Meta stared at the ground, trying to focus on the tears dripping off of his face rather than the words that had caused them. The child knew that crying would only make it worse, but he couldn't stop…
"Stop crying, child" that voice was so familiar, and yet so very frightening. Meta desperately wiped at his face, shivering.
"S-sorry… I ca-can't…" he hiccupped. Nightmare drew himself to his full height to tower over the terrified child. A large cold hand rested on his head.
"Stop crying" he said again, his tone causing a knot of dread to form in Meta's stomach. Meta desperately pressed his arms over his eye, trying to staunch his tears.
"D-dad… I'm sorry…" he choked, shaking even harder.
"Don't apologize!" the harsh tone made Meta flinch, and the hand on his head tightened its grip. "Apologies mean nothing. How are you going to fix what you've done?" Meta swept his trembling gaze to the shattered monitor. He hadn't meant to damage it, why was father so angry?
"I d-don't know…" he whispered. Nightmare suddenly shoved Meta, who only barely kept his balance.
"Clean up your mess, you useless child" he snarled. Meta scurried over to the scattered glass beneath the broken screen, and turned back to Nightmare.
"I-I'm gonna get all cut up… Can I g-go get a-"
"Pick it up. Pain is the only mentor you seem to listen to" he said flatly. The small child steeled himself, before sweeping the glass into his hands. As he picked every last shard from the ground, he suffered small stinging cuts and pieces of glass stuck into his skin. That night, he drifted off to sleep on a tear-soaked pillow, like so many nights before.
Meta Knight snapped awake as a horrible crash echoed through the halls of his base. He sprung out of bed and raced down the hall, fairly sure as to whom the culprit was. He found his answer in the crew meeting room. Kirby sat frantically sweeping pieces of the picture frame he'd knocked over, and Meta scooped him up in a flash, setting him away from the mess.
"Show me your hands" he snapped, forcibly grabbing them when Kirby refused. Little cuts and pieces of glass littered the child's palms. "Kirby, for Nova's sake…" he muttered, delicately prying at one of the embedded shards. Kirby flinched away.
"Oww!" he squeaked.
"Of course it hurts, you-"Meta stifled his words, realizing who he was echoing. He sat in absolute silence, before resting a gentle hand on Kirby's shoulder. "I'm sorry it hurts, but I must remove the glass. Otherwise it will only hurt worse later, correct?" he said softly. Kirby allowed Meta to grasp his hands and return to his task, whimpering a little with each removed shard. "Why would you grab glass bare-handed?" he asked gently.
"I felt bad and wanted to clean it up but… I don't know where the dust pan is…" Kirby murmured. Meta shook his head.
"You truly thought you should subject yourself to injury because of an innocent mistake?" he asked.
"I didn't think it'd hurt this bad!" Kirby huffed. He made one final indignant sound as Meta secured the final shard and pulled it free. Meta stood, and gazed down at Kirby, concern written on his face.
"It is necessary to clean the wounds…" he trailed off. Kirby reached his arms up.
"Carry me" Kirby whined. Meta sighed.
"You are taller than me, Kirby. I'd rather not" he deadpanned. Kirby hopped up, following the knight as he meandered to the nearest sink.
"It's not my fault you're super short!" Meta chose to ignore that comment as he stopped beside the nearby kitchen, motioning at the sink.
"Clean thyself" he drawled. Kirby eyed the sink with trepidation, before giving in and cleaning his cuts dutifully, only flinching a little when he lathered on the soap. Meta dug in his cape as the child drayed his hands in a towel, before laying out a small box of bandages. Kirby gasped, eyeing the package.
"Sparkly Band-Aids!" he squealed, grinning. He eagerly held out his hands, and Meta sighed.
"You know, you are perfectly capable of bandaging yourself" he teased, though he had already opened the package and began tearing open one of the wrappers. Soon Kirby's hands were decorated with a multitude of shining holographic bandages.
"Thanks Meta!" Kirby chirped, mesmerized by the shimmering bandages.
"Don't let those be too much of a distraction" Meta chuckled. He dutifully steered Kirby towards the guest room, taking care to prevent him from walking straight into a wall. Kirby walked into his room, still watching his fingers. "Good night Kirby" he called out.
"G'night!" Kirby responded, finally snapping his gaze away from his hands. Meta gently closed the door, smiling. The child of the stars drifted off to sleep, head swimming with thoughts of his friends like so many nights before.