What's this? It's late at night, and I can't sleep? Time to write a oneshot! It's too late to work on Count it up though, such a shame…

Also, this fic is gifted to melancholicblues, for being generally awesomeness supportive ✌️✌️✌️

Declaration of Dependence

It's been itching at his throat for months. Scratching at his mind, throbbing at his chest, knocking at the door, longing to break free, and longing most of all to shatter his ribcage into a million pieces.

Lucas is stuck in his bedroom. There's no hope of any battles today - no hope of any matches. He's sick all over, skin all red and blotchy, nausea, all the feelings of absolute exhaustion washing over him like a tiresome steamroller.

It's hit him harder today. Love. He's officially lovesick, and it's so undeniably stupid. It's Ness, it's just Ness, his best friend that he's hung around with for ages, got to know deeply and intricately. Just Ness, who Lucas wishes to spend every aching second with - that or hide from him forever, because romance is silly. Lucas can't go admitting things like this!

He groans, rolling over in bed. Luckily, he told Master Hand earlier that he would be out of action for a while, being sure to put on an extra show of coughing, of weariness and a few sneezes for good measure. It had taken ample convincing, but, everything worked out in the end. Thank goodness.

Well. Sort of worked out. The problem remains that he is in fact, actually sick. It sucks, he's bored, far too tired to take a nap, and heaven knows where Ness is. Probably in a battle. Or something. Lucas had secretly hoped that Ness would bring out his defensive side upon learning of his illness, but instead Ness had just thrown him a blanket, and told him to get loads of rest. Like, who does that?

He's not even sure where the feelings began. Some months after their first meeting, he'd wager. Hah - their first meeting. It all started with finding out some of the weird stuff they had in common - before moving onto Ness becoming super protective, because, in his own words, "I'm not letting the only person remotely like me get hurt." And though Lucas resents his own inability to fend off some of the more brutish members of the cast, he loves it when Ness cracks out his baseball bat and whacks wario upside the head for "daring to mess with him!"

Everything about Ness is chaotic, and speedy. Ness does whatever, whenever he feels like it, simple as that. Lucas, meanwhile, likes to have a plan for his day. Goals to achieve. Tasks. Anything. Though, he can't resist being caught up in some of Ness's crazy schemes - sledding down the big hill outside on a POW block of all things, trying to freeze as many people as possible and best of all, trying to race a load of Wooloos around a field.

He's crazy. Lucas loves it.

Groaning, he switches on his phone. Through his pounding head, he sees that there are, again, no new notifications, no new posts on Tumblr or any messages from anybody. Which means, the best thing to do is to find a meme to start a conversation with Ness. Aha - that will do. Yes. Gosh. Memes with Kind Dedede always go down well. He sends it, hoping for a response.

Nesssssssssss: 'ey! Why u sending dis? GO SLEEP!

Lucas sighs.

Lucasboi48: I refuse. Sleep is for the weak. Memes fuel me from now on.

Nesssssssssss: DON'T MAKE ME COME UP THERE AND FORCE FEED U SLEEPING PILLS

Lucasboi48: Sleeping pills?! Please, have mercy. I don't wanna sleep-

Nesssssssssss: Lucky for u I'm in a match, but watch out, cause soon as I'm done I'm gonna come up there...

Lucasboi48: You're texting me during a match? Are you mad?

Nesssssssssss: yeh just got KOd. ow. mistakes were made. Match over. On my way!

Smiling, Lucas puts down his phone again. Dumb as it seems, maybe Ness can take away this sickness. Maybe if Lucas just happens to confess, to make his declaration of dependence… heh. Nah. It'd never happen. Lucas could never have the balls to do something like that.

Predictably, Ness explodes into the room. "Aha! See! You're awake! You're sick! Get to bed!"

Lucas pulls the blanket over himself. "C'mon, I'm already in bed. See?"

Ness prods him. "But you're very much awake. What do you need? A hot water bottle? Movies? Relaxing music? Vegetable ASMR?"

Lucas pales. "Vegetable ASMR? Where do you find this stuff, Ness?"

"You don't wanna know," Ness declares proudly. "But real talk - do you have everything you need? Are you ok? Are you gonna live?"

