A/N: Man, looking back at last chapter, the end part was really not what I'd envisioned it to be. I forgot at least two really important pieces of information that I'll have to make do without now. I'm a bad writer -.-

I'm also bad with releases (been said before…). I meant to release something for Christmas on Christmas Day, but er, schedule didn't work out. My fault; should have expected that if I didn't have plans on Christmas, my parents would… So, hope you guys had a wonderful Christmas and even better Boxing Day sales.

Anyhow… back to standard oneshots (sort of). This one's shorter than most. There's entirely too much Ven in this one, but dwai, his role will have less of an emphasis over time; the novelty of having him hasn't worn off yet, is all. I don't intend for side characters to take up the stage, you know? In any case, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these people except for Ven.

P.S. This Ven is not an expy of the Kingdom Hearts character (although I guess they'd look sort of similar?). This Ven's name comes from a language different from Latin; and why would I call him wind, anyways?

It was a beautiful spring morning. The sun is shining, the sky is blue, (I need to figure out a new intro...). The Smashers were having breakfast as usual, but this time, something was a little different.

"Good morning!" said Ven cheerfully to Snake, who had grabbed a croissant as he walked by. The boy was frying eggs by the kitchen window, located a few feet behind the tables that were loaded, as always, with breakfast foods.

Snake mumbled a greeting back before continuing on his way. As he left, the kitchen door swung open behind him, coming close to clipping his heel. R.O.B. came out, holding a tray of fresh muffins. He set them down, then began to beep at Ven, as if he were relaying instructions. Ven nodded in acknowledgement, somehow realizing what R.O.B. wanted, and R.O.B. beeped happily before going into a side closet.

At a nearby table, Marth was looking thoughtfully at the boy. "Looks like he's adjusting well, huh?" he commented, before downing the last of his chocolate milk.

"Yeah," said Link, sounding surprisingly, and uncharacteristically, gloomy and sour. "You wouldn't believe it's his first breakfast here."

Marth raised an eyebrow at him. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing," he mumbled, before going on to stare off into space.

"He's convinced the kid was hitting on Zelda, when it was really just Ven being nice," Sheik confided in Marth in a stage whisper.

"No, not- well, maybe," said Link distractedly. "I think I'm just a bad boyfriend. I don't compliment her enough." He sighed, dejected.

"Come on, don't be like that," said Sheik, patting him on the arm. "You're not a bad boyfriend. Zelda's just like that sometimes. Now come on, eat your food already." She leaned towards Marth and whispered in his ear. "It's totally his fault. All Ven said was that she looked pretty, but she pretty much glowed, she was so pleased."

Marth grinned in reply. "Speaking of Zelda," he said, ignoring Link's standard mope session, "Where is she?"

"She's got a team brawl with Peach against Ganondorf and Bowser," said Sheik, poking an unresponsive Link now. "She left early to coordinate her costume with Peach, I think."

"Hey guys," said Ike as he arrived at the table, tray loaded with breakfast meat. Pit had walked into the room with him, but was currently at the breakfast tables picking up food.

"Hey, Ike. Where were you?" asked Sheik as he sat down. She poked Link one final time, a hard, straight jab to his side, causing him to react, finally. He jumped up and yelped.

"What was that for, Sheik?" he asked indignantly.

"Zelda's not here, so I have to be the one reminding you to eat, Link. Come on already, it's good," said Sheik, exasperation clear in her tone.

"Wha-at?" spluttered Link. "What are you even talking about?" Sheik folded her arms and turned to Ike, pointedly ignoring Link. A smile played at her mouth, though. Marth and Ike laughed aloud.

"Umm, gym," said Ike, replying to Sheik's earlier question. "I felt like some early-morning training."

"Oh, cool," said Sheik. "And where have you been?" she asked Pit, who had just arrived.

"I had a brawl against Wario, but I finished early. He gave up after the ninth or so arrow," he explained.

"Attaboy!" said Link approvingly, holding up his hand for a high five. Beside him, Ike groaned. "You're a terrible influence on him, you know?"

Pit smacked Link's hand, then turned towards Ike. "Man, I hate doing it as much as you hate receiving it, but I didn't have a choice. He was gonna fart on me!" Everybody present gagged at the thought, Pit included. "Anyways," he said, sitting down, "What have you guys been talking about?"

"The new kid, and how well he's adjusting," said Marth. "I think all the girls adore him. Am I right?" he asked Sheik.

"Just about," she replied with a grin. "With a face like that, how could we not?"

