Snake hated social functions like this. Sure, he got to flirt with pretty girls and drink without having to pay but there was always the nosy people who wanted nothing more than bug him for info about his life and what he does and 'do you have a girlfriend?' It was really just a chore after a while.

Luckily he seemed like he wasn't the only one who wasn't digging the scene but it wasn't much of a surprised seeing as Wolf, Ganondorf, and Bowser weren't usually ones most people would approach. Sighing, he sat back in his chair and let his gaze look over the large and crowded room.

Many of the other smashers were actually enjoying themselves. Snake could see Zelda and Link dancing slowly together, smiling in a sort of dazed love struck way. Pit, Luigi, Sonic, were break dancing of all things on the dance floor from Captain Falcon's drunken cries begging them to show him their moves. The young smashers, Toon Link, Ness, the Ice Climber siblings Popo and Nana were all pigging out at the buffet. The other smashers were all around mingling or doing their own thing.

The sudden sound of a chair being pulled out made Snake pause in his people watching so he could look to his left. A young blond haired boy smiled shyly at him before sitting down and Snake gave a nod and a short upturn of his lips at Lucas.

"Hey kid."

"Hi Snake."

The two of them sat there in a comfortable silence, neither of them needing or really wanting to say anything. Snake liked Lucas. The kid was quiet; something most of the smashers seemed to think would make him easy pickings at first; at least, until Lucas proved he wasn't going down without a fight. The boy was strong, no one would ever doubt that now, and he was quick witted too. While most of the other smashers his age were loud and rather reckless, he was quiet and contemplative.

Snake was fine with the two of them just sitting here when suddenly there was the sound of another chair being pulled out. Both Lucas and Snake looked to their left to see Princess Peach pulling out a chair and smiling brightly at them.

"Hello boys!" She chirped in her naturally bright voice, sounding actually happy to see them.

It still amazed Snake sometimes that some people at the Brawl Mansion were so nice and friendly to him.

"Princess." He nodded to her respectfully.

"Hi Miss. Peach." Lucas gave her a slightly bigger smile then he had given Snake, but Snake wasn't offended in the least.

"Now what are you boys doing all the way over here and not out there?" Peach made a gesture towards the dance floor and Snake almost rolled his eyes. Before he could even answer though, Lucas piped up.

"Snake was people watching again...and I just wanted some punch." Lucas added as an afterthought, clutching his rather large cup of red colored punch and taking a gulp from it.

"Oh?" Peach looked at the soldier with an amused look before shaking a finger playfully at him. "You know you wouldn't have to people watch if you just went over there and talked to them don't you?"

"Tch." Snake scoffed, "Talking to them? I'd rather not, thank you."

Peach just sighed and shook her head. "This is why most of the other smashers don't approach you. You give off this...air of 'don't you dare bother me!'"The princess gave him a look, which Snake just shrugged off.

"So what?"

The two adults sat silently at the table for a few moments, both looking out of the mixed crowd of smashers and civilians. The only sound between them was Lucas humming as he drank and small giggles from him. Curious as to what was so funny, Snake looked down at the young boy only to raise an eyebrow.

Lucas' cheeks were rather flushed and he was grinning widely as he kicked his feet back and forth.

"Lucas, you okay kid?"

Peach, hearing that, looked at Lucas herself.

"Oh my! Lucas, your face is all red. Do you not feel well?" The princess then slipped off a glove and placed the back of her hand against Lucas' forehead."

"I-I feel good! All warm a-and stuff." Lucas' words were slightly slurred and it worried both of the older smashers. Just what was wrong with this child?

A smell made its way to Snake's nose and his eyebrows furrowed a bit. Leaning closer to Lucas, he sniffed again and then took the cup from the boy's suddenly clumsy hands and looked inside. There was barely anything left in the large cup but Snake tipped the cup back and tentatively tasted the drink. Scowling a bit as he knew immediately what was wrong; Snake put the cup down and kept it away from Lucas.

"The kid is fine," he spoke to Peach who was gently stroking Lucas' hair. "The worst that will happen is that the kid will have a hangover in the morning. Someone apparently had the bright idea to spike the punch and Lucas here had a pretty large cup of it. Considering how old he is and how big he is, I'm not surprised that he's already tipsy."

Peach's look of shock went to a look of worry and then anger.

