Chapter 7 – From one to another
"I knew Sammy was a soft-serve, I just knew it!" Peach chirped proudly, leaning on the arm of her chair.
She and Zelda were closer than close; friends since Zelda's first visit and having kept touch in between – 'practically sisters', Peach had described it, and Zelda couldn't disagree. Girls had to stick together, and the two had done so like glue; having countless tea parties, sleepovers and 'girls-night's as though they were teenagers again. The two knew each other like the back of their hands and had stuck through thick and thin; especially when Ganondorf and Bowser had realised that two heads really were better than one.
"I would not quite say soft..." Zelda objected meekly, but Peach's grin prevailed.
"Oh c'mon Zel! She let you hold her hand, she invited you out to breakfast, and she called you sweetheart! She even practically took you out on a date!"
Zelda waved her hands frantically.
"I-I would not quite say a date either! None of those things necessarily mean anything, especially not seriously, and I asked her to spend time with me!"
A couple of days had passed since she and Samus had spent the day together, and she had more than enough time to think things over. She had been careful not to let her mind wander and over think things, but as much as she rationalised, she couldn't deny that this was more than she was giving credit for. In fact, much to her delight, it hadn't been the end to their contact.
After they had returned, the two of them kept contact in the Mansion's chat system.
Each smasher had been provided with a small, handheld tablet – the primary function being a text-like chat system with contact to any smasher and staff member already programmed in. The two had kept talking since, and Zelda found that Samus was surprisingly responsive. She replied often with little delay, even if it often lacked excitement due to her speaking far more correctly through a screen than face to face, but when she had finally received a simple 'Good night. (:' Zelda knew that she must be doing something right. It was a digital smile, admittedly, but it was a smile all the same.
Peach shook her head, a mocking smile on her face. She, Fox and Samus were the best of friends back in the day – as far as Samus' social skills went, that is. She knew Samus enough to know that this was a big deal, and if anybody knew who was who and what was what – it was Peach. She was up to date on everything; relationships, rivalries, who was the best at kart racing –you name it and she knew it. (A social encyclopaedia, perhaps.)
But Zelda was her top priority right now, and her best friend's love life was clearly her business.
"Oh no, this is a big deal." Peach declared, moving to kneel over the edge of the chair.
She squinted, beaming down at Zelda like a sibling that got the last cookie.
"You wish it was a date though, don't you?"
"Excuse me?!"
Before Zelda could scramble away, Peach had tackled her with a tight hug.
"How I have awaited this day; when my little girl finally becomes a woman! My little Zel finally has a crush, and on none other than-"
She wobbled to her feet under the watchful eyes of a nervous Zelda, who was probably dreading the moment she would fall and kill the two of them in a pillow-y mess, and struck a heroic pose.
"The bold,"
Another rather questionable pose,
"Sensual,"
Another valiant pose, this time as Zelda hid her face in her hands,
"Bounty hunter of the skies!"
Zelda peered through her fingers, groaning with dismay.
"Please stop."
Meanwhile, beneath the shade of a pristine, perfectly parked Arwing, Fox watched Samus muse over the inside of her Ship's engine. She looked troubled, clearly only half paying attention to what she was doing, and had definitely not noticed that she was smearing oil all over herself every time she went to wipe her cheek.
"Sam?" He said suddenly, moving closer to lean on the side of her ship. The sun was relentless this time of year, and he realised why she'd been wiping her face so much.
"Zelda was searching for ya some days ago. Didya bump into her in the end?"
Samus jolted slightly at the sudden voice, successfully smacking her head against the roof of the propped up bonnet in the process, but cursed it off quickly.
"Uh, yeah. Wasn't anything bad." She answered abruptly, keeping her eyes firmly on the engine despite not looking at anything in particular. She was only really tinkering around to keep herself occupied; the party was in a matter of hours so there was little time to get any real work done – especially in such heat.
Fox nodded, accepting that as enough of an answer, and hopped ungracefully up to sit on the bonnet instead. It warmed his legs through his clothes, and for a fleeting moment considered trying to cook something on the hood of an Arwing. Falco would lose his mind if he cracked an entire box of eggs onto his Arwing whilst he was gone.
"Uh, hey... I have a weird question." Samus said slowly, meeting Fox's curious eyes with apprehension.