"He looks more like a girl than Marth does," commented Link, who had finally taken his seat and started eating. He waved his fork around for emphasis as he spoke, nearly swiping Sheik and provoking a pair of loud "Hey!"s. "I gotta admit, though, he makes really good omelettes," he added, before scooping up another piece.

"Yeu, I wath surphised phen I thaw phis face in phe kishun," said Ike around a mouthful of sausage. He swallowed, then continued. "It's a nice break from seeing R.O.B. all the time. We still don't know much about him."

"I can fix that," said Pit brightly. "Hey, Ven," he shouted across the dining hall. "Come over and talk to us!"

The green-eyed boy, who had finished cooking and was now washing the pans, looked uncertainly at R.O.B., who had long since returned with a rag to clean the tables. R.O.B. beeped at him, adding in a few clicks and whirrs. Ven nodded and smiled, and abandoned his pans to join them at the table.

"Hey guys," he said, coming up to their table. "What're you doing?"

"Eating," said Sheik, trying to keep her expression deadpan. After a moment, she let out a breath, shook her head, and smiled. "Ven, right? You had breakfast yet?"

"Yep, I'm Ven. Nice to meet you, Sheik," he said with a smile and a nod. "R.O.B. gave me some of his muffins before I started cooking, and I liked them, so I ate a lot of them." He patted his stomach. "I might not have space at lunch."

"Ah, no wonder R.O.B. was bringing a new batch out," mused Marth, not really paying attention. Then, he looked up sharply as he suddenly registered what Ven had said. "WAIT!" he shouted, causing the rest of the table to jump. "You ate those things?" Ven nodded, a bemused expression on his face, and Marth let out a sound of dismay. "Quick, bring him to the bathroom!" he instructed the others.

"Marth, Marth," said Pit, tugging at Marth's sleeve. "Calm down, Marth. He's fine, see? He ate them a long time ago, but he's fine."

Marth blinked and looked at the boy, who had a very confused expression on his face. "Oh… you're right."

Across the table, Link snickered and hit Marth on the arm. "Drama queen. If you stopped to think for a second, you'd have realized."

"Shut up, elf boy. You want new cat whiskers on your face?" Marth replied, eyebrows drawing together.

"You little- Go watch your cartoons or something." Link and Marth began to argue. Ven looked from one of them to the other, but the rest of the table ignored them, used to their antics by now. "Was I not supposed to eat them?" asked Ven, of nobody in particular.

"Don't worry about it," said Ike. One cheek was full of bacon, so his voice was a little distorted. "They're meant to be eaten. They're pretty disgusting, which is why we avoid them, but they're not that disgusting. Marth's just overreacting cause he's a prince, and he's used to delicious food."

"Oh, I see," said Ven. "I thought they were ok," he mumbled, mostly to himself. He looked around the table, to see Pit staring at him, head propped up by his hands. Ven tilted his head questioningly.

Pit smiled in response, and clarified. "It's the first time I've met somebody else who likes R.O.B.'s first batch of muffins."

"That's quite the achievement," Sheik said to Ven drily from her seat. "Pit's the type who'd eat a plastic bag if somebody told him it was food."

Pit flushed red, and Ike burst into laughter, spraying bits of meat everywhere. "Oh, sorry," he apologized, as Sheik picked a chunk of meat off her shoulder with an expression of disgust. "That was Christmas, right? Man, that was slick of Snake. A plastic bag as a gift because he couldn't be bothered, and then telling Pit it was food?"

Link and Marth, having been knocked out of their argument by Ike, grinned simultaneously.

"Well, he paid for it later on. Master Hand and Lucario both got him the day after, didn't he?" said Link.

"Yeah," confirmed Marth. "It happened right as I came back, remember? Guess Lucario didn't appreciate getting a leash for Christmas."

"Wasn't that originally Samus's gift to Snake?" offered Pit.

"No way," said Ike, starting to laugh again.

"Yeah, Pit's right. I remember Samus got mad at him when she heard about it. He swears his left butt cheek has never been the same," drawled Sheik. "Still, I think the award for cheapest gift goes to Marth."

"Haha, yeah, I still remember," said Ike, chuckling at the memory. "A slip of paper with "One free challenge" written on it in yellow marker. What the hell, Marth."

Marth shrugged, smiling good-naturedly. "Well, I didn't really know Link that well, back then. He was asking for a match, too, so I thought, 'why not?'"

Link was looking at him with a questioning look on his face. "What would you have gotten me if you knew me then as well as you know me now?" he asked.

