Chapter Text
Coo had always been a bit of a nomad, more so than even his two best friends. Before the Dark Matter incidents, before they had to find solace in each other after losing their loved ones, they often wandered the world separately, and would tell each other stories when they eventually came across each other again. They were young, back then. Young, and adventurous, and perhaps just a bit naive.
Coo often kept to the forests. He liked darting about the trees, hopping between branches and seeing how far he could make it without having to fly or touch the ground.
He found it hard to stay in one locale for too long though, and it consequently led him to visiting all sorts of strange places all over Dreamland. And in one of these places, a fateful yet innocuous meeting occurred.
That day had been a rare one. Coo had actually come across a small, somewhat idyllic town, and decided to stay for a few days to resupply and relax.
The town was mostly comprised of Waddle Dees. They were adorable, curious little mites, though he shouldn’t be too condescending. Some of them were certainly older than he. They were just naturally small creatures. He spent most of the first day just wandering about, chatting with the townspeople and regaling them with only slightly exaggerated tales of his exploits.
However, as he was heading back to the inn to retire for the night, he felt something tug on his jacket sleeve. Whirling around, he was met face to face with another young avian with bright blue feathers and a rather colorful traditional ensemble. He had a similar hairstyle to most of the other Waddle Dees, but other than that, he stood out a great deal.
It was a bit weird (and a bit rude) to grab someone’s sleeve and just stare at them though. Did he want something or not?
When the kid didn’t speak up, Coo took the initiative. “You need something, kid?”
“Um… You’re… a bird too, right?”
Stunning observation skills. “Well, what do you think these are?” he asked, flaring out one of his wings.
“Can you… teach me how to fly?”
That caught Coo off guard, and he ripped his arm away. What a weird thing to ask a stranger! “‘Scuse me? You’re WAY too old to be learning that now, kid. Besides, ain’t that your parents job?”
The kid’s face fell and he lowered his head, hiding his eyes with his bangs. Coo realized his mistake and moved to apologize, but froze when he realized the kid was starting to tremble. He wasn’t shaking like he was about to cry… more like…
The kid started muttering something unintelligible under his breath. Coo kneeled down to get a closer look, and he flinched away slightly.
“Ah, jeez. I didn’t mean t’upset you, kid. They didn’t get the chance to teach you, did they?” It was a somewhat logical conclusion, considering how out of place the child seemed.
The kid silently shook his head in affirmation, and Coo let out a mildly frustrated sigh, running his hands through his feathered hair.
“Damn… uh… I guess I could give it a shot? I can try and teach you tomorrow morning? If that’s alright with, uh, whoever’s in charge of you.”
The kid murmured something that Coo assumed as affirmative.
“Alright, I guess I’ll see ya then. You’re lucky I’m so nice, kid.”
It wasn’t until he’d already run off that Coo realized he didn’t even tell the kid when and where they’d be practicing.
It didn’t end up mattering, because apparently the kid had been waiting outside the inn since the sun rose. Coo practically tripped over him as he exited the building, and had half a mind to tell him off. But he couldn’t be too mad. The people of this land were pretty naturally relaxed and lazy, so it was just a bit admirable that the kid actually managed to get up that early just for this.
Coo led him near the outskirts of town, at the edge of an oversized oak grove.
“You made sure you told someone where you’d be today, right? This might take a while, and I don’t want anyone thinking I kidnapped you.”
The kid just shrugged. “They let me go wherever I want…”
Coo pursed his lips but didn’t push any further. Instead, he situated himself at the base of a particularly large tree and leaned against it, gesturing loosely to the kid.
“Alright, let’s get started. Unfurl your wings.”
The kid stared blankly at him before worry started to seep into his expression.
“What? You know how to do at least THAT, right?”
“Of- of course I can-” the kid spluttered. “Lemme just, uh-” He rolled up his sleeves and stuck his arms out awkwardly, squeezing his eyes shut and clenching his fists. Coo could spot some extremely thin, light blue pinfeathers trying to ebb their way off of his skin, but they didn’t last long before disappearing into nothingness again.
After about five minutes of watching him struggle, Coo finally put his foot down. “Okay, okay, just stop it. You’re gonna hurt yourself.”
“NO! No, I can do it, I promise! I just- I just have to- If I can just-”
Coo grabbed the kid’s wrists and shoved them down to his side. “No. You’re gonna pop a blood vessel or something.”
“But I-”
“If you can’t even summon your wings, how do you expect to learn how to fly?” Coo spat out, perhaps a bit harshly. But it was a tad annoying having to deal with this random snot-nosed brat who couldn’t even pull off the most basic of behaviors for a bird.
That was definitely the wrong thing to say though, because the kid’s face contorted in rage, and he started clawing at his scalp as he stamped his foot on the ground.
“I KNOW! I’m- I’m not STUPID! I’M NOT! I’M TRYING, I’M TRYING, OKAY?!”
“Hey! I never said you were stupid!”
“BUT YOU WERE THINKING IT, WEREN’T YOU!?” The kid pointed an accusing finger at him. “You think I’m a worthless waste of space, don’t you? DON’T YOU??”
Excuse me?? Who did this brat think he was?! Coo was TRYING to help him out of the goodness of his heart, but here he was, throwing a tantrum because of his own incompetence!
Coo took a step forward, clenching his fists. He didn’t miss the way the kid immediately shrank back. “Hold your damn horses, brat! Quit putting words in my mouth!”
“I- I wasn’t-”
“You were! You can’t just accuse people of saying rude things just because you’re pissed off! I only decided to help you out cuz I felt bad for you, so maybe calm down! Now, why don’t you take it down a notch and start acting like a big kid?”