He nodded for her to continue, and she immediately returned her gaze to the engine. He was like the brother she hadn't signed up for but got anyway and ended up actually enjoying the company of, and he appreciated the sentiment in a way that wasn't embarrassing or mocking. They didn't speak much, but they spent a lot of time together in quiet company – usually working on their ships or discussing work related things. In the early days of the mansion they had bonded a lot, especially with Peach and eventually Captain Falcon once he was in the picture).
They had grown close enough – although granted this was originally mostly through business – that he had seen her out of the power suit many times; enough so that she had grown comfortable being out of it around him. Even now, mostly due to the heat, she wore casual clothing with the confidence that nobody would intrude them any time soon; a simple black vest and denim shorts were her usual attire when tinkering with the ship, and her hair was tied back messily underneath a dark blue bandanna. Samus protected her identity with great care, and it wasn't lost on Fox that this was a huge sign of respect from the bounty hunter - a huge sign of mutual respect that they shared with each other.
"Look, uh, between you and me – since I actually trust you or whatever – I kind of have a problem. But, like, personal."
Fox nodded again, giving a small smile. Although Samus didn't open up often at all, he always appreciated it when she did. She liked when he didn't make a big deal out of things, she was a mild mannered woman to say the least, and he felt rather special that she'd go to him. Like a big brother, except without the fighting, or the food stealing, or the blame-giving when trouble arose.
"Okay. Look, I'm no good at words, but Zelda is... I don't know."
She sighed heavily, and Fox cocked his head.
"You don't like her?"
"No, that's not it. The opposite, actually. I wanna spend time with her. I mean I spent time with her already, but I'm...not...sick of her? Is that weird?"
Fox suppressed a laugh; Samus' social skills left a lot to be desired, to say the least, but he was impressed that Zelda must have cracked something that he and Peach couldn't.
"Nah, that's not weird. You should do it, Sam. She likes ya, and it'll do you some good." He assured, resting a paw on her shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze, receiving a reluctant but accepting grunt in reply. Unbeknownst to Samus, Fox and Peach made quite an alliance. Of course they had still kept in close contact; but this meant that they could discuss current affairs more often – and the Zelda Samus situation was hot on their topics.
"She makes me feel weird." Samus sighed, casting a forlorn glance up at her fellow pilot.
"Like my tummy gets all bubbly and I wanna throw up, but it's not bad throw up..?"
Fox snorted this time, and Samus pursed her lips.
"Go on and laugh it up, bark bag. I'm no good at this, a'ight?!"
Fox slide off the ship to stand in front of her now, and he smiled apologetically.
"Sorry Sam, but it still gets me how this stuff goes way over your head. Trust me when I say let it happen. What you're feeling isn't supposed to be bad, so try and hang out s'more and see how you feel."
Samus frowned, "How can you be so sure? What if that's a stupid idea and I fuck up, or she doesn't wanna hang out, or something."
"Trust me, Samus. She'll want to." Fox grinned knowingly; that Foxy grin that Samus knew all too well, and she squinted her eyes suspiciously.
"I'm watching you, McCloud. If something goes wrong, I'm blaming you!" She snapped, but Fox only shrugged in response. With a heavy, dutiful sigh, she pulled out her tablet – a little surprised to see she had a message already, and unsure whether she was feeling dread or approval that the sender was Zelda.
"Hello! Will I be seeing you at the party this evening? xx"
Samus cursed under her breath. It had completely slipped her mind, and how blissful that had been, but now she had two things to worry over. Fox smirked, shouting his goodbyes as he fled to go and ready himself for the party too. Samus was left alone.
"Yeah. See you soon."
She replied quickly, shoving the tablet into her belt before clambering into the ship. The sun was already half way to setting, and where the time had gone she had no clue, but she would have to be in that building in an hour and the Varia needed more than a little polishing if she were to look remotely presentable.
Zelda's tablet lit up from the bedside cabinet, and she smiled meekly down at the screen. Blunt as always, but fast as well. It would seem at this point that Samus didn't intend on moving back into the room just yet, so she had the place to herself; although it was rather lonely, and she dearly wished that Samus were there with her, the extra room was extremely pleasing.
"Wonderful! See you then. (: xx" She replied with a whirr of the fingers before disregarding the phone onto her bed sheets and returned to the mirror. Time was ticking away, and with less than an hour until the doors opened, she – unlike a certain huntress – was raring to get in and see as many people as she could before things got too loud and crowded.
9PM drew in ever closer, and smashers left and right began dispersing from their dorm rooms and into the hallways – migrating towards the main hall like moths to a flame.
The party was about to begin.