An indeterminable number of hours later, Popo's eyes fluttered open.
It was well into nighttime, or maybe just into it. He honestly had no way of knowing, unless he actually got out of bed and looked outside. That was not happening, so he decided to just guess at it instead. The room was dark. Check. There was a soft, pale light—he assumed moonlight—coming in through a window, so at least his eyes were adjusting, but where was the window? Sure, Popo could sit up and look around, but he just plain didn't want to, instead rolling his eyes upwards and tilting his head back to cover the rest of the effort. Ah, the window was behind the bed. Check. Well, 'check' as far as making sure he wasn't still in his home; his window was to the right of the bed, back at the duplex.
Speaking of the bed, Popo never recalled ever sleeping in anything so comfortable in his entire life! The beds they were issued back in the Smash Mansion days weren't exactly chintzy affairs, but this was something on an entirely different level. He sank into it, but only just enough to feel like he was being held. The tangled blanket covering him provided noticeable, but not overbearing, warmth. Even the pillow seemed to play an integral part, in the way it supported his head and molded itself to adjust for movement.
The evidence was piling up: It was definitely time to put this whole 'I'm just dreaming' nonsense to rest.
Just as soon as he got a drink of water for his dry throat and put himself back to rest.
Popo started to sit up to do just that, but found himself immediately pulled right back down with a strangled yelp of surprise. Only now did he realize there was a weight on his torso, and it couldn't be attributed to just the blanket. Gingerly, he lifted the covers to take a peek, confirming a sudden suspicion.
Yep. There was Nana, very much wrapped around him. A smile broke out over his suddenly scarlet face, as he recalled the sleeping arrangements that brought on this situation. Were the Hands aware of this setup, or did a contractor get lazy or cheap with the accoutrements? Well, he wasn't going to bring this up; hopefully Nana wouldn't either.
Popo let a good ten to twenty minutes (maybe a full hour; he didn't know or care, really) pass before he tried, once again, to extricate himself—gently, this time—from Nana's grasp. But her limbs cinched even more tightly around him. A brief pout crossed her sleeping face, before she adjusted her position to press it into the side of his neck, mumbling incoherently.
His arm awkwardly pinned beneath her, Popo could only lightly stroke her hair until her soothing warmth and steady heartbeat pulled him back into a deep slumber, parched throat forgotten.
When Popo next awoke, sunlight illuminated the room, and Nana was gone. With a small groan, he swatted at the mattress beside him as if the action could summon her presence back. While one part of his brain assured him that there would be plenty more nights like that to come, he couldn't quite suppress the pangs of disappointment coming from other parts of his brain.
What was wrong with him? He had no reason to be acting like this whatsoever. He needed to eat…Breakfast always helped with these bouts of quasi-moping.
What time was it, anyway…?
Mentally, he added purchase of a bedside clock to his internal checklist, as he got out of bed with a stretch. Various joints answered with a satisfying pop before he headed to the bathroom to wash his face and quench his parched throat. He took a minute or so to rake his fingers through bedraggled locks, using water to smooth down some of the more stubborn strands until he felt 'good enough' status was obtained. Once he felt presentable enough, Popo set out in search of his partner.
It wouldn't be a long search; the cabin only had a few rooms, and Popo already cleared two of them. A brief glance into the room with the computer turned up nothing, so he headed for the stairs. His ears began to pick up faint sounds coming from the living room as he descended, so he decided to look there first.
Nana lay prone on the couch, clad in what looked like a long T-shirt that probably hung to her knees when standing. Though in her current position, it didn't seem anywhere near that length. Her head was turned towards the television set, and she was working the remote control with an air of boredom. Channel-surfing, if Popo remembered the term right; she didn't seem to be giving any of the channels a chance to engage her. Of course, he wasn't engaged by them either, as his eyes were drawn to, well, Nana.
Biting the inside of his cheek nearly hard enough to draw blood, he lightly knocked on the wall to announce his presence.
"Mornin'! What time is it?" He didn't appreciate the way his voice cracked on the first word, but achieved minor victory in suppressing the heat rising to his face. Mostly.
Not seeming to notice his distress, Nana pressed a button on the remote, and a timestamp appeared on the screen. "It's uh, Nine-fifty two in the morning. You've ah…been out for a while."
