Began Typing: 5:40 PM 2/23/2009

Posted:

Orange Sherbet: Chapter Two (The Big Screen)

"Oh, Ike!" Marth called, walking over with his laundry basket tucked under his arm.

Ike, who had only recently been able to clean the mass of food off of him from he and the prince's previous encounter, tried not to remind himself that the prince was apparently considering himself his keeper for the time being as he blurred out the remainder of whatever Fox was saying, which fit the lines of, 'sporks flying across the table' and 'pepper in Snake's pants'. The mercenary, who had been walking with his friends, turned without a groan in the long hallway, probably headed to the cafeteria where Ike always seemed to end up. "Yes, Prince Marth?"

Marth was almost taken aback at the fact Ike had neglected to call him "princess", but blew it off, shoving the basket into Ike's chest, causing the mercenary to grasp it due to reflexs. "Those are the whites." He stated almost tauntingly.

The mercenary nodded. "Will you be sleeping in your normal dorm tonight?"

Marth thought about the question for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, I will be, as a matter of fact. So have the bedsheets pressed and ready for me when I come back, got it?"

Ike gave a curt nod and walked away, his friends watching in confusion as to why he gave in without even the slightest complaint. Marth smiled. He liked this whole 'Ike-has-to-do-what-I-say' thing. Zelda and Peach appeared at his sides, giggling. "What did you do to him?" Zelda laughed as Ike's friends stalked away, shooting Marth rough glares from over their shoulders.

"Well." Marth snickered. "I told him since we won the food fight, he has to be my servant for three days. He's not even allowed to complain."

"Wait," Zelda pondered aloud, "I don't remember there being any bet about the food fight..."

Marth grinned slyly. "There wasn't, but he was so pumped with adrenaline that he wouldn't have remembered either way, so I just added my own special touch to the matter and he went along with it, just as I expected."

The girls laughed hysterically, clutching their sides. "Omigod, Marth!" Peach grabbed Marth's sleeve. "You could make him do anything!"

Marth smirked cruelly. "I plan to."

Marth's eyes wandered the hall, catching sight of Pit, who was hanging a poster on the wall. "Pit!" He called, the angel screaming and jumping.

"It wasn't me!" The little angel cried, hopping around in circles. "I swear!"

Marth grabbed Pit's shoulders, effectively holding him still. "Pit, relax. It's just me."

Although Pit was tempted to say 'I know', he didn't because Marth wasn't acting any differently. He must not know. "Hi Marth." He stated warily, doing everything he could to keep his teeth from knocking together.

Marth took the poster from the boy's hands, looking it over. "A ball!?" He gasped.

Before Pit knew it, a swarm of girls had appeared around him, all babbling something incoherent about the ball. "It's a Valentines Day Ball." Pit was able to squeak out. "You have to have a date to go, no packs of friends."

"Of course!" Zelda interjected. "Otherwise it wouldn't be a lover's dance!"

All the girls giggled. Pit was glad to be able to drink unperfumed oxygen again after the girls and Marth left, sighing and continuing hanging the ads for the ball on the walls. He was sure the male population would react differently. Infact, Snake was approaching from the opposite direction of the hall the girls had left. He saw Pit, took one look at the pinkish poster, grunted, and continued on. Pit gulped. The boys didn't appear thrilled at all.

All the girls, however, were sitting in Peach and Zelda's room, gossiping about anything they could. "Who are you taking to the ball, Marth?" Zelda asked.

The prince shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, I know you want to go with Link, Peach will go with Mario, Nana will probably pretend she's not related to Popo and go with him, Jigglypuff has Kirby, not that i'd ask her either way...what about you Samus?"

The bountyhunter shrugged. "I was hoping to see if either Snake of Ike would ask me."

Marth couldn't contain his laughter. "Ike's far too dense to ever realize someone's waiting on him. Plus, he'd probably step on you feet while ballrooom dancing. Snake might pull through, though."

"Marth!" Peach gasped. "You won't have anyone to go with!"

The prince, after pondering the statement, refused to acknowledge its validity. "That's alright." He reassured. "I'll figure something out."

In truth, Marth ahd no idea what to do. He excused himself from the discussion of the "fantabulous ball", as Peach had called it, early and returned to his own dorm. The one he shared with a certain blue haired mercenary who lie on the couch reading "Purple Heart", an apparent weapon's catalogue. "Did you press the bedsheets?"

