Kirby frowned as he sped through space on his Warp Star. He hadn't managed to find anybody to go with him to the Ripple Star ball, but he didn't think it would feel right to just skip the event. It was an honor to be invited, after all. He would just have to deal with the odd feeling of everyone having a partner except him.

At the Warp Star's fastest speed, it took Kirby half an hour to reach the heart-shaped planet. Entering the atmoshere, Kirby quickly located Ripple Castle and began descending. He parked his star among the other spacecraft important beings from all over the galaxy used to get there, and made his way to the entrance.

There was a plethora of different species among the crowd, some Kirby didn't even recognize. The ones that had the proper body shape for clothing (and there weren't a lot of them like that) were dressed smartly in suits, ties, dresses, and brooches. Those that couldn't wear clothes just settled for bow ties or tiaras. Kirby felt embarrased that he hadn't worn a bow tie or a top hat or something.

The ball took place inside the grand hall of the castle. There were people dancing in the center of the room, and people mingled around the walls where there were tables for refreshments. Kirby didn't particularly feel like dancing — he didn't even have anyone to dance with — so he made his way over to a corner of the hall for a refreshment.

Strangely, there seemed to be a small bar set up in the far corner of the room. There were a few others sitting on stools, being served shots by the fairy bartender. Kirby took a seat with them, earning a few puzzled looks from the significantly older patrons.

"I'll take the strongest thing you've got," Kirby said to the barkeep. The fairy looked at him strangely.

"We don't serve minors." He floated over to a dispenser of some sort of frothy, brown liquid, filled a tall mug with that, and slid it over to the forlorn youngster. "Have this."

Kirby downed the entire mug of root beer in two seconds and slammed it on the counter. "Keep it coming."

After a three full mugs, the fairy refused to give Kirby any more, so the puffball sighed and settled for turning and watching the ball. The lights had dimmed and the music changed to a song for a slow dance.

Kirby, who had decided that he didn't feel like simply watching other people have fun, got up to leave. On the way out, he bumped into someone and fell over.

"Excuse me," he mumbled. The person he had collided with turned and offered him a hand up. Kirby then realized who he had run into.

"Ribbon!" he said cheerily. It was nice to see a familiar face here, especially when he was so down.

"Hello, Kirby, fancy meeting you here!" Ribbon said, smiling.

"Yeah, I was… invited," Kirby said awkwardly.

"Oh, yes! Of course you were, you saved Ripple Star, after all."

Kirby blushed. "Aw shucks…"

"So who are you here with?"

"No one," said Kirby, slightly embarrassed about this fact.

Ribbon was a bit surprised; she never considered Kirby a casanova, but surely someone would have wanted to attend a fancy gathering with someone who had saved the galaxy several times. "You don't have a date? How come?"

"Nobody was available."

"I see. Well, I'm not with anybody either, so…" she let the sentence trail off hopefully.

There was an awkward silence as Kirby just looked at her, uncomprehending.

"Do you want to dance with me?" Ribbon finally broke the silence.

"Oh! Sure!" Kirby began scurrying to the dance floor, but stopped in his tracks after remembering something.

"I… don't know how to slow dance, Ribbon."

Ribbon giggled. "It's easy, Kirby. Here." She flew in close (Maybe a bit too close, Kirby thought) and took Kirby's hands in hers. After a few minutes, Kirby finally got the hang of the slow dance.

When the song was over, the ball continued as normal. Kirby and Ribbon talked to one another, catching up on old times and such. All too soon, the gathering was over and it was time for Kirby to go home. He found that despite his failure to find a partner on Pop Star, he ended up enjoying the party immensely with his old friend.

Ribbon had followed Kirby outside to his Warp Star. Kirby boarded it and prepared to leave when the fairy suddenly grasped his hand.

"I had a really fun time tonight, Kirby," she said, gazing into his eyes. Had Ribbon started an unannounced staring contest or something?

"Yeah, me too," Kirby said. Then, Ribbon closed her eyes and slowly began leaning in close to Kirby. The puffball simply looked at her oddly.

"Well, bye!" Kirby's Warp Star abruptly rose and sped away. Ribbon looked up at where Kirby had been and shook her head, but she still had a smile on her face.

"That was weird," Kirby said to himself while flying back to Pop Star.

—

"…and then she started leaning into me with her eyes closed. I had no idea why, so I just left," Kirby said, finishing his play-by-play of his time on Ripple Star.

Bandana Dee facepalmed. "Kirby… I think she was trying to kiss you. And you just blew her off like that?"

"Yeah. Wait, kiss me? Why would she want to do something like that?"

"She probably likes you."

"Well, yeah, I know she likes me, Dee. That's why we hung out together!"

"No, Kirby, I mean… you know what? Never mind. Maybe you'll get it when you're older." The Waddle Dee said, walking back into Castle Dedede. Kirby remained confused.

—

Well, that's the end of my first thing. Tell me what you think, and… yeah. I'll probably do another one soon. Yay.