"I'm dying," Lucas deadpans. "Never to be seen again."

Ness pulls out his phone, face lighting up. "Ah, man, that reminds me of a song I found the other day, it was - wait, what were we saying?"

Lucas rolls his eyes. "If you were any slower, you'd be Porky, trying to dodge an attack."

Ness laughs. Porky, while still a sore subject, is the butt of most of their jokes. It softens the pain a little.

"How did you get sick, anyways?" Ness asks. "You were all perfectly fine before. You never get sick."

"Erm," Lucas blushes. He's a bad liar. "A bug, I guess."

"Aw, that sucks. What are the symptoms?"

"Headache, nausea, you know. All that."

Ness nods solemnly. "Alas. You have a case of… mushroomitus. The only cure is a hug."

Lucas yelps, as out of nowhere, Ness leaps into his bed and pulls him into a large hug. Ness has always been super affectionate, but lately, he's been on overdrive. Nonetheless, Lucas hugs back. "I have never heard of mushroomitus."

Ness puts on his grave face. "It's a very serious illness. It only affects very small people."

"I'm not that small!"

Ness continues dramatically. "The plague of mushroomitus is a tragic disease. Many have died from it."

Lucas tries to escape the seemingly unending hug. "You're gonna get yourself ill too-"

"Nope! Not I!"

"You're mad," Lucas observes. "Completely mad."

"Yes," Ness fingerguns, very proud of himself.

Lucas sighs. "Right, you, get outta here, go have some more matches or something. I'll be ok."

Ness pouts, ruffling his hair. "No match for me. Not when you're so deathly sick. I think you need some soup - and I'll get doctor Mario too - and some ice - and-"

But the blonde waves him off, albeit grinning. "Shoo. I'll be alright."

"But you're my best friend!" Ness moans. "C'mon, you gotta-"

There's a knock at the door.

"Begone!" Ness cries out. "This is a quarantine zone! No entry! Deathly ill patient within!"

Ignoring Ness's warning, Toon Link bursts into the room. Ness rolls his eyes. "Oh, great."

"Is Lucas sick?" Toon Link demands.

"Yes he is, but he doesn't need a bunch of noisy people in here, does he?"

Ignoring the dark haired boy, Toon Link comes to Lucas's bedside. Lucas blushes - it's bad enough Ness knowing he's sick, but if other people start to know as well… they might figure out why.

Toon Link prods his forehead. "Fever. Burning up. He's embarrassed. He could be dying!"

Ness folds his arms. "Toon Link, please-"

"Did someone mention death?" Villager says, coming in. Lucas physically recoils back in his bed - where are all these people coming from?

Ness brings out his baseball bat. "Lucas needs rest, not constant fuss!"

"Lucas! You look terrible!" Villager exclaims. "Perhaps you could be cured by execution?"

"That is a terrible idea," scorns Toon Link. "No, he's clearly… oh, what's the word?"

Villager grins. "Poisoned?"

"No… not that."

"Withering away?"

"Uh, definitely n-"

"ABOUT TO SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUST?"

Lucas covers his ears. "I-I hope not-"

"Got it!" Toon Link exclaims, spinning on his heel. "Lucas is officially… lovesick!"

Lucas blushes deeply.

Ness snorts. "Uh, no. Not Lucas. He's never had a crush. Not ever!"

"Well, neither have you!" Toon Link counters. For some reason, Ness goes red at that.

Villager smiles politely. "The only crushing I do is the crushing of the hopes and dreams of all the people I encounter!"

"What makes you think he's lovesick anyways?" Ness questions.

"Ah, a fever, red face, embarrassment, extreme shyness…" Toon Link laughs. Lucas gets a sudden feeling that he might know more than he lets on. Lucas curses himself - surely he wasn't that obvious?

Ness frowns. "Well, hm. Maybe."

"So, who's the lucky girl, Lucas?" Toon Link asks.

"Or boy," Ness adds. "It's the 20th century Toonie, c'mon-"

"Or animal, machine or subatomic particle" Villager adds. "It's not just the 20th century. It's 2020."