Marth arched an eyebrow smokily, and smiled. He leant back in his seat, folding his hands behind his head, before answering. "Something from Aren't We Naughty."

The older teenagers laughed out loud, leaving Pit and Ven confused. They looked at each other, then Pit asked, "What's Aren't We Naughty?"

"Don't worry about it," said Ike, waving one hand while he held the other over his mouth. "When you're older."

Pit frowned at being left out of the loop, but the others had already continued on with the conversation.

"I did ask for it, I guess," said Link. "Doesn't stop it from being the tackiest gift I've ever gotten."

"Hey, you don't deserve to call other people tacky," said Sheik.

"Yeah, man," added Ike. "Your gift to Zelda- whew…"

"Wait, what was it, anyways?" asked Marth, looking from one person to another. "I was visiting Shiida on Christmas Day, so I never got to see it."

"It was bad," said Ike, shaking his head. Sheik nodded in agreement with Ike.

"Hold on, what are you talking about?" complained Link. "It was inspired!"

"It was gross," said Pit, making a face. "He gave her a kiss," he told Marth.

"What, like, he kissed her?"

"No." Pit shook his head. "He put mistletoe in a box, then when Zelda opened it, he tossed it into the air and kissed her in front of everyone. Bleh." He stuck his tongue out as Marth began to laugh.

On the other hand, Ven frowned at the story, and seemed to almost draw away from the conversation. Ike noticed. "Don't like mistletoe?" he asked gently.

Ven shook his head. "Not really. I'm allergic to them."

"Huh. I've never heard of that allergy before." Ike shrugged, and patted Ven on the shoulder. "Don't worry, mistletoe is not one of our decorations. Except for Link, we didn't have any last year, so we probably won't this year," Ike said reassuringly. "Come Christmas Day, you'll still be healthy as a horse. So, how about you? How are your Christmases?"

Ven looked up and put a finger on his lip as he thought. "They were really fun," he said, finally. "My sister would buy a huge, delicious frozen pizza. Some of our friends would come, and we'd all chomp up pizza before watching a movie together. It was nice." He smiled, lost in memory.

"Oh, that's nice," said Link awkwardly. Out of the side of his mouth, he whispered to Marth. "Isn't frozen pizza really cheap? Why does he make it sound like gourmet food?"

Marth shrugged in response, eyebrows furrowed. Dunno. Meanwhile, Sheik had asked another question. "Did you get any good Christmas presents?"

"Yeah." Ven grinned widely this time as he responded. "I got a new pair of underpants from my brother-in-law, and my sister bought me some really warm socks."

Underpants… Socks… thought Marth. Ehh?! "What about a cellphone, or a DS or something?" he asked incredulously.

Ven put a finger to his lip again as he thought. "Well, I thought about asking for those, but I didn't want them to use up too much money. It's not like I need them, right?"

Marth hit the table with his palms and stood up suddenly. "Alright, that's it," he said decisively. "You are living a deprived childhood. Next Christmas- or actually, your birthday would work too. When's your birthday?"

"February 24," replied Ven uncertainly, a quizzical look on his face.

"… So, next Christmas, we're all buying you nice presents. All in favour?" Marth asked. His own hand shot up immediately, followed soon afterwards, a little more slowly, by Pit's and Ike's.

"Marth's a real spontaneous idiot, huh?" Link said to Sheik, aside.

"I heard that, you know."

"Yeah, he really is," Sheik sighed in response.

"I heard that, too. Get your hands up already, you annoying pricks."

The two of them grinned, and then slowly raised their hands. "All in favour," said Marth solemnly, in a deep voice. Then, he turned to Ven. "So it's decided then."

Ven was smiling broadly, eyes just maybe a little wet. "Thank you," he said to Marth. "Thanks, guys," he said to all of them. "I'll get all of you guys something back, I promise."

"Ahem." Link cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well, that's about eight months away, so let's not worry about that for now. Instead, let's figure out what we're doing after breakfast. I have a plan to prank Ganondorf, but I'll need a few helpers."

"Wait, Link," said Pit, a little uncertainly. "Is this the same prank you were going to pull on Marth when he came back to the Mansion last Christmas?"

"Hold on," said Marth, turning to look at Link. "I hadn't heard about this."

"Umm, yeah," replied Link, choosing to ignore Marth. Ike, Pit, and Sheik all grimaced.

"I'm going to go find Red and uh, play some Pokémon," said Pit, standing up from his seat and heading for the door.

