pit beamed with pride as Dark Pit glared from beside him.
"Alright, follow me," Isabelle said, leading them down the hall.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Upon entering their Cabin, Toon Link immediately ran for the top bunk closest to the window. "Dibs!" he yelled out, throwing his satchel on the bed. Lucas silently took the bunk under Toon Link.
"Are you sure that's a good idea, Link?" Pit asked, putting his bag on the floor.
Toon Link nodded proudly from the top bunk. "Nothing to worry about anymore," he announced.
'Did he fall off the bed last time or something?' Inkling Boy wondered. He scanned the room; it was big. There was an entertainment system with a ton of Nintendo consoles and games, a kotatsu, and even a fridge. Past all that were the beds, though, and there remained a bunk bed and a single twin bed.
Popo made his way to the bunk bed. "Do you mind if I take bottom bunk?" he asked, this being the first time Inkling Boy had heard him not talking to Nana. "When Nana visits we like to put sheets on each side and pretend we're back home in the igloo."
"No problem," Inkling Boy said, eyeing the top bunk for himself.
Pit leaned a little closer to him and lowered his voice. "So you'll take the twin so you're not on a top bunk?"
"Aww, I wanted a top bunk," Inkling Boy said, thinking Pit wanted it for himself.
"And I want the twin but with your sleeping condition that doesn't seem fair to Popo," Pit said.
"Sleeping condition?" he asked before it dawned on him. He grabbed Pit's tunic and pulled his ear closer to his mouth. "Who told you about that?" he whispered, angrily.
"As Isabelle's chosen servant it's my duty to know," he said, taking the job as seriously as he takes his job with Palutena.
"That damned mutt," Inkling Boy said under his breath. "I'll be fine, you take the twin if you want it." He started toward the bunk bed.
"There's nothing to be ashamed of, after what happened during the ceremony it's only fair to tell you -" Pit started, but Inkling Boy cut him off.
"It's fine!" he shot back. He wore diapers to bed anyway, there's no way he could change discreetly if he was on the twin bed exposed like that. If he was careful and discrete, no one but Pit would have to know he ever wet the bed. And who knows, maybe all the pressure of other kids being around will force him out of the habit.
Pit put his fists on his hips as he watched Inkling Boy climb up the stairs to his bunk. He doubted Inkling Boys bladder control after what had happened earlier today. If a single drop of ink got on Popo during the night he'd have to take protective measures. He looked toward Toon Link, doubting he was "fine" in that way either. It might take a few days to tell, however. He turned his gaze toward Lucas, who he hadn't talked to much today. Pit hoped his situation had improved since last time but, considering the sad boy immediately went for a bottom bunk that he knew had a risk of getting wet anyway from Toon Link, Pit had his doubts. He was happy Popo, at least, never had problems wetting the bed. Pit wanted to keep Popo's bed dry, though, so he'd have to be strict about Nana sleeping over. As for Pit, he was pretty confident in his own abilities to stay dry at night; he wasn't a bedwetter. Not anymore.
Pit had his work cut out for him but he knew he'd manage. He knew the boys would overcome their personal hurdles and become great friends off the battlefield and great fighters on it. They'll get through this, he knew they would.