Disclaimer: I don't own Mario. If I did, Prince Peasley would be a recurring character.

Author's Note: I've wanted to write a Luigi/Peasley fic for years, and after discussing how totally canon that pairing is with a friend the other day, a proper story idea finally popped into my head, so here ya go. It doesn't get too spicy, so I'm leaving it with a T rating for now.

In Blinding Starlight

It was a good party. The castle was bustling, the music was just loud enough, the food was amazing and the drinks were even better. Peach threw her fair share of celebrations and just-because parties, not to mention the Mario Parties for her closest friends that was very quickly becoming a tradition around the Mushroom Kingdom.

But this wasn't like any of Peach's parties, and this wasn't the Mushroom Kingdom.

It was the Beanbean Kingdom, and while being saved from an evil tyrant by the Mario Bros. was becoming another Mushroomian tradition, it was a novel experience for their neighbouring country. The witch was dead, the flying fortress in pieces at the bottom of Oho Ocean and the Dragon-Koopa who owned said fortress and temporarily housed said witch's soul was secure and unconscious in the dungeons. The heroes who saved the land would return to their homeland in the east the next morning and take the Koopa with them, but before they left, the Beanbean people were determined to thank them properly and shower their beloved neighbouring princess with proper love as well.

However, it soon became clear that Mario Bros. weren't the superstars in the Beanbean Kingdom as they were back home, nor was Peach the belle of this foreign ball. No, it was none other than Prince Peasley's party through and through. He was the star as he breezed around the room with a gaggle of admirers; he was the belle as he flicked his hair and blinded them with light.

Luigi knew he sure couldn't keep his eyes off the prince. And it kinda freaked him out a little. Crushes always did at the best of times, but it had been getting worse ever since he and Mario moved to the Mushroom Kingdom from Brooklyn, and the only humans they were in regular contact with anymore were royalty or the vile Wario and Waluigi. First it was Peach, who was just so beautiful and nice: even though he knew she was more interested in Mario, it took Luigi a long time to get over her. And then there was Princess Daisy of Sarasaland, who ping-ponged from cute to sexy to hyper to downright scary – she would be a fun friend to have, but tried as he might, Luigi just couldn't look at her as just a friend, and it vexed him to no end. And now here he was crushing on yet another unobtainable royal: what was wrong with him?

He blamed his princess crushes on the fact that humans were few and far between in the Mushroom Kingdom, and mushrooms and reptiles and whatnot just didn't do it for him, so there wasn't much to choose from besides them. But it was harder to dismiss his latest attraction to the numbers game: if Beans struck his fancy just the same as humans – and apparently they did – he had a whole kingdom to choose from. Not that he felt this way by choice, of course. It was never by choice: it just happened, and always with the wrong person. Hell, Luigi didn't even know if or how it would even work between humans and Beans – they were anthropomorphic vegetable people, for crying out loud!

Not that it mattered either way, of course. Like the human princesses, Peasley was miles out of his league, so nothing was going to happen even if the biology somehow worked out. But Luigi supposed he was okay with that. He was certainly used to it, at any rate. Sure, he'd been on a couple dates back in Brooklyn and even had a fleeting kiss or two with sweet girls who'd been willing to give him a chance, but they could only do so much of the legwork, and Luigi's painful shyness always meant things fell apart before they got much further, and usually they didn't even get that far.

Usually he just waited until the party or whatever was over and the other person was gone and he didn't have to stand around talking himself out of even considering approaching them. Even back before princes and princesses had become the apples of Luigi's eyes, the regular folks that caught his attention were still high above him: he never even needed to ask to know that he was too chubby or too hairy or too quiet for them to say 'yes'. Not that being chubby, hairy and prone to long stretches of silence stopped Mario from scoring with the ladies, but Luigi had learned a while ago to give up on measuring up to his shorter twin brother. Mario always told him that he just needed to get over his inferiority complex and be more self-confident like him and people would sense it and be more receptive, but Luigi just figured he was being nice. It's easy enough to say how to get some when you're on the side with the greener grass.