Lucas blushes. "It- it isn't anyone! I just have a fever, ok?"

Toon Link points dramatically. "Impossible! Dr Mario sprayed the entirety of Smash Mansion with antiviral, antifungal, and antibacterial spray. There is no way it can be anything else!"

"It could be poison, or radiation," Villager notes calmly. "They can cause significant sickness and death."

Ness frowns. "Wait, Doctor Mario did that? Weird."

"He's a germaphobe."

"I see."

Toon Link looks between Ness and Lucas with a grin. "Well, by a very strange coincidence, Villager and I have a match right now-"

Villager leaps up. "Excellent! I shall prepare the mace."

"-So Ness, you better figure out who Lucas has fallen for, or else-"

Villager waves pleasantly. "Or else, you can have an introduction with my battle axe."

The pair leave, and tension hangs in the air. Ness and Lucas exchange an awkward glance.

"Alright, so you legally have to tell me who it is because we're best friends," Ness proclaims suddenly, bundling Lucas with the covers.

Lucas yelps. "It isn't anyone! I swear!"

"Are they cute? Are they tall? Are they small?"

Lucas buries himself under all of the blankets. "It is nobody!"

Ness scurries underneath. "But you have to tell me! Do they have long hair? Short hair? Is it Isabelle? It's totally Isabelle!"

"No - it's not!" Lucas exclaims, trying to break free, but Ness captures him.

"If you don't tell me - I'll - I'll steal Rope snake!"

"You wouldn't!"

"I would!"

Rope snake hisses in his nearby terrarium.

Lucas blushes. "But it's embarrassing Ness. Please… have mercy..."

But Ness does not relinquish. "Nope! No mercy!"

Lucas goes even redder, given Ness is practically on top of him at this point. "If you steal Rope Snake - I'll steal your caps! All of them. Your entire collection."

Ness gasps. "And if you do that - I'll steal your sunflowers!"

Lucas jumps up, flipping Ness over. "Nobody takes my sunflowers."

Ness raises his eyebrows, now lying face up, with Lucas leaning over him. "Oh, I see. So, you're suddenly feeling better, are you?"

"No," Lucas sulks.

"Maybe telling me who it is will make it go away?" Ness suggests, but Lucas prods him.

"You're just nosy!"

Despite both being under all the blankets, Lucas can unmistakably detect a blush on Ness's face.

Ness hugs him, trying a new approach. "If you tell me, I'll give you my dessert for a week. A whole week."

"You can't make me-!" Lucas struggles, but Ness is strong.

Ness sighs. "Ah, come on! What's the fun of having a crush if you keep it a secret?"

"Because - because it's you!" Lucas exclaims suddenly.

Ness freezes. Both boys stare at each other, cheeks warm, faces red, hair all messed up from their shenanigans. Lucas trembles slightly, nervous. Ness looks like he doesn't know what to think.

"Oh," Ness says. "How bizarre."

Lucas hangs his head. "I'm sorry."

But then, in some kind of strange, simultaneous movement, they both move near each other - and suddenly, tender lips collide. Ness runs his hands through Lucas's hair. Lucas feels his breath fall short, as it happens, and there's heat and passion, and everything-

"HA!" Toon Link exclaims, bursting back in. "I knew it! Busted!"

The duo spring apart, alarmed.

"Yeah!" Villager accentuates. "Knew it!"

Ness blushes. "We were - we were just - uh - what were we doing? What was that? Just… wrestling?"

"Told you he was lovesick!" Toon Link proclaims, with swagger.

Lucas shrinks back, mortified.

Toon Link notices this. "Ah. We'll give you some privacy now."

Villager nods his agreement. "Yes, I have felonies to commit."

They leave as if they were never there. Ness and Lucas stare at each other, in utter disbelief.

"I - guess you feel the same?" Lucas says, rubbing his beetroot-coloured face.

"Yeah- hah," Ness replies, nervously. "Yeah."

Lucas smiles. "Well. I guess… I'm cured."

…

A/N

What was that? I do not know. But hopefully you enjoyed it.

Read Count it Up, people, it's a lot better than this one-shot chaos aaa

Again, thanks melancholicblues for being awesomeeee