"Oooh! Why would someone do that? I can understand if it was an all adult party but there are children here! You know, I bet it was Wario who did it. Samus did say she saw him acting weird around the punch table before." The princess frowned in the direction of the punch bowl before turning back to Snake and Lucas.

"So is there anything we can do for Lucas?"

"Well," Snake started as he pushed his chair back and pulled Lucas' own out. "The best I can do is take him back to the Mansion and put him to bed. He'll probably be sore in bed but then again probably will everyone else at this rate."

The mercenary picked up Lucas who thankfully didn't fuss and instead put his arms around Snake's neck and clung to him. Adjusting himself and putting an arm under Lucas, so the boy would sit comfortably and another around his back, Snake began to make his way towards the door and was followed by the Princess. Looking questionably at her, Snake merely got a smile in return.

"With the punch spiked, I'd rather not stick around and watch most of our friends lose their minds...Besides, I want to make sure you and Lucas get back safe."

"Are you sure? That's some good blackmail material."

"Snake! Princesses do not blackmail; it is below us."

"...So you have Samus doing it instead aren't you?"

"Of course."

The two shared a grin as Lucas shifted against Snake, his chin resting on Snake's shoulder and his cheek against the others neck. Lucas' blue eyes opened a bit as he tried to focus blurry on the others.

"Mom?"

It was only because of his life time of training that Snake didn't even break his stride for a second. When he had first joined this tournament, Snake had made sure to gather info on all of the other 'players'. Their abilities, their personalities, their pasts. He knew about Lucas' past, about his mother, and he was really hoping that boy's past wasn't going to be dredged up like this especially since it didn't seem like anyone else knew about it.

"Oh no sweetie," Peach spoke softly with a kind smile before reaching over and patting his hair down. "It's me: Princess Peach."

"Oh."

For a moment the man hoped that would be the end of that but Lucas began to talk again.

"I miss her. I miss my mom a lot."

"Oh Lucas..." A sort of maternal affection filled Peach's voice as she continued to pat his head. "Don't worry sweetie, you'll see her again soon. But in the mean time, why not have fun while you're here? That way you can go home and tell her all about the good times you've had."

Lucas blinked as he looked at Peach with a furrowed brow before nodding.

"Y-yeah...she'd like that. I wish you could meet her...you too Snake." The young psychic lowered his head again and burrowed his face into the crook of Snake's neck.

"Sure kid," Snake responded gruffly, "Why not."

Feeling Lucas' breathing even out, he said nothing but continued to walk towards the mansion.

"It must be hard." Peach whispered, "Being away from your loved ones like this for so long. I'm lucky; my loved ones were already here."

Snake nodded but didn't attempt to correct the Princess' incorrect assumption. He sighed softly as they made it to the steps of the mansion and let themselves in. They closed the door after them and made their way down one of the many hallways towards where they knew Lucas' room was. Once they were standing in front of the door, the two adults let themselves in, once they realized the door was actually unlocked.

The man gently pulled the shoes off the young boy and placed him in the bed where Peach tucked him in with a small kiss to the forehead. Lucas sighed in his alcohol induced sleep before curling up on his side with his hand reaching out for something but unable to find it. After a moment though, he was able to grab a pillow and wrapped his arms around it and sighed again, content, before finally being able to fully fall asleep.

The trio turned duo quickly left the room (Snake made sure to lock the door handle from the inside so no one would be able to just walk in like they had) and Snake put his hands in his pockets and decided to escort the princess back to her room.

"I was kind of surprised by you tonight Snake." Peach looked over at Snake for a moment before speaking up again. "I never really expected you to be so good with children, but Lucas seems to really like you."

Snake just hummed, not showing any inclination of how he felt about that.

"Well," Peach smiled as they stopped at her door. "Thank you for walking me to my door. Goodnight Snake."

"Goodnight Princess."

After making sure she got it alright, Snake headed to his own room, feeling tired. Once he was sure the room was locked tight, he got into his own bed and quickly fell asleep. His last thought to himself before he drifted off was to make sure he got so painkillers to Lucas in the morning.

Then, nothing.

Owari

Inumaru12: Hello! Thanks for reading and I hope you liked it! I apologize for any OOC-ness (which I'm sure there is, especially for Snake. ;w; ) Anyway, please tell me what you think of this short little drabble!