Popo scratched at his side, grimacing at this information. "Man, that's almost an entire day. We got in at sunrise, and it took us…what, five, six hours to make it here after all that contract work?" He plopped into a chair, putting his feet up on the table. "At least I feel a lot better. I think I was about to start hitting people if the nonsense we put up with dragged on for much longer…"
Nana burst out laughing at that, rolling onto her back to sit up. "Only hit them? You were ready to strangle that Mii in the old Mansion! I don't think I've ever seen you get that mad before, especially outside of a fight."
Popo smiled sheepishly, and was about to reply when a loud rumbling in his stomach interrupted him. Nana had started to laugh again when the same thing happened to her.
"So, I take it there's no food stocked here for us," He said, eyeing the cards that were still sitting on the table.
"No, that's sort of what I was hoping we could figure out when you got up. Maybe there's a place we can test out our Meal Cards on?" Nana stood up, and headed for the stairs. "Can't go out looking like this, though. I hope I packed something to deal with the heat better…"
"Where did you even get that shirt, anyway? Don't think I ever saw it back home." Popo scratched his head at the sight of it. The eggplant printed on the front of the garment showed it was definitely one of theirs, but he was drawing a blank as to where it came from.
"Oh this?" She looked down and smoothed out a couple wrinkles in the fabric. "Yeah, even in the mild season it never got warm enough to sleep in. As for how I got it," Nana's face broke out in a sly grin. "I swiped it from a merchandise stall after the last tournament we were in. They were just gonna wind up in storage, so I figured I'd help myself to a souvenir!"
He leaned back at this, eyebrows comically raised. "Nana, I'm surprised at you," Popo began with all of the authority he could muster up as the freshly-awakened Lead Climber, arms folded across his chest. "Stealing from a merchant—"
Her face began to fall.
"—without getting anything for me," he finished with a grin.
"What!" Nana's gaze snapped back up, open shock on her face. In a flash, she was looming over Popo's seated form, delivering a barrage of (relatively) ineffective swats to his arms and shoulders. "Don't do that!" She started to laugh, and he joined in while curling up defensively. Being considered the more 'responsible' of the two of them afforded a few concessions; pranks and one-liners from him tended to really blindside people, though back home he really had to space his capers apart.
After a while, the pummeling ceased, and Nana went upstairs to change into something a bit more suitable for public. Popo, meanwhile, had turned the TV off and started looking at a few informational placards that were placed in strategic locations throughout their home. Trash pickup schedule, laundry services, meal delivery that was yet to be implemented (drat), and quiet hours comprised most of the information.
Fortunately, a placard on the inside of the front door indicated there were a number of shopping districts, listed on their nigh-useless map; two of them were barred to all Smashers until after Opening Ceremonies. Still, the closest one available to them looked promising in the form of a large department store that sold basic necessities and boasted no closing time, with a couple of restaurants. A bit further out from that district was the Medical Center they would have to visit anyway, so Popo filed that information away.
Before long, Nana exited the stairway dressed in a plain teal sleeveless shirt, a simple pair of loose black shorts, and black sandals; no doubt holdovers from their last trip here. "Alright, your turn," she mumbled around a couple hair ties between her teeth while parting her hair for styling with a brush in her right hand and a comb in her left. Her hair-taming rituals sometimes left the girl…rather terse, so Popo quickly nodded and retreated to their bedroom to rummage through his backpack.
Or he would, if Nana hadn't already unpacked it and sorted his things in the wardrobe. He appreciated her thoughtfulness, while selecting an outfit for the day. After some thought, Popo settled for a blue T-shirt, some shorts with a black and gray mottled pattern—something he'd seen Snake wear in matches from time to time—and simple black shoes. He sighed, after struggling to fasten the shorts; he either grew up or got a lot lazier than he thought over the years. The Guardian training probably had something to do with that. Maybe the extra money Master Hand compensated them with would have some use after all...
Stepping back downstairs, he was relieved to see Nana had finished with her hair, settling with low pigtails for the day. She'd utilized a variety of hairstyles over the years, and he loved when she deigned to let him help out. Popo's ability in hairstyles admittedly wasn't the best, but practice soon rendered his 'stupid fingers' into something between 'not bad' and 'decent'. It was a pretty obvious ruse to get a chance to play with her hair, really; there were plenty of times where she'd have to tell him to focus, but she never seemed annoyed about it.