"Yup." Ike stated simply, burying his nose in his book.

"And the laundry?"

"In the rinse cycle."

Marth found himself growing more and more irritated. The mercenary had done everything he asked? Already? Without complaints!? The prince somehow mastered his vexment and plopped down on his bed. "Then you have free time?"

Ike nodded, turning a page of his magazine. "Good. Then, go pick me up ten different style catalogues from Zelda, a sewing kit from Peach, seven flowers, all purple with no leaves or thorns and they have to be chrysanthemums and a hot cup of tea."

Ike, to Marth's surprise, stood almost immediatel, folding his magazine and waltzing towards the door. He merely paused to look over his shoulder and ask, "wouldn't you rather have roses?"

Marth, astounded, retorted the only way he knew how. "Is that a complaint?"

"Not at all." The mercenary responded. "Just an offer." And then he was gone.

Marth ran to the desk after Ike was gone, grabbing up a pen and tablet of paper, beginning to write near nonstop. The prince felt strangely invaded. Why was Ike so compliant? Normally, he would have argued by now and he would have the enjoyment of bashing him over the head with-"Marth?" The prince screamed, startled as a face peeked in through a crack in the dorr, throwing his papers into the air.

"Ike!" Marth cried surprised. "What!?"

"Zelda has fifteen catalogues. Would you like them all?"

Marth blinked. "A-all if you can..."

Ike kicked open the door, 15 magazines, one sewing kit, seven perfect violet chrysanthemums, and one cup of hot tea stacked precariously in his arms. Marth jumped up almost immediately, running over to Ike and taking thee cup of tea off the top, then the flowers. "You idiot! Why would you try to carry this all at-!" Marth cut himself, eyes widening and turning slightly to the side to avoid showing his light blush. "-My tea's here. About time."

"Where do you want me to set these down?"

Marth tapped his fingers on the outside of the cup in thought, finally pointing at his bed. "Just leave them there."

Ike sat the pile down, returning to the couch and lying down. Marth groaned, looking over at the clock. It was dawning on eight at night and he was running out of horrible things to do.

Ike grunted as Marth sat on his stomach, looking at him expectantly. "Yes?"

Marth smiled. "I wanna watch a scary movie."

"Have fun."

"You're watching with me."

Ike sighed, picking up the remote and turning on the television. "What do you want to watch?"

"What's on?"

Ike flipped through the onscreen guide, finally answering. "The Ring, The Grudge, One Missed Call, and the Poltergeist."

"The Grudge." Marth answered with a satisfied smile.

Ike shrugged and flipped the channel to 'The Grudge', putting his hands behind his head patiently as the beginning credits rolled by. Marth stood up, relieving the pressure from Ike's chest and flicked the lights off, returning to his previous spot, taking a sip of his tea. The sword duo watched generally interested as the girl with black hair and almond eyes wandered through the house, grabbing discarded items that were scattered all over the floor. She seemed almost irritable as she returned them to their former positions. Ike, who had, unbeknowest to Marth, seen the movie before and under more severe conditions (i.e. a game of flinch and get electrocuted with Link, Snake and Fox), instead watched Marth from the corner of his eyes as the girl opened the blood stained closet doors and stuck her head into the attic. The mercenary watched in incredible amusement as Marth screamed and jumped when the girl was pulled up into the attic, trying his hardest not to laugh.

The rest of the movie was much the same. Ike had little to no reaction and chose instead to watch Marth from the corner of his eyes as the movie became more and more horror-filled. Marth began to tremble as the old, shadow filled staircase was inhabited by the ghoul. The girl, blonde and slightly stupid, walked around the hallway, glancing around paranoid. Marth himself didn't look much different. Ike took the opportunity while Marth was shaking to wrap his arms loosely around Marth's waist, smiling to himself. Wait, what was he doing?!

Ike yanked his hands away, becoming briefly aware that his face felt like it was on fire. Lucky for him, Marth was so absorbed in the movie he paid him no mind. Marth smiled widely as the movie ended, wiping his tears from the sad ending on the back of his sleeve. He looked at Ike grinning. "Pretty scary, huh?"