"Wait, hold on," said Link. "Can't you help me do this first?"

"Umm, well…" Pit mumbled, looking down at his feet and scratching his right calf with his left foot. "How do I put this? Link-" Pit hesitated and looked to the side- "You, er, might be a bad influence on me, but… Let's put it this way. I'm not that corrupted, yet." With that said, he broke into a trot and left, hurriedly.

Sheik snorted.

"Wait!" Link called out. Pit left as if he hadn't heard. Link turned back to the others, frowning. "Marth, how about you?"

Marth glanced at Sheik, who shook her head very, very slightly. "You know, I'd love to learn exactly what it is that you had planned for me, and is so bad that Pit wouldn't participate, but I have a brawl after this. In fact, look at the time! I gotta go. Ask somebody else, maybe." He got up, mouthing tell me later at Sheik before leaving.

"Marth!" Marth didn't respond, and Link turned to Sheik. "Sheik?"

"One word," Sheik said. "No." At that word, she suddenly slid herself sideways out of her seat very very quickly, dodging Link's grasping hand.

"Sheik!" Sheik was already at the door, but she turned back to grin cheekily at him before leaving. "Sheik, you damn-" Link glanced at Ven and shut his mouth. "How about you, Ven?"

The boy's face was completely honest and wholly apologetic when he said, "Sorry, Link. I'd love to, but I really need to get back to work." He also slid out of his seat, and started jogging back towards the kitchen.

Link grimaced. He looked around the room for other possible candidates. All the other tables were empty, except for one, where R.O.B. was busy polishing the tabletop. Link closed his eyes tightly, and then opened them and turned to Ike: the single-worst Smasher in the Mansion to pull off a covert mission, a.k.a. (in this mansion) a prank.

"Ike?..." Link asked hesitantly, half-hoping that Ike would help, and half-hoping Ike would find an excuse to not participate.

Ike looked towards the ceiling. He seemed to think for a long moment, that Link waited out with gritted teeth. "Only if you can beat me at a Brawl game," he said, finally.

"…" Link looked one final time around the room, and sighed. "Forget it. Let's just go play catch."

"That works, too."

"Come on. I need you sign out the ball."

"…Right."

A/N: So, finally done this. Took some time; was reading/watching a lot of drama, so moving back over to something light-hearted was a little difficult a lot of the time.

Hey! No line breaks for once!

I've forgotten most of my other comments by this point in time. I do remember one thing, though. I've decided from this chapter on that every story, I'll put a few tidbits of background info in these notes. They could help you understand some context/character personality that I can't otherwise fit in the story, plus, they're just fun to do ^.^ Anyways, enough talk; see below!

Fun fact: R.O.B.'s metal arms aren't very good at holding eggs, so he has a tendency to break them. Master Hand was the one who decided to have Ven cook the eggs in an attempt to save money, which is convenient because Ven's really damn good at cooking eggs :3

Fun fact #2: There's a slight glitch in R.O.B.'s programming that makes him forget to add certain ingredients (like sugar) to his first batch of muffins every morning. This causes a dilemma for the Smashers, because except for the first batch, his muffins are really, really good; but R.O.B. only starts cooking a new batch when the old one is half gone, and nobody wants those disgusting things. They used to take and then stealthily throw away muffins from the first batch, but Master Hand caught them at it once. There was lecture on wasting food and money and how expensive the Mansion is to maintain, along with a punishment. It was painful.

EDIT: Fact #4: Most of the awkwardness between Ven and the others that you'd expect from a situation like in the last arc (i.e. pointing a GUN at them) has already been defused the day before, when Ven joined them for dinner/at night after learning the ropes w/ R.O.B. It helps a lot that these particular Smashers are fairly good people and generally quite forgiving, but there's still a bit of one-sided animosity towards Ven from some of the other Smashers. I simply choose not to focus on those because I'd rather keep a positive, upbeat air for now.

That may change; I think my heart is pushing me to shift genre to action/adventure, but I will do my best to set up properly and also keep this fic funny and entertaining. It might not work out, but I won't know if I don't try. I don't really know why I'm saying this, to be honest. Maybe pre-emptively asking for forgiveness, lol.
Anyhow, with this, it should be clear that I don't intend to drop this anytime soon. Please stay with me for the whole ride. I will take you through ups and downs, into familiar territories but maybe also into something fresh and new, so, enjoy!

Expect the next fic out before the end of winter holidays.

Finally, please review. I like feedback!