Bringing his reverie to a close, Popo then gestured towards the front door placard with a triumphant smile.
"Looks like we have a place to eat and shop not too far from here. Plus we can knock out that doctor's visit Master Hand talked about yesterday. Whatcha think?"
"Sounds good," Nana answered with a smile, standing up and knuckling her lower back with a series of cracks. "Ready when you are!"
With a determined nod, Popo wasted no time in opening the door to step outside—
—Sending his forehead straight into a raised fist.
"Urgh!" Popo's head snapped back from the impact. It wasn't a hard strike, but he had stepped into it, which did him no favors; being completely unprepared to receive the hit probably also didn't help. He was also nailed while in the middle of his stride, and thusly tried to balance on one foot while his arms windmilled in an attempt to stay vertical. Eventually one hand found the wall beside the door, and he leaned on it to keep from toppling over.
"Popo? What's happening?" Nana's voice called out. She was right on his heels and had all but walked up his back when he was suddenly halted. She must have caught on to the cause of the disturbance, though, because her voice immediately shifted from concern to something between exasperation and outrage. "Oh, what the hell is everyone's problem around here!?"
"HOLY CRAP GODDANG—I'M SO SORRY!" A familiar voice cried out, though Popo still couldn't quite make out his assailant as his eyes were still adjusting to the sunlight pouring in through the open door. A quick shake of the head brought on a minor ache, but at least his vision cleared enough to make out a striped shirt and red ball cap.
"…Ness? This how you greet people around here these days?" Popo grumbled, having half a mind to move aside and let Nana personally deal with the psychic boy. Instead, he waved her down and waited for an explanation.
"No! I…I was just knocking on the door when you opened it and put your face there." Ness then raised his hands, palms outward. Either he or Nana must have been scowling (it was both, actually). "I swear it! Besides, why would I sucker-punch you here when I could do it just as easily in a match?" There was a wry hint to his voice, and a grin broke out over his face.
Popo, dropping the glare, smirked at that, before looking over his shoulder to talk to Nana. "You hear that, Nana? Ness here's trying to call us out…What should we do about it?"
Nana had a matching grin at that news, her eyes narrowing in an exaggerated manner that was comical to Popo, but the smile upon their friend's face immediately vanished. With good reason too; Nana suddenly bellowed "LET'S GET HIM," and they pounced as one. Popo crouched low and surged forward, while Nana leapt over both him and Ness, pivoting as she landed behind their target. As soon as she cleared both of their heads, Popo straightened up mid-charge and they both enveloped him in dual, iron-clad hugs.
"H-hey!" Ness struggled in their hold for a moment, until he seemed to realize they weren't trying to squeeze the life out of him. Eventually, he awkwardly returned their embrace (he could only pat their arms) and they released him.
"It's great to see you again, Ness!" Popo exclaimed, rubbing his forehead with a faint smile. "Your hand, not so much, though. You been hanging around that Little Mac guy?"
Sheepishly, Ness looked at his hand, rubbing the back of his head with the other. "I…wait, you're not gonna let me live this down, are you?" At Popo's shake of the head, he pouted. "Look, I'll buy you breakfast or something if you drop the whole thing…"
Nana spoke up then, clapping Ness on the back. "Nah, don't worry about it. Popo's been in a weird mood since he got up. Master Hand gave us some extra spending cash anyway, and we were heading out to take care of some errands. You wanna come along?"
Ness, perking up, nodded excitedly. "Yeah, that's why I came to knock on Popo's face actually; I saw you guys moved back in, and was hoping to show you around since you skipped out last tournament."
Popo and Nana both exchanged a curious glance, before the former spoke up with a grimace.
"Yeah, about that…" Popo began.
"So wait, lemme get this straight," Ness rubbed at his temples while they walked towards the Medical Center. Popo seemed particularly intent on getting their vaccinations and physicals out of the way, so they made that place the first destination. On the way, both of the Climbers had taken turns in explaining parts of their story to the psychic, and Ness had a lot of difficulty parsing this information. "You're telling me they didn't invite you guys, showed your world the matches partway through the season anyway, and Master Hand didn't even know about it? And when they did invite you back, you had a really small window to accept it and get here?"
