"Hey. Nikki, wake up." Someone whispered into Nikki's ear, shaking her gently. She rolled over, groaning as she opened her eyes. Greedy was standing over her, a handful of cooking utensils latched to his shoulder.
"You up yet, youngun?" He asked, helping her sit up.
"Yeah, Greedy. I'm up. I'm up…" She dozed off again, leaning on his shoulder.
"C'mon. You're helpin' me make waffles, remember?" Greedy pushed her off his arm, and she jolted awake.
"Waffles?" Her eyes widened. "Mmm. I'm up."
"Smurflings." Greedy chuckled, following the redhead out of the Bunkhouse.
Later, after breakfast, Greedy had announced the real cook and had gotten a few contradictions. Nikki had disappeared, however, and Handy was nowhere in sight in the square.
"Careful. Don't Smurf it too hard, Nikki." Greedy jabbed his head into the workshop door to see his helper working on some strange contraction, Handy leaning over her to watch.
"Hey! You took my chef!" Greedy grumbled.
"She's my little mechanic, thank you!" Handy replied, and Nikki groaned.
"You guys, please. Don't fight over me. I've gotta go help Painter, anyways." She said, struggling out from under the workbench and sprinting off, the two Smurfs still arguing over who should be working with her.
"There you are, my little protege`." Painter stepped away from the stand he was at, letting the redhead look over it. She squinted a bit, then reached and took the paintbrush right out of Painter's hand.
"It just needs a bit of emphasis right about here…" She started fixing it, standing back and squinting again.
"Sacre Bleu! Magnifique!" Painter said, gasping when he saw the girl's corrections. He loved it.
"It's not that good." Nikki replied, turning violet.
"Not that good? It is the most beautiful thing I have ever Smurfed! Flawless!" Painter replied. Handy and Greedy both seemed to appear out of thin air then, both grabbing one of Nikki's arms. Pretty soon, all three Smurfs were squabbling, and Nikki was about to sneak away from the fight when Slouchy leaped at her from behind a tree. She thought that it was someone else, and started to fight back, all five stopping dead still at the shocked sound of Papa's voice.
"What is Smurfing on here?! What's this fighting all about?"
Handy sat up, shoving Greedy off of him and sending Painter into the side of the easel. All three grownups started jabbering at once, and Papa had to shout in order to stop them.
"They're fighting over me, Papa Smurf." Nikki admitted. "These four all want my help with something, and all this attention is driving me Smurfy."
"I don't want anything." Slouchy cut in.
"Slouchy?! I thought you were Vanity!" Nikki squinted at her friend.
"What? How do I look like Vanity?" Slouchy glared back.
"Never mind that. Fighting is no way to settle the matter. And stop that squinting!" Papa addressed all of them at once, and Nikki sat down on the ground.
"But I have to. I can't see well." She complained.
"Today's Father's day according to Mercy. You could fix the problem that way." Slouchy told the redhead after the five had been split up.
"And do what? Claim one of them as my Dad? Technically-" Nikki started.
"Forget technical. Smurf it, Nikki! You 'dopt one of the guys, the problem is solved." Slouchy snapped, cutting her short. His brown eyes flashed angrily. "I know Grouchy would be your dad if we looked at the 'Technical' matter, but that's only 'cause Vexy's your 'dopted Mom. You never claimed Grouchy."
"True. I could just adopt Handy and end the problem. Or Greedy-he seems to love my cooking…then again, Painter's face this morning was Smurfless…" Nikki twisted a piece of her hair around her finger, black and red streaks mixing into a swirl.
"All three of them?" Slouchy groaned. "You've gotta pick. How 'bout Vanity?"
"Yecch!" Nikki stuck out her tongue. "What kind of Dad would that be?"
"True."
"I've got it. A contest. Keep the guys from fighting, but secretly be watching for that fatherlike pride." Nikki snapped her fingers, then sprinted off, leaving Slouchy blinking at her back. He stifled a laugh as she rammed into the side of a house.
