Stop hyperventilating, Luigi told himself. Breathe in, breathe out. Don't think about Daisy. Just put your tux on and GO.
"Hey, bro! Don't think you can just walk away from this!" Mario called, coming in and shoving the tux in Luigi's face. Forty-five minutes left. Luigi deliberately took a long time getting ready. Twenty minutes left. Luigi slowly walked towards the ballroom with Mario. Ten minutes left. His expression wouldn't be out of place at a funeral. Five minutes left. Luigi was positive that the clock hands were racing each other. Four toads heaved against the grand ballroom doors with all their might, and Luigi gasped. Peach hadn't left a square inch of the huge room undecorated. The ceiling was all the colors of the sunset and lumas giggled as they sprinkled tossed starbits to each other. Luigi walked down the beautiful carpeted stairs to the dance floor. Daisy and Peach weren't there yet, but most of the guests were. Luigi watched the band setting up on a platform near him. Daisy should have been here by now. Was she chickening out? Luigi gazed up at the entrance. The band was starting to play, and Mario was looking worriedly at the people starting to dance beside him. Finally, Luigi saw Peach walk in. She was wearing a pink dress that went well with her hair. But Luigi's eyes lingered on her only for a moment. Behind her was a goddess. Her long dark brown hair was done simply, but it was already perfect so there was no point doing it up. Her bright blue eyes looked like they had stars in them. Her dress, which really did have stars on it, was a dark velvety blue. This couldn't be Daisy. It couldn't. She caught him staring as she came down the stairs and gave him a wink.
Now's the right time to hyperventilate, I think, Luigi thought. And then Daisy was beside him.
"You look handsome," she remarked. "Not that you usually don't."
Luigi blushed for the umpteenth time in the past few days. "And you look… you look…"
"Too girly?"
"No. I wanted to say beautiful, but that's more than an understatement."
"Thanks. I was afraid you wouldn't like it."
Daisy glanced at Peach who was mouthing something. "Luigi, the song's ending."
"Okay?" Luigi was confused. Daisy was looking at him expectantly.
"So…"
"What?"
"Are you going to ask me to dance?"
"Oh. Yeah. Um, what should I say?"
Daisy sighed. "Forget it. Just come on." She dragged him to the center of the floor.
"Daisy?" Luigi asked.
"What?"
"I… I can't dance!" he squeaked. Daisy rolled her eyes and grabbed his hands, guiding him to the rhythm of the music. Luigi realized that it wasn't that bad. He hadn't realized that he was dancing because he was staring at Daisy the whole time. As they talked, Luigi felt like it was more of a conversation than a dance. Luigi didn't realize that the music had come to an end until he saw a few people sitting down. He made for the chairs, but Daisy pulled him back.
"Peach is doing the contests right now anyways…" he complained.
"Hey everybody!" Peach called from the platform where the band was. "I've been watching all of you for the past year just for our annual superlatives contest! All you people that want to dance, this will only take a minute." Nobody believed her.
"Does she ever realize that nobody wants to have superlatives?" Luigi muttered to Daisy. She giggled and shook her head.
"…And the best dressed here is… well, me!" A few people clapped. "Bravest person… Mario! Prettiest hair… me! And sweetest guy… Mario!" Luigi didn't need to be a prophet to figure out who the rest of the winners were. He decided to make use of his time by getting them some drinks. When he got back, the contest was over (Thank goodness! Luigi thought) and a song was wrapping up.
"You're gonna hate me for this," Daisy whispered, laughing quietly.
"Are they putting the spotlight on me?" Luigi asked.
"No."
"Shoving me into a tutu and doing ballet with me?"
"Close, but not quite as embarrassing." Daisy looked around as Peach cleared her throat loudly.
"And now, a request from Daisy…" she said, looking at them and winking.
"Just… just remember: your hands go here," she said placing his hands on her waist, "and mine over here."
"N-no." Luigi stuttered. "Daisy, you… you can't seriously expect me to slow da-" Daisy put a finger to his lips, and then they were dancing.
One, two, three, one, two three, Luigi found that counting out the beats in his head kept him from walking up to Peach, who was making little kissing noises at them, and tripping her.
Heaven help me! he thought as Daisy rested her head against his chest. He started watching the clock. After two agonizing minutes, the song drifted into silence. He looked down and realized that Daisy was looking at him expectantly.
"What do I do now? We look like idiots!" he muttered.
"Well, most guys would… never mind" She blushed. "I thought you'd be tripping all over the place, but you can actually dance!"
"Do you have to sound so shocked about it?" Luigi asked. Daisy smiled.
"Sorry. Wanna go outside? Everybody else will be there in about twenty minutes anyways."
"Why not?" Luigi replied, and they walked out into the darkening sky.