"Yeah, that's about the short of it," Nana responded, shrugging with one hand. Her other hand was occupied by holding Popo's; they must have finally come to terms about their whole…thing. Ness wasn't one to pry, normally, but these two had gone through a lot, relationship-wise.
Ness vividly recalled their time together in the second tournament. They mostly kept to themselves, and didn't talk to damn near anyone for a good while; only to Master Hand or each other for that first month or two, but eventually hanging out with himself and the younger Link. But even way back then, there were signs of affection between them; lingering touches on the shoulder, gazes held longer than normal, a whole lot of quick embraces when they thought no one was looking…things that fell outside of familial bonds. Unfortunately, only he and probably Peach knew about this; everyone else was quick to dismiss them as siblings, or simply not care at all. Further stifling from Master Hand's draconic rules against romantic involvement must have made them absolutely miserable.
Ness never did quite understand why those rules were put in place. Common speculation pointed towards two reasons: collusion or performance issues. But these rules didn't affect him personally, so he really didn't care at the time.
At least by the third tournament, the Ice Climbers opened up a lot more to everyone. They were quick to dispel those creepy rumors about them being family, and asserted they were simply friends. But those little—and sometimes big—hints saying otherwise were quick to crop up again. The rules were still in place, however, and for some reason they put a lot of pressure on Nana and Popo during that specific tournament. Ness recalled a time when they suddenly broke out into a horribly flirty exchange when they were relaxing by the Smash Mansion's pool one day with him and Lucas. Such syrupy-sweet dialogue nearly had him at the brink of horking up his lunch, but they had it out of their system before anyone else bore witness to this sickening banter. Lucas didn't seem at all fazed by their words, except maybe a hint of a blush, but he seemed overall content about it. Ness still maintained that they weren't going to become anything more, for some stupid reason that seemed right back then, and Lucas was so dang sure that they would.
Which reminds him: He totally owes Lucas money.
Ness sighed, after mulling over their story a bit. "Well, that's a load of crap. But it explains the other arrivals that came in last night, I think. Bunch of others came in practically on your heels, and I've seen them heading to the Admin Building all morning to get their stuff sorted out; it's possible they got the same treatment you guys did. Anyway, we're here."
The Medical Center was a squat, but sprawling structure. Viewed from above, it formed a sort of large rectangle with one side removed, or maybe a square letter 'C'. In the center courtyard was a statue depicting one of Dr. Mario's capsules. To drive home the point of the building, there was a red cross above the main entrance, which would be lit by hidden spotlights in the evening. Ness led them in through the main entrance, through a comfortable-looking waiting room, and up to a stately desk.
The Mii at the desk coolly regarded the trio as they drew near. Ness couldn't tell if she was bored or putting on a front of detached professionalism, but the psychic was calm in his approach. "Hey hey hey, I got a couple here who need to get their med stuff checked out." He remained indifferent to their stereo huffs of exasperation, at the mention of the word 'couple'. So maybe they were still figuring some things out with their relationship. Maybe they were trying to keep a low profile, but that didn't explain the handholding. Maybe they didn't want to be obnoxious about it? They couldn't even be the most annoying couple if they tried; once the 'Dates Mandates' were lifted, Mario and Peach almost immediately took top billing in that department.
The Mii didn't seem to pay any mind to the verbal jabs of Ness, nor did she seem to care about the reactions of the two standing nervously behind him. She simply held out two tablets, one in each hand, and stated in a bored monotone: "Palms, please."
Nana and Popo quickly acquiesced, and the Mii instructed them to wait for the doctors. Ness took up a chair by one of the low tables, and immediately grabbed one of the magazines for perusal. Some sort of sports publication from Fox's universe, if the cover was any indication. After a minute of dumbly standing there, the duo eventually settled down on a bench and...actually twiddled their thumbs while they stared at the floor.
The group waited in awkward silence before two doors flanking the reception desk hissed open, and two tall, white-bodied Miis floated outward. One was designed to look male, and had short black hair over a stern expression which sported rectangular black glasses. The other was a female model, and had long black hair with straight bangs which almost looked like a nun's habit. Her expression was no less stern, but the rounder glasses she sported somehow lessened the impact.
