It should have been annoying to Marx that, in the course of several hours, neither of them had made a single inch of progress in getting out of wherever they were. It didn't help that their potential means of escape were literally right there in front of them, wide open. But he didn't mind in the slightest. He had other things that he preferred dealing with.

Kirby had fallen asleep, clearly exhausted from all that had happened earlier. It looked as though the pink puffball was on the verge of — no; already was crying his heart out. It was rest that the two friends most certainly deserved.

There was something...mesmerizing about the way Kirby slept; the way he breathed in and out, inflating and deflating his soft, balloon-esque body. He looked so peaceful, so cute. Then again, he always looked cute regardless of the situation.

But something just seemed...off. Kirby as a whole had been acting off for the past couple of weeks. He couldn't point his—never mind. He didn't know what had happened, but Kirby as of late had been starting to grow a bit...overemotional? Aggravated? A lot less...well, Kirby-ish. Allegedly, there had been several confrontations that had gone on in Cappy Town, but that wasn't much to go off of; the Cappies were very much gullible to anything that they're told, so confronting the Star Warrior for something he didn't do was something not too out of the ordinary? Had he finally snapped? At this point, only Kirby knew, and he was asleep on the purple jester's lap.

The panic in the puffball's eyes were nothing like Marx had ever seen be emoted from his friend. Had he scared him? Was he still scared of him? What had caused him to forget about everything so quickly yet remember in a moment of agony and desperation? Hasn't he demonstrated that he's back to being the good, faithful Marx that Kirby had always known?

It was moments like this where Marx cursed his lack of any hands, or hand-like equivalents like the stubs Kirby had, because his brain was really starting to hurt trying to piece together everything. And yet, he had no way to rub his head to get the headache to dissipate. He growled.

Maybe it was because he had chosen only recently to come back. He had perhaps waited too long to come back? Maybe that's why Kirby had initially forgotten him. It didn't help that, personality-wise, he had very much changed from the shy jokester of the past.

When he found himself rebirthed from the ashes of Nova, some of the more...unpleasant bits of himself had been extremified, to put it lightly. He had become more self-centered, more egotistical, and perhaps...even more insane. He was already a bit nuts when Kirby and he had met up for the first time, and he had done his best to suppress that feeling, both then and now. But it was never enough. He had been...let's just say...mistreated growing up, and his most cruel plan for vengeance had been formed in the back of his mind once he and Kirby had, at last, reached their destination: the Nova comet. It was here that his best self-regulation mechanisms failed him. Where he had failed. His deepest, darkest, most sadistic desires reigned supreme as he made his wish.

"I want to control Popstar!!" he had said. Marx didn't even recognize that the voice was his.

The voice now speaks for him in the back of his mind, saying terrible...terrible things...

"Kirby hates us! When are you going to accept that??"

"We're dead! Dead dead dead dead dead!!"

"Look at them all. Look at all these weaklings. Such a shame we couldn't reign over them all. Imagine the...pain we could inflict on them. Just like they've done to you."

"Shut up!" he would always shout back. If someone else were in the room, they would be left confused.

Marx sighed. It was fine. Everything was fine now. Kirby had finally forgiven him, right? He had never flat out said that he accepted his apology before, so it had to mean something...didn't it?

He looked down the drowned out puffball. He smiled. Kirby looked so calm...so sweet. So...vulnerable.

He shook his head quickly before looking around. There was nothing. No one here to terrorize them. They were completely isolated. Alone. Trapped together with little chance of anybody else finding him. A perfect opportunity.His grin widened.

"Soon, Kirby. Soon you will be mine." he whispered.

As if on queue, Kirby began to stir. Marx hushed himself, and changed his tone to that of a more somber, more comforting voice, clearing his throat in the process. "Poy..." Kirby moaned.

"Hello Kirby..." the jester murmured to the rested Star Warrior. "Did you sleep well?"

Kirby nodded his head, then groaned as he stretched himself as he prepared to stand up. Before standing, though, he looked back at Marx, who had comforted him during his slumber. His eyes, his smile...everything just seemed...blissful. Everything seemed...right. He layed himself down again, starring up at his friend. He put on a weak smile.

"Aren't you gonna get up?" Marx asked.

"...Nah." Kirby said. "I could stay here for days..."

This sort of thing...it only can happened in a dream, couldn't it? Surely, this was a dream... He and Marx, himself snuggled into such a comfortable position, the two of them being so close together — too close together... Marx surely would've called it out as being awkward by now, right? If not that, then he would've certainly felt awkward himself and shift away to prevent any further embarrassment. If this wasn't a dream, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. If it was, he wasn't going to be waking up any time soon. He was going to get as much value out this it as he possibly could.

"Oh...M-Marx..." he spoke softly, trying to make the words that came out sound extra cute.

"Yes, Kirby?"

