Meta Knight X Reader

Chapter 12 - Bruising

Dedede was visibly shaking with anger, anger that couldn't subside until he saw a wedding ring on (Y/n)'s finger.

"Why must that meddling knight always get in the way wit' everythin'? First, he trains dat Kirby behind ma back, then he takes ma bride!" he barked, slamming a fist down on the armrest of his throne. 

The mollusk lowered his head out of intimidation; the loud noises the king caused were tolerable but he could only tolerate so many. His pupils shrunk in outright fear, and he cowered away just a tab bit. The distance proved to be crucial, as Dedede swung a fatal blow in the space that Escargoon had been in. He broke into a cold sweat, backing away towards the door. 

"Sire, I have something I need to attend to right now..haha.." He excused himself with a low bow before sprinting off down the hall to find someone to help him. 

His eyes fell onto the door of the newcomer, (Y/n). He hadn't formerly introduced himself yet, and she knew nothing about him but the fact that he was the King's lackey. Pounding on the door gently, he requested permission to enter. 

Her eyes shot open at the sound of knocking; she didn't anticipate any company arriving. Fearing the worst, she quivered and opened it. Much to her surprise, she saw Escargoon, shaking. 

"You're (Y/n), right?" he questioned, his hands fumbling to distract his mind from the King and his treacherous temper. 

(Y/n) nodded slowly, eyeing him carefully. The words she wanted to say were restrained by her social anxiety.

"Well..I'm Escargoon. I thought I should introduce myself to you since we'll see each other quite daily."

He caught wind of her discomfort, and decided to take a different approach to it. 

"I know that I work for the King, but you can trust me. I-"

Yanking him in by the shoulders, (Y/n) made him realise just what it was she was focusing on. On the upper right side of his torso was a nasty bruise, courtesy of the King's mallet; it was practically spherical, and took on darker shades the closer to the centre one looked. She had pieced together the story and knew that the King was abusive towards him, and she took pity upon him. She'd heard enough from Bandana Waddle Dee to know that he didn't care the most for his loyal subjects and had a temper that made tropical storms seem like summer breezes. 

"Take a seat right here, and I'll be back shortly." She said, mustering up her courage not to stutter or break.

He obeyed immediately, as his obedient nature kicked in. It was etched into him that he was made for following orders, not making them. 

She filed through the freezer in search of some ice to use on it. There was a bag on the lowest shelf, which she grabbed and gave to him. 

"Why are you being so nice to me? I'm the King's lackey, I'm nothing special." He chuckled the last bit to himself. 

(Y/n) knew the last line all too well. She'd told herself that many a time, and others made her feel that way. If anything, she couldn't remember the last time someone of the village had complimented her or said anything kind. Their expectations crushed her, and they watched as it happened, merely spectating her. 

"I know how it feels." She uttered, pressing the ice against the bruise carefully, as to not accidentally hurt him. 

The contact hurt at first, but the pain eased and he gave her a calm smile in response. She changed the topic and continued talking. 

"The King sounds like a horrible person. I don't know why all of you follow him so loyally; all he's done is be rude and narcissistic ever since I've gotten here, and I don't think he knows what he's doing half of the time." (Y/n) hissed.

Escargoon's gaze lowered to the floor," He's a treacherous blubber-mouth who's one braincell away from decently ruling a kingdom, and one heart away from feeling sympathy." 

"He doesn't sound the nicest, if he's going around beating people with mallets. How is he King if he can't even treat those around him respectfully?" (Y/n) adjusted the bag so there was more ice on the side she was using. 

"Because the darn Cappies are too afraid of him to overthrow him. Sometimes everyone around here makes no sense, especially King Dedede and his loyal Head Knight." Escargoon complained, withdrawing his bruise from the bag of ice for a minute. 

(Y/n) knew who he was talking about and decided to change the topic again, to get more information," Loyal head Knight?" 

"Dedede makes out that Meta Knight's the best thing since sliced bread and I'm sick of it. If he loves him so much, why doesn't he just marry him like he tried to with you?" Escargoon whined.

(Y/n) perked up slightly at the mention of him trying to marry her. She didn't understand why he would try to marry someone he just met, but also realised that she had no clue of who he was until she had been told how cruel and unjust he was. It was a smart plan, but it didn't actually work on people," What do you mean by all that? Does he treat him better than he does to you?" 

The mollusk rolled his emerald eyes and leaned his shoulder forwards again," He never gets hit by the mallet, that's for sure. When he failed to defeat Kirby that one time, Dedede didn't seem disappointed. He just went," Well now I know Kirby can't swordfight" and ordered a monster. There's a lot of double standards with that guy, and it doesn't help that he can avoid punishment by disappearing whenever he wants." 

(Y/n) felt she had the information she needed and decided that he didn't need any more aiding," Right, if you want to take that bag of ice with you, you can. Thanks for the talk, by the way." 

"No problem." He smirked, feeling triumphant that he had gained her trust before Dedede could.

Making his way to the door, he pointed to the note from breakfast," Just so you know, Dedede didn't write that himself. He doesn't have the literary skills to."

Staring back at the note, she wondered who it was who'd wrote it. He knew she was curious, so he said," He got Meta knight to write the note for him, since he can't read or write anything himself."

"Oh, thanks for letting me know that. I'll see you later, Escargoon!"

"Bye!"

She waved until he was out of sight, before promptly looking at the note again. 

So, the King's illiterate and is still trying to impress me? But, why?