"Popo and Nana," the receptionist drawled, putting an odd overemphasis on the 'P' and 'N' sounds. "The doctors will see to you now. Popo, you are to go with Thaddeus," she gestured to the male Mii. "And Nana, you are to accompany Serena." She then indicated the female Mii.
The two climbers exchanged a worried glance, but when they saw Ness' easygoing smile, they got up and left with their respective staff members. Ness figured they didn't have this sort of thing back home, so he decided to not give them crap about it. On a similar note, maybe he should tone down the jabs at their…dating? Involvement? Whatever.
Time seemed to stop while he waited. This magazine kind of sucked, but it was his only real form of entertainment until those two got back. After a few articles, though, the words blurred together and eventually his mind wandered off. He'd just started to think about calling Paula later on when his thoughts were interrupted by high-pitched shrieking coming from beyond the door Nana had disappeared through.
"AHH! COLD, COLD! YOU KEEP THOSE COLD HANDS OFF OF—EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Ness tugged the bill of his cap down over his eyes, raising the magazine to hide his reddening face. As he tried to tune out the yelling, as well as the follow-up cacophony of things breaking, he was suddenly grateful no other Smashers were in the lobby to hear this.
Nana sighed for what felt like the hundredth time as everyone tore into their breakfast. It wasn't for the two boys shoveling so much food into their maws—Popo more so, since his voracious appetite seemed to have gained a sense of determination since their inoculations—but that neither of them seemed to be able to look her in the eyes for more than a few seconds. Popo would look up as if observing a bird, and Ness would shift his focus slightly off to the side. The latter's face constantly going into a carefully blank, but reddened, expression made her wonder just what the two were thinking about.
She could pursue that thread later.
"So Ness," Nana began after washing a mouthful of pancakes down with a swig of milk. "Anyone in particular we should be worried about?" Getting some insider information about all the people they never had a chance to fight weighed heavily on her mind since she woke up. Well, after she extricated herself from Popo's grasp this morning.
Reflecting on that little aspect of the previous night was well-trodden ground while she waited for him to come downstairs, made confusing by not knowing who initiated contact; Popo had passed out taking up one edge of the bed, and Nana—almost primly—took up the other edge. To wake up in the middle, like that…well, maybe it just spoke of their often-ignored needs. She liked the sound of that, but what she really wanted to know was how they managed to cross the distance without at least one of them waking up to do so. It was a sound question, given the sheer size of the comfortable piece of furniture; the image of the two of them flopping around like beached seals to seek out one another in the middle of the night caused a fit of laughter while she flipped through the stations. Another question was how her burning face, pressed into his neck like that, didn't wake the boy up, let alone not singe his skin.
"Oh, you guys have plenty of folks to watch out for!"
His words jolted Nana back into focus.
Ness seemed more than eager to give his analysis, his face lighting up at the prospect. "First of all, there's yours truly. I am quite the force of nature out there." He leaned away from Popo's halfhearted attempt to smack him. "But to be honest, the big fish out there is probably gonna be Bayonetta again if they let her back in. She has this sort of…uh…she has a tendency to really get under a person's skin, so watch out for her kicks and her sass."
Ness took another bite before he continued, speaking around a mouthful of eggs. "A few things changed since your last time here. They tweaked…something that will no longer let you do the grappling feats you and Dedede were able to pull off, so you need to be careful about that." He scratched his chin lightly, looking to the sky as he thought. "On another note, you guys really, really need to watch out for Cloud. That big ol' sword of his has a lot of power behind it; Dedede got super lucky when they last fought. Shulk also has an insane range with that…beam…sword…thing of his; sometimes it just reaches halfway across the dang stage. Then there are the usual threats in the form of…well, the people we all dealt with in your first and second times."
Nana nodded while she absorbed the information, silently finishing her food and drink. It sounded daunting, but she was looking forward to getting into the arena with a lot of these fighters. Speaking of King Dedede…
"Hey, Ness," she asked. "Since the Mansion's some fancy-pants resort now, what did they do with the old conference rooms we used?"
Ness smirked after finishing his own meal, chugging down a tall glass of orange juice. "They have a bunch of rooms set aside in the arenas, near the training area. Whatcha got in mind?"