The kid balled his hands up in fists as well… before letting them go and practically collapsing without actually falling over. He lowered his head, muttering quiet, repetitive apologies. Coo just rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“Look, you're obviously frustrated. Why don’t we come back to this later today, when you’re less tense.”
“....Okay.”
Later that day proved to be equally as fruitless, although the kid had the decency to bring along some food, so they could at least have some dinner. Coo had asked if whoever was in charge of him was worried about him wandering off like this, but he’d simply responded that they wouldn’t mind.
The chat they ended up having about food proved to be significantly more interesting and productive than anything else he’d experienced at this town in the past 24 hours. The kid seemed rather enraptured with Coo’s stories, and in turn, was a rather good storyteller himself. There was almost a theatrical quality to the way he put on a boisterous, exaggerated persona as he described his day to day life. It was cute. The kid was a decent actor, he’d give him that.
The food was pretty good. But too filling. They’d have no hope flying like this. They should try again tomorrow.
So they did. They tried again the next day. And the day after that. And the day after that.
Dedede, as Coo learned his name was, really seemed completely incapable of flight. Avians were supposed to teach their children how to fly from an extremely young age. Three or four at the absolute latest. If they didn’t have the muscle memory built in, there was practically no hope for it later in life. So Coo had to wonder why the hell Dedede hadn’t learned. The kid claimed that he hadn’t been orphaned until fairly recently, so Coo could only assume his parents were just lazy bastards. More than normal, that is. But it wasn’t polite to speak ill of the dead.
But even if these little hangouts weren’t very productive, they were still quite fun. Coo hadn’t been intending on staying in town for long, but even after he left the inn, he still managed to hover around nearby to visit Dedede.
The kid seemed quite happy to have someone to talk to. Apparently the Waddle Dees didn’t make for very interesting conversationalists. They all just doted on him, never really having any arguments or debates or… interesting contributions at all. Coo asked why Dedede didn’t just tell them to quit being so simpering.
“Well, it is kinda nice having everyone like me, even if it gets a little boring. But now that you’re here, I get the best of both worlds. So I don’t care.”
“And what are you gonna do when I head out? I can’t stay here forever, kid.”
Dedede got that look on his face again. That blank expression he wore whenever he heard something he didn’t like. As if his mind had been plucked from his body and there was nothing left but an empty shell.
Then he shook his head and came back to himself.
“I’ll just go back to how it was before, I guess.”
Well, that was better than nothing…? Points for adaptability…
Still, Coo couldn’t help but worry. It wasn’t just interesting debates and discussions that they had. Coo also seemed to be the only person Dedede was willing to confide in about certain… troublesome things. The kid said that when he tried to talk about it with the other Dees, they wouldn’t believe him.
On the one hand, Coo understood why. Dedede clearly had trouble piecing certain aspects together, to the point where the man had to wonder if he’d suffered some sort of clinical amnesia. Those sorts of “holes” in your story made it hard to believe him.
But there were certain behaviors the kid held that had Coo inclined towards belief.
The older avian actually had the foresight to bring lunch this time around. Enough for both of them, in fact. He brought four Nruff dumplings, two for each of them. Except Dedede ate one of his, stuffed the other in his pocket, and tried to snatch one of Coo’s. The young man shoved him away, trying to bite down his own laughter.
“Hey! You got your own! Eat that!”
“But I’m saving it for later! I don’t know when the next time I’ll eat is!”
Even though he said it in such a casual manner, Coo practically froze in shock. It took a great deal of effort to hold Dedede back from stealing his dumpling after that.
“Wh- Are they not feeding you, kid?”
Dedede’s eyes glazed over, and he froze as well, suddenly lost in the apparent contradiction.
“No- No… they are. They are. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I dunno why I…”
Coo raised an eyebrow. “So… you are gonna have food later?”
“Yyyyes… yeah, yeah I am. I’m sorry, I don’t- I don’t need to save this.” Without further comment, Dedede started tearing into his other dumpling.
Coo shook his head and aggressively ruffled Dedede’s feathers. Little brat could be so confusing at times.
It had been about a year now. They’d stopped trying to fly ages ago. Coo wasn’t visiting as frequently anymore, but he still made time to see Dedede whenever he was in the area.
Coo supposed the kid (although he was becoming more of a teenager now) had long since given up on trying to fly. It made sense. Once he finally accepted that it was blatantly impossible, there was no point in wasting energy on it. If the kid thought something was within his grasp, he really put his mind to it. But once it slipped away, it might as well not exist.
They had no excuse to keep spending time with each other, but they still did.
Years dragged on. They saw each other less and less. But the few times they did were always enjoyable. Even as Dedede grew up into more and more of a bastard. Coo had to wonder, if he spent more time with him, maybe he’d be less of a brat. The Waddle Dees constant coddling couldn’t have helped. But he still felt good knowing that Dedede could talk to him about serious things. On the rare occasions where they popped up.
There were… a few arguments. Discussions more intense than normal. Accusations were slung, and tensions rose, but they never out and out broke off their friendship. Just… talked less. Behaved a bit more coldly. Coo thought Dedede was still being a brat even after becoming an adult. Dedede thought Coo was acting a bit too high and mighty considering his position.
They were still friends… It just became… a bit complicated.
Dedede declared himself king, which Coo wasn’t really gonna debate. Not like it made any difference in his day to day life. The kid set himself up in a castle, got himself his own fancy little knight and a bunch of ‘servants,’ and proceeded to do basically nothing for the next seven years.
Things were quiet for a while. If the two avians thought about each other, they would hold some warmth in their hearts, but they didn’t make an effort to see each other.
Then the kid had to go and get himself possessed, twice. And Coo realized that, just maybe, he should start spending just a bit more time around the castle. After all, you never know when something bad may happen.
You never know when someone’s gonna get taken from you. Coo had already learned that the hard way.