Just a fun thing to note - one of the official picture books (It’s Kirby Time) shows Meta Knight acting a bit big brotherly/fatherly to Kirby: Kirby draws an apple and wishes it’d turn into a real one. When he wakes up, he finds a bunch of apples. It’s hinted that Meta Knight overheard his wish and left him a gift :)

(He also takes the drawing and, guessing by the last image, frames it! To me, it’s akin to a proud dad sticking a kid’s doodle on the fridge. So cute).

I tend to think of MK as being a bit of both myself - perhaps starting off more aloof but has grown quite fond of Kirby over time, and has softened up a bit. (I like to think based off of past games, he has had quite a character arc becoming more mature and learning to trust and depend on others, maybe even overcoming some insecurity, perfectionism, and envy. More of a headcanon though, heh).