"Oh, you know exactly what's on her mind," Popo interjected, content to sip at his glass of milk. "But to indulge you, I think she's talking about the fate of the Mallet Club. Been on my mind too."
"It's not looking good, if you want my opinion." Ness's features turned serious again. "Dedede did his best to keep it together, but most of the swordies formed the Band of Blades and hardly anyone was able to touch them in the large-group matches. I think having you guys back in action would give the Club the kick in the pants it's needed for years though." Ness sighed, idly levitating his fork. "Kind of surprised Master Hand allowed for that sort of collusion, but I guess it's always been a thing. Crazy Hand is probably the one who really pushed for it to be so…open these days, I'll bet. Probably thinks the drama is good for ratings or something."
Ness then waved a Mii over, offering his Meal Card and then his Currency Card to cover the extra food. Popo did the same, but Nana's serving was covered by just the Meal Card. "Let's get out of here. You guys mentioned shopping, right?"
By the time the shopping was finished, it was late afternoon. Their purchase—way too much to carry, even split three ways—would be delivered around sunset. With nothing else to do but wait for the parcels, the trio decided to head back to Nana and Popo's home after stopping by a different eatery for a to-go meal. Ness was quite a ways ahead, while Popo and Nana ambled along, munching on some greasy fries from their bags. The burgers could wait in theory, but Popo was really looking forward to tearing into his; it had been years since his last one, and he needed this fix in a bad way.
It would also work wonders to take his mind off of a series of incidents during their shopping trip. After roaming the aisles in the grocery side of the store for supplies, Nana decided they should replace their old clothes. He didn't even have a chance to agree before she all but dragged him away from Ness, who opted to hang around the magazine rack until they got back. Popo, for his part, was efficient in his selection and making sure things fit properly. Pants, shorts, and shirts; a simple task, once he figured out the sizing conventions. The real challenge was in Nana's portion of the clothes shopping. She decided—without warning him, mind you—to make him wait outside the changing rooms and show him the outfits she had put together. He certainly hoped she didn't catch the way he all but leered at some of the ensembles, but he doubted that; Nana observed a lot more than people—even from her own damn village—gave her credit for. Popo was going to have to really prepare for her teasing comments later on.
"Hey, what's going on back there? Step it up, slowpokes!" Ness jeered from ahead, turning around to face them while walking backwards. "Your food's gonna get cold if you keep shuffling like that! You may as well hit it with your blizzard attack now and put it out of its misery!"
"The Mii said that the foil will keep the burgers warm for at least an hour! We'll be fine," Popo called back, shaking his fist after depositing another fry into his mouth. "What's your rush anyway? If you wanted stuff done fast, then you should know better than to hang out with us!"
"Yeah! What he said," Nana ahouted before she shoved a fistful of fries into her mouth.
Ness eventually stopped walking long enough for them to catch up. Once they did, he fell into step between them, arms across both their shoulders. "Listen, listen…I've been thinking about the project we've all been assigned for our custom entrances, and I think I have the perfect material for you guys to study while you figure out yours."
"Oh yeah, he did mention that. What's the deal with it, anyway? I thought the condor would bring us to the stage like normal…" Popo mused. He wasn't a big fan of such a change, but ultimately, it wasn't up to them.
"Oh, we're all gonna have our regular entrances for most of the matches, I heard, but he wants a sort of parade for Opening Ceremonies, which means a whole mess of flashy moves to wow the crowd. The nice thing is that everyone's should be unique, so you two should have no worries about people copying yours!" Ness's energy seemed to be rising with each passing word, all but shaking with excitement.
Popo leaned back as they walked, catching Nana's eye over the PSI user's head. She raised an eyebrow in response, and Popo could only shrug a bit with his outside arm. Another silent exchange went between them, and they gently clasped hands behind Ness while they pressed on.
It wasn't long before the familiar fence surrounding the Housing District popped in on the horizon. As they strolled through the neighborhood, Nana pointed out that a few of the signs were taken down, to show a Smasher had moved into their corresponding home. One house looked similar to theirs, a simple wooden cabin, and another looked like a house was built into the branches of a tree. Ness pointed out another house, noticing it looked 'modern' in the sense that it was similar to his and Lucas's, but he couldn't recognize the style of the architecture.