"Oh-sorry 'bout that." Nikki muttered.
Later, she had arranged for all three to bring their best work-with Nikki's help involved at some point-to be looked over, tallying the points of other Smurfs' favourites.
"The three-er-craftiest Smurfs in the village should have enough brains to not fight over this." Nikki sat on the top of the well, scribbling down tallies. "Uh-Slouchy, could you read these? I can't tell if that's an H or a P."
"Oh, boy. All the work you've been doing has made your eyes weak." He griped, taking the board and rewriting the points.
"It's a tie between the cupcakes and the recliner. Only one Smurf hasn't voted and that's-" Slouchy blinked up at her. "You."
"Wha-? I'm not voting." Nikki puffed up, turning away from the Smurfling.
"It's either you or Papa, and he's busy in the lab."
"Well, I'm not doing it."
"It's your contest." He reminded her. She didn't turn to look at him. Instead, she leaped off the well and landed on her feet in the middle of a crowd by Painter's easel. Almost on her feet. Slouchy winced as she fell forwards right into a couple of paint buckets.
"Nikki, could you come with me for a second?" Papa helped her stand up, leading her to the lab. Slouchy heard him telling her that she wasn't in trouble, and slowly followed them, listening in on their conversation.
"What about the other kids?" Nikki was asking.
"I talked it over with the other girls, and with Nat and Snappy. Slouchy's been with you all day…"
"Uh-oh." Slouchy ducked as Papa glanced at the window, then started talking again.
"I know you don't want to be teased, but that is an obstacle that you can Smurf with some help. I've noticed how much you've been squinting, and I'm worried about you."
"I'm not that bad off. I can at least see at all thanks to the bracelet."
"But your eyesight is getting worse." Papa placed something over Nikki's eyes, and she shook her head, blinking.
"You still wear red?" She looked slightly shocked.
"Yes, I do." Papa chuckled.
"Wow. I can actually see the pictures on your walls. And the fireplace, and-Slouchy?!" Dead still, Slouchy stared at his friend. She was wearing glasses.
"Hi." He croaked. "Nice glasses?"
"I don't really think so. I look like Brainy." Nikki grumbled, taking them off. Almost immediately, she put them back on, blinked a couple of times, and shook her head again.
"No. You look like Nikki. I made your glasses more oval so that you could smurf your vision in one area-the best place to see what you're smurfing."
"Thank you, Papa." Nikki hugged him, then ran out the lab door to meet Slouchy and get back to the contest.
"Now, about that final vote. I hate deciding between the three of them-they're all talented-but there's only one way to end this feud!" Nikki told Slouchy to go rest, then started critiquing the three adults. "The winner to this contest will get final say in my work-even though I'll manage to help all three of you in my own time."
It took her five minutes to decide between the automatic recliner and the "secret ingredient" cupcakes, but eventually picked the recliner. She didn't choose it because it was comfortable, though. It malfunctioned, and didn't pop up until she jerked the handle and got catapulted into the well-fifty smurfsteps away.
"That was fun!" She laughed, shaking her head furiously to get all the water out of her hair.
"Are you hurt?" Handy had rushed over to her.
"Nah. Let's do it again." Nikki pushed her glasses up and laughed again.
"So-is that still a vote for that?" Slouchy asked.
"Are you smurfing kidding me?! Yes!" Nikki squealed. "Perfect catapult."
"And the winner is…Handy by a point." Slouchy called out.
"And I'm not afraid to admit it. You three remember, though. I can still help Painter and Greedy when they desperately need help." Nikki promised.
"Wait just a second. What about those glasses?" Brainy gave the other three grownups a look, leading Nikki off.
"With those glasses, it proves that you also can become a very intelligent Smurfling. Not that you aren't already. Why pick one of them when you can have a really special father? One like me." He told her. She growled under her breath, and in about a second, Brainy was pelted out of the village so hard that he landed in the river.
"So much for a father-daughter relationship." He groaned.