Illusions and Lies (A Super Smash Brothers fan fiction)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: BALLROOM DANCING FOR BEGINNERS.

Ike liked to think that he was graceful. Well, he liked to think that he didn't totally trip all over himself no matter what he was doing. Unfortunately, as he discovered on the first day of dance lessons, (which had been an unwelcome surprise to begin with) he was nowhere near as graceful as he thought he was. 

He started the lesson by tripping over a lace that was just too long in his right dress shoe, which had been a requirement for some reason. 

"You have to have dress shoes on, or you'll be kicked out. Trust me." Caeda had said last night, when she told the boys about the ball and whatnot. 

So here he was now, wearing dress shoes and casual clothes, lying on the impeccably polished wooden floor of the studio that was hosting the dance lessons. 

"Oh my gods, you're such a fool!" Robin laughed, apparently too busy laughing at his best friend's stupidity to offer him a hand. 

"Don't laugh at him, Robin. I can't wait to see you do the same thing." Samus said, before offering Ike her hand. "Here. You can't do anything if you're laying on the floor."

"Thanks." Ike said, smiling at her. He then turned around and glared at Robin. "It's good to know one of my best friends appreciates me."

Robin just rolled his eyes and continued laughing. 

Soon, the group's teachers walked into the room. They were two blue-haired individuals: one male, and one female. They looked remarkably similar to each other, but Ike just brushed it off. 

"Good morning." the male teacher said. "My sister and I have been assigned to give you all dancing lessons prior to the ball next month." He didn't seem very enthusiastic about it. In fact, he looked like he'd rather be any where else.

"What my brother is trying to say is, we're your teachers! I'm Byleth, and he's also Byleth. To make things easier, just call him Seth." the female teacher- Byleth- said. 

"Is that-" Seth started saying, but he shook his head and cut himself off. "Never mind. We'll talk about that later."

He then turned his attention back to the class. "My apologies. Anyway, how about we start by having you all get into partners? Tradition says that a pair should be a boy and a girl, but it looks like we've got an unequal number here. In that case, who you choose as your dancing partner doesn't matter at all."

"A bit of advice, first: pick someone you'd be comfortable touching in a bit of an awkward way. Make sure that the person you choose is okay with this, as well. Consent is key." Byleth winked as she spoke, leading Ike to believe that this was about more than just teaching them how to dance. 

In any case, he knew who he'd like to dance with. 

"May I have this dance, Samus?" Ike asked, turning to her and offering his hand. 

Samus looked at him in surprise, but she accepted his hand without too much delay. "Of course, Ike."

A quick glance around the room showed that everybody else was partnering up. Zelda and Link were talking quietly, which didn't surprise Ike at all. Robin and Lucina were holding hands, but Ike had noticed that they'd been holding hands for a bit longer than that. Marth appeared to be taking no interest in the proceedings, and Caeda was trying to persuade him to get on his feet. Shulk was joking around with a blonde girl, and they seemed a bit too familiar with each other to be just friends. 

And then there was Corrin and Sheik.

They were standing side by side, not even looking at each other. It almost looked like they weren't even going to be partners, but as Ike watched, Corrin turned his head and said something to Sheik, who laughed a bit but otherwise didn't react.