After activating the palm reader, Popo opened the door to their home, only for Ness to quickly push past him and make a beeline for the couch. Popo was just about to give the other boy a piece of his mind before Nana put a calming hand on his shoulder, putting an effective stop to a dressing down. Instead, he chose to sit down in one of the chairs, and unwrap his much-awaited prizes.
Nana gracelessly bumped his head with her hip, a rather blatant signal for him to scoot over and make room on that same chair. Not that Ness noticed, with his preoccupation with trying to find the channel he was looking for. Or maybe he did notice, with those mind abilities of his. Acquiescing to Nana's request, Popo found himself staring with no small amount of scrutiny at Ness. How deep did those PSI powers run, anyway…?
Never mind that. There were more important things to address, like finally digging into his burgers. The cravings were so strong; he just had to have two of them. After removing the foil of the first sandwich and marveling at the scent, Popo took the biggest bite he could handle, shuddering with pleasure as he took in the blend of flavors. He was going to savor this meal for as long as he could; only paying attention to the brief snippets of audio that came through while Ness was channel-surfing.
"—could you imagine someone showing up on this beach wearing a fundoshi—"
"—Pacifica. Me and Mabel met her over the summ—"
"—like all the best spectator sports, you only watch because someone might get killed—"
"—Looks like we're gonna have to juuuuump—"
"—bought the Turkish owl! Hurrah—"
"—Welcome to Grenadier Gordon's Grenade Emporium—"
"—Neeeeever had to knock on wood, but I know someone who—"
"—My response will not take any longer than ten minutes because that is the YouTube limit—"
"—into this video, we're gonna tackle the dark side of the forest—"
"—it'll be a teeeeaaaam effort. Yep. Just leave it to me—"
"—Pioneers and patriarchs, patriots and matriarchs, staking out the Promised Land—"
"—Once upon a time in the land of Melmond, the splendor of vegetation decayed—"
"—There's WAFFLE in 'em!—"
"—for me to live up to my family name and face full. Life. Cons—"
"—Know what I like to say with donuts?" "What?" "OOOOOOOOO—"
This went on for some time. The sounds from the different stations began to blend together as Ness's clicking sped up. Popo and Nana could only eat in silence, as the other boy's sounds of frustration began to join in with the segmented audio. His burgers eventually finished, Popo leaned further back into the chair with a soft sigh of contentment.
"You keep eating like that, I'll have you running laps in your parka," Nana teased, reaching over to rub his belly.
"You leave my insulation out of this, woman; how else am I to survive the cold months here?" Popo mumbled, and halfheartedly bat at her hand. He was fully prepared to give into a post-meal torpor; already his eyelids were feeling heavy, the only thing keeping him from slipping completely into slumber was the awkward position the cramped chair left him in. That and the sudden backhanded slap Nana gave to his stomach, effectively knocking the wind out of him.
"Oh, hush. You know the 'winters' here are purely for looks. At worst, we put on a light jacket." She was pointedly ignoring the sleepy glare he threw her way, but at least he was awake now.
"Easy for you to say, Nana," scoffed Ness. He had paused in his remote operations to level a finger at the two of them in a much too dramatic fashion to be taken seriously. "You guys probably bathe in frozen lakes just for fun!"
Popo snorted with a wave of his hand. He supposed it was their fault their friend didn't know much about their world. He just never figured anyone would be interested enough to know about it.
Sitting up with a grunt, Popo shrugged. "I mean, there are times we do things like that to challenge each other, but it's more of a festival or inter-village competition setting. And the water is actually a lose condition for our bigger event; we got this one unstable, floating platform out in the middle of a lake, that representatives from other villages wrestle one another on." He beamed. "Everyone wanted a piece of us, once they saw our matches."
"And not one of them backed down after seeing you guys utterly ragdoll us, huh," Ness mused, starting to slow down his channel-changing. "I think even our people started giving you guys space when you started playing 'Hot Potato' with guys as big as Bowser."
Nana made a dismissive sound. "We shoulda had that respect sooner, but oh well. We'll just have to beat it out of them again if we have to." She changed the subject, gesturing towards the TV. "So what's this thing you wanted us to see anyway?