"You know...I...I felt terrible, having...well...thought I've—"

"It's okay! It's okay." Marx said. "I...I understand that I've done a lot wrong. It...it must've been so hard for you, right...?"

"...poy..." the puffball sighed. "It...it was, poyo... B-but that's not what I'm getting at..." He but his lip, and started to rub his face. Why was it getting so...warm all of a sudden? The room was getting deathly cold before, wasn't it? Why was it so hard to just talk?

"Kirby, you're...um...blushing." Marx pointed out, part light-hearted and part-mocking.

"..." Kirby soon blinked, then became an even deeper shade of red and pink. He just wanted to...he just... He couldn't even think straight. He had never felt more embarrassed or ashamed in his life.

Marx playfully decided to toy around with Kirby's strange cesspool of emotion. He leaned in close, to the point where their eyes were nearly touching each other. Kirby's were starting to tear up, and he gasped. "Is there something you want to...tell me...Kirby?" He made sure to speak faintly, nearly as faintly as when he was crying his eyes out when he believed that the puffball had abandoned him.

"Po...poyo..." Kirby moaned, his own made-up language from his youth mixing with that of the unspoken words of pleasure. "Marx..."

"Do you...like me, Kirby?" the jester teased.

"Y-yes...?" Kirby didn't know whether it meant as in they were friends or—

"Do you like me...more than as a friend, Kirby...?"

Marx's question hit a bullseye. Kirby squirmed, struggling to let the right words out whilst trying to save himself from further embarrassment. And Marx loved every second of it. He decided after some thinking to let some information of his own slip, knowing it will only further intensify the Star Warrior's internal emotional struggle. "You know..." he began, tilting his head sideways rather than straight down as before. He raised the tips of his shoes and lowered his head, encapsulating the puffball entirely. "...I always had some interests in you."

"...y...you did...?" Kirby panted.

"Why, yes. Of course..." He pressed the side of his face up against Kirby's cheek. It was hot to the touch. "I never said anything about because...well..." He turned again, facing the sweating puffball once more. "...I didn't know how you'd think of it... Would you have accepted it? Would it have been...awkward?"

Kirby was breathless. He was taking many, many short breaths yet could not adequately replenish his oxygen supply. His eyes were already leaking and itching. If he didn't act soon, he'd surely faint... Come on, just do it already you cowardly fool...

Marx then purred. He purred on Kirby's cheek. It was, frankly, perhaps a bit too ridiculous on his part, but like all actions preceding it, it had achieved its desired effect. Marx was looking forward to the release almost to the same extent as Kirby desperately was.

"Do you love anyone, Kirby?" the purple jester asked. He then spoke even quieter than before, feeling one of Kirby's salty tears run down his face, closing his eyes as he said, "...Do you love me...Kirby...?"

Not even a second later, Kirby had closed the gap between their lips without even a flinch. It was even better than Marx had been expecting, his own body heating up as what felt like fireworks exploded in his mind while their tounges played with each other. Kirby was sloppy, but so was he; neither had ever kissed anyone before as neither really had much of a romantic relationship before. But it was still perfect. Perfect harmony in every way.

In the meantime, Kirby's being melted before his best friend, the tears of joy streaking down his face without restriction, his intense blush not fading away, his immense passion in full force. He hadn't admitted it until now, but the puffball had always had a semblance of a crush on Marx. He slowly had started to appear in Kirby's dreams more and more since the day they first met, initially as little perversions he kept to himself before he could dream of little else regarding his best friend until...until... Until when?? It didn't matter! His deepest desires were at last being realized! Not only had Marx returned to his life, but now here they were, kissing like lovers. Why did he only admit these feeling now instead of then?? What was he thinking??

The two stayed this way, orally interlocked with one another, for minutes on end, only breaking to take the occasional deep breath, with Marx sometimes gasping, "Kirby..." before continuing. When at last they finished this display of pure, unbridled love, they separated slowly, reluctantly. Neither wanted the bliss to end. Kirby, again, found himself thoroughly exhausted from the experience. Marx was not as tired but was still visibly shaken from what had happened. Both were panting.

"Marx..." Kirby sighed. "D...did you..."

"I already told you, Kirby..." Marx murmured. "I'd die for you...and only you..."

With that statement, Kirby froze before fainting, collapsing again to the ground. Okay...maybe Marx had gone a little too far with his teasing...

But that experience...that moment of raw bondage between the two of them...oh, he could kill to experience such a thing again. Everything inside him was desperately screaming for Kirby, that he'd wake up and continue that amazing kiss. Ah well.

When Kirby wakes up, they'll have more pertinent things to deal with, now that they had jumped off one of the extremes. It was time to get back on track. Or on the track at all, that is. They were still in square one; no progress in escaping.

But that didn't matter. Not now. Now all that mattered was Kirby... Soft, cute Kirby...

Marx fell asleep.