"Sure." The mercenary responded dully. The mercenary glanced over to the corner where a full bag of trash sat. "Oh, I guess the cleaning ladies forgot to grab our bag. I'll take it out to the dumpster."

"No." Marth stated rather firmly, walking over to the door and grabbing the bag's plastic handles in both hands. "I'll take it out."

"Are you sure?" Ike asked, standing up slowly.

"Yeah." Marth answered, heading out the door.

The prince walked silently down the hall, having expecting it to have been lighter than it actually was outside. Unfortunately, as he remembered, the movie had begun at eight and it was atleast two hours long...it had to be atleast ten at night by then. Marth gulped. He never noticed how many shadows were in the halls...

The prince attempted to calm his racing heart. "It's just a hallway." He whispered quietly to himself. "Just long hallway... a long, dark hallway...oh god..."

Marth bit his lip as he opened the front doors to the Manor, trekking as quietly as he could over to the solid blue container, and dumping the trash off in it, heading as swiftly as he could back towards the manor. He had released his lip and was retaining his nerves. 'Everything's fine' he thought with a smile, 'there's nothing following me and no signs of it. I should be-!!'

Marth screamed like little more than a two-year-old girl as a fluorescent light that had been above his head only moments ago flickered off. The lithe boy began to sprout, his heart racing like mad as he rushed tumultuously back towards the room. He felt tears leaking down his face. Were those footsteps behind him!?

Marth burst into the dorm room, spotting Ike mere inches away from him and jumped towards him, the mercenary flinching only slightly as Marth's arms wrapped around his chest, squeezing tightly around his back. "Marth?" Ike asked as the boy sniffed on his chest, shaking like mad.

"Th-there's something out th-there!" Marth choked out, probably between the tears he was doing his best to conceal. "It's trying to get me!"

Ike peeked over Marth's head, putting one arm around the boy's back. There was nothing beyond him in the hall, but the door had been left wide open. Ike waddled with Marth clinging to him, over to the door and shut it with a snap. "There." He stated. "The door is shut. If there was something following you, it can't get in now."

Marth's grip loosened and the prince, finally realizing himself, backed completely away from Ike. "Er..." His cheeks were scarlet red.

"Don't worry." Ike reassured. "I won't tell anyone."

Marth stepped away from the mercenary, his blush fading. "I'm going to bed."

Ike nodded. "Alright. I'll be on the couch if you need me."

"Trust me." Marth retorted. "I won't."

Ike sighed and was about to turn around and sit with the usual thud when he saw, from the corner of his eyes, Marth discarding his shirt. He seemed incapable of looking away, watching as the prince folded the cloth and lay it on a nearby chair. Ike could tell, even at a distance, that the prince's skin would be as smooth as sile. The prince moved more and more gracefully as he removed his tiara, his hair less and less regal as he ran his hands through it. The prince turned to face him, fingers toying with his belt buckle. His eyes had been shut in what was likely to have been contentedness, that is, until he opened them slightly and saw Ike standing there staring at him. "Ike!" Marth screamed, acting as if he needed to cover himself. "Don't just stand there and WATCH me undress!"

"S-sorry!" Ike stuttered, but was still unable to turn around.

The prince, face flushed adorably with crimson, held his shirt up like a towel over his chest, crying, "Get out!"

Ike somewhat snapped to. "But where will I sleep!?"

"In the hall! Just get out!"

The mercenary sighed and excused himself into the hall, shutting the door behind him in which he heard it promptly lock. Ike slammed his back onto the wall, hearing the picture frames hanging all down the hall rattle from the force and rebound. He sunk down the wall, resting his head in his hands. "Dammitdammitdammit...Me and my stupid urges..."

Ike pulled off his cape, pulling it up over his body for a makeshift blanket. Atleast he wouldn't freeze...

Completed: 7:15 PM 2/23/2009

Author's Notes: TADA! Another chapter done and nowhere near on time! :P

Okay, my new rambley excuses. I got sick last week and had to take a week off of school, so I just laid on the couch all day and slept. So...yeah...I now have loads of make-up work to do, but considering this was supposed to be done on y'know...Valentines Day...this is already horribly late. XD I hope you'll continue reading until it's done anyways, even though it's nowhere near Valentines anymore.