"Oh, it's a pro wrestling show." Ness scratched his head a bit before continuing. "Right now, it's huge where I come from—everyone in school had shirts from various 'superstars', but I never got into it. Also a cop once threatened me with a move from it, after I beat the shi—Hey, finally!" The channel surfing ceased, and Popo found himself intrigued by the…sheer spectacle playing out on the screen. There was loud music, flashing lights, excited announcers, and a very lively crowd. It didn't look too far removed from the Smash Brothers tournament, really.
Ness pointed at the action on the screen, in which two muscle-bound men were grappling, striking, and throwing each other in and around a square, raised platform surrounded by ropes. "See, Master Hand wants us to use Little Mac's boxing ring for Opening Ceremonies, which isn't much different from what you see here; if you watch how these guys are introduced before their fights, you might get some inspiration!"
Popo was dubious, but also curious. Feeling no other course of action, though, he settled into his chair and began to watch the current match. There was something…hokey about it all, but the crowd really seemed into it. Whenever the camera panned over the audience, there were people on their feet cheering and holding signs and taking pictures. The match eventually ended with one guy jumping onto the other from one of the corner posts, driving his knee into the victim's sternum after a full back flip, and pinning him for a three-count. Okay, Popo had to admit some of this was pretty cool, though he'd be in a lot of trouble if he did such moves during Murasat's festivals.
When they cut to a commercial, which featured something about making phone calls a certain way to save money, Popo spoke up. "So what sort of entrances are some of the others putting together?"
"Oh, some of them are pretty cool actually! I watched Kirby practicing his the other day, and he was pulling all sorts of stunts with that Warp Star of his. Corkscrews, loops, and something called a…an aileron roll; Fox was a real stickler for calling it that, for some reason." Ness raised a finger. "Me, I'm thinking of keeping it simple, but I still gotta figure out some things. But you guys…you've been out for a long time. I think all of the entrances you and the other missing fighters put together should be real elaborate affairs. That should really get the crowd on your side. Hey, it's back on!"
Popo brought his gaze back to the screen, and paid close attention. The announcers mentioned something about a 'tag-team match', sparking his interest; there were quite a few times when Nana and he were referred to by that term. A quick glance to Nana showed she was just as hooked by those words as he was, and they both leaned forward intently. At the edge of his vision, Popo could barely see Ness displaying a proud smile.
The two teams made their elaborate entrances, and the match was on. Nana already started to form some ideas, and she eagerly shared a few suggestions. Popo eventually added his own thoughts to the mix, but when they asked for Ness's opinion, the psychic refused, saying that this entrance should be completely their own. While Popo would have preferred some feedback, he understood the sentiment.
They were briefly interrupted by a knock on the front door, which revealed a Mii delivering two crates containing their shopping order from earlier. Of the two, there was a smaller crate, which was devoted to the new clothing they'd bought, while the larger one held their food and a few other things such as an alarm clock and a few toiletries. Unpacking the crate of food was a simple matter; between the three of them, stocking the cabinets and fridge took no time at all. The clothing crate could be done on their own time, as Popo wasn't quite up to letting Ness potentially root through Nana's new clothes.
Their task completed, the trio reconvened in front of the TV. There were a few more matches remaining on the show, one of them another tag-team bout, but they instead decided to talk about other things while it ran in the background. The conversation flitted from subject to subject, mostly surrounding the upcoming tournament season and any sort of gossip the Climbers had missed out on. With the size of the last roster, turned out there was a lot. But eventually, Ness excused himself to use their bathroom before heading home with a hurried, red-faced, almost-no-eye-contact goodbye. Strange…
While Nana got ready for bed (Popo deferred to Nana for first shower rights), he stayed in the living room, deep in thought. While another program from Ness's world ran in the background, the main focus of his ruminations centered on the pieces of their upcoming routine, and how best to assemble and refine them.
The spark of creativity was there; now they had to build a fire with it.
(10/11/2019) Oh boy, this one took me a while, and I don't know how to feel about it. It's a cromulent chapter, I guess. Maybe. Once again, I want to thank everyone for the views, reviews, the favorites, and the follows! It really means a lot to have somehow found an audience for the proverbial sandcastle that I've been building. Hopefully I'll be able to make/keep things interesting until we get to the official "start" of the tournament proper!