Hi! Temi here. I was in the mood for something lighthearted this week, so I decided to start planning and writing a weird romance type of fic, I guess. 'puppeteers' is still in the works, and I'm not going to abandon it, but I'm going to be rotating between writing this and 'puppeteers'. (It has, like, a pretty surreal plot, and it's kind of complex, so it'll take a bit more planning than this one-off has.) The planning for the whole of this fic took about 4 pages of a document (and this is only the first chapter,,) but it's just a regular slice-of-life/romance kind of thing. I guess I was more laid back with writing this chapter, hehe.
I was going to bother drawing a cover for this, but it's not finished and I wanted to upload the first chapter now so,, yeah. In case the summary didn't do much justice, here's the sentence I was going to just use off my planning doc:
"Nana can't decide which guy she wants to get with oof"
"We get the idea, Nana! You're excited."
Nana sighed dreamily, eyes still full of elation from the moment the news of the grand celebration had been announced. Although it was only months after the devastating Subspace incident, the entirety of the Nintenverse had managed to patch itself up: even amongst the seemingly endless conflicts that had scarred the lands, the universe had paved the way for a swift recovery – thanks to the figures now known as the Smashers.
Technically, they were already known as the Smashers, since the eponymous tournaments they took their title from had been going on for several years in the 'verse. The tournaments united famous and infamous figures alike in brawls of the ages. Initially, they were hosted as a recreational event, simply as a way for the characters of various franchises to meet and get to know one another. Many believed that the best way for the universe to thrive would be on the emotional bonds and friendships forged between its citizens, to ensure the smooth execution of a team effort against any given crises. Yet eventually, the manor of celebrity figures had evolved into the headquarters of a prestigious battle squadron, banded together to defend the inhabitants of the Nintenverse in chaos; to be invited to join the ranks of the Smashers was a noble honour admired by all.
The squadron – joined by several more characters who had proved useful as additions to their arsenal along the way – had successfully liberated their world from the clutches of Subspace. Upon Tabuu's defeat, the universe rejoiced with glowing bliss. They had been freed from the endless maze, once and for all!
Caught up in the delight of their victory, some of the Smashers (namely Peach, Pit, and Captain Falcon) had planned in the months after an "extravagant, awesome and absolutely brilliant and wonderful" grand 'ball' (for lack of a better name) to invite not just the elite characters of the 'verse, but anyone who so wished to attend. Surely, the joy of their freedom should have been shared collectively and amongst the people they had rescued? And, surely enough, after desperate negotiations, Master Hand himself gave permission for the holding of the grand ball.
"You don't understand, Toon. We don't normally have big fancy parties like this back home. Of course I'm excited!" she beamed, inadvertently bouncing with animation at the thought of the ball. This statement, she had made about twelve times in the past hour - and her peers had been forced to remain in their dorm listening to Nana discuss dresses and her exaggerated hopes for the big celebration.
Ness grinned. "I mean, I'm not gonna lie – I can't wait to see what food they're going to have."
"I bet it's going to be awesome! Ah, I really can't-"
"Okay, what's so exciting about it that's making you so hyper?" Toon huffed, almost past his limit in bearing Nana's gleeful outbursts and squeals. "So there's gonna be sparkly chandeliers and you get to wear a pretty dress. And?"
True enough, Nana was glad that she would have the chance to act more like a 'lady' at the ball. She didn't show her more feminine side often – of course, there were several topics that she would rather discuss with her female companions than boys, but when they had first met her, Nana seemed to be anything but girly. Besides having a strong affinity for the colour pink, true to the stereotype, she did not care for make-up or jewellery, and especially looking for boys (something she viewed as a waste of time), to say the very least. The Nana that the boys were talking to now seemed to have completely turned over a new leaf.
"Well," she smirked, "seeing as you're so keen to know..."
"I just don't see what could make a girl so excited besides dresses and girly stuff."
"You get to go with someone when there's big parties like this, right?"
Lucas blinked, surprised by Nana's statement. "You mean like...like a date?"
"Yeah!" she smiled widely. "That's what I'm looking forward to most. Finding a special person to enjoy the evening with..."
"Oh! So you are going out with Popo."
At this exclamation, both Nana and Popo turned wildly on Ness, snapping in unison, "No!"
"How many years is it going to take us to convince you we aren't like that, Ness? You've known us since Melee." Popo sighed, face flushed a faint red. He turned to his best friend, who had buried her face in her lap out of frustration from Ness's remark – one she hadn't heard for the first time.
"Are you going to go with someone else?"
Looking up, she replied, "I mean, we always go together to things like this for convenience, don't we?" The pink from her face remained a ghost painted all over her laugh, though she tried to hide it. After a short pause, she continued.
"So...I thought we should play a little game, before the day of the ball~."
Popo's previously relaxed expression suddenly contorted into a look of vague fear the moment she'd uttered the word "game". If it was a game of Nana's, it probably wasn't the average person's idea of a fun one.
"…what's this game, exactly?" he asked quietly.
Nana sat up, grinning smugly at the slightly nervous boy. She raised her index finger towards him, poking his nose in the same joking way she usually did (it wasn't as if he wasn't used to it by now).
"It's called 'which one of us can get a date before the ball'."
Popo's head turned sharply towards her, surprised. "Nana! That's going to be so hard, though. I don't know many...girls my age. Besides you, but-"
She swung her arm round his shoulder playfully. "If worst comes to worst, you could, you know, just ask another boy or something."
"Nana!" Popo shrieked, abruptly shifting away from her. "I don't like-"
"Hey, it's called Smash Bros for a reason." She shrugged. "I'll go with you if neither us can find a date before the ball, but I'm sure I'm gonna win. Hehe!"
Rolling his eyes, Popo sighed again. "Fine, whatever." He tended to play along with whatever strange schemes Nana thought up (unless it was something quite stupid, in which case he'd just leave her to it). This particular scheme, however, was fairly different to the antics the pair of them had gotten up to in the past – Nana never brought up anything to do with romance usually, least of all in front of Popo. Her change of heart hadn't just startled him alone, however.
"Won't that be a bit too easy for you, though, Nana?" Lucas frowned. "You could just ask one of us. It wouldn't even have to be as a couple, you could just go with someone as a friend like you usually do with Popo anyway."
"The point of the challenge is to find someone you can go with as a couple! So, someone you like. And I don't really like any of you like that anyway." she huffed in reply.
...Not now, anyway.
Nana noticed Popo's now flustered manner, upon hearing that he'd have to find someone that he liked.
"Cheer up, Popo. You get all the girls back at home. I'm sure you can convince one of them to go with you or something." She paused thoughtfully. "Last I remember, you said you liked-"
"Not anymore I don't! That was years ago. It was just- just a weird infatuation kind of thing. I didn't really like her."
A wide smirk stretched across Ness's knowing expression. "I bet you're just going to end up going together anyway. Considering the game is to go with someone you like..."
Only moments later was he met by the painful force of Nana's hand slapping him across the face, his smirk vanishing in an instant.
"You'll see," she grinned determinedly, nodding.
"I'm going to find the right guy!"