Besides, Mario only liked girls, and only humans, so he didn't need to deal with the added stress of wondering if the object of his affection was even interested in men, much less deal with confusing cross-species contemplations like the ones currently making Luigi's insides flip-flop every time he made contact with a certain pair of twinkling black eyes. It was all too much for him, this latest crush of his: when he and Mario crossed paths with Peasley during their latest adventure, he was too hopped up on the thrill of the quest to think deeply about how foolish it was for him to be crushing on the prince. It was only after things settled down and Luigi found himself staring after Peasley, decked out for the party in a red full-length cape, an array of diamond rings in place of gloves, and a spotless white silk tunic, that he started to freak himself out.

At first he tried to simply resign himself to admire the prince from afar as discreetly as possible. Half the room seemed to be just as enamoured with him as Luigi was, so it's not like he stood out too much as he struggled and failed to keep his attention off the prince and on whoever was talking to Mario and himself. Or more specifically, to Mario, while Luigi watched: one thing this party had in common with the Mushroom Kingdom and even Brooklyn was that folks cared about Mario far more than Luigi, and he was rarely asked to chip in his two cents on whatever topic was at hand. Peasley made an effort to swing by periodically and spare both brothers a pithy remark and airy laugh, but the man in green was still quickly reaching his fill of empty festivities for the evening, and as soon as he noticed other party-goers drifting off, he decided to beat a not-so-conspicuous retreat back to his guest room.

But after the bright lights of the party, the hallways leading off from the grand ballroom were downright shadowy, and Luigi found himself completely turned around after only a couple minutes of wandering. Changing strategies, he decided that a simple break would help him clear his head and navigate the castle a bit more competently, and drifted to the next window he came across, which was down a short, dead-end hallway. Swinging open the pane of glass, Luigi leaned on the windowsill and smiled at the cool night air and the calm stillness of the starlit town below. He had always heard of the Beanbean Kingdom as being a quiet place, and he was glad he helped bring back that quiet after Cackletta's attack. That's what really mattered to him, after all: a job well done. Like any plumber worth his mettle, really. The thanks was bonus, although he admitted to himself that it would be nice if he got his fair share of the credit sometimes…

"Nice view, isn't it?"

Luigi jumped, straightening back up and whirling around to find Peasley standing behind him, his arms crossed and his mouth set in a crooked little smile. "Y- Your majesty," stammered Luigi as Peasley dragged his eyes up from… whatever he had been looking at before the human turned around.

The prince's smile slid wider as he sauntered up next to the plumber. It was only once he was at the window that he broke eye contact with the nervous plumber and looked out at the kingdom below. "I've always thought the land was at its most beautiful at night." He flicked his hair, but there were no bright lights to flash into Luigi's eyes. The moon wasn't even out – just the stars, and they weren't bright enough to blind with. Just dazzle, and Peasley knew it as he laughed and said, "But that's true for most things, wouldn't you agree?"

"Oh yeah," nodded Luigi, although Peasley's eyes were closed so the gesture was lost on him.

"You know… This view isn't nearly as good as the one on the roof." Peasley opened his eyes and grinned at Luigi. "I could use some fresh air, wouldn't you? Come, join me!"

"I-a- uh-" but before Luigi could beg off the invitation, Peasley had whistled up his flying bean and vaulted over the windowsill onto it.

"I can't stray from the party for too long, so don't keep me waiting," he called, before flying up and away. Luigi stuck his head out the window and watched the Beanish prince disappear over the edge of the roof above. He frowned: Peasley could've given him a ride if he was so worried about keeping this short. Why did he even want to hang out on the roof of all places? And now at all times? With Luigi of all people? The plumber sighed, but hoisted a leg up onto the windowsill just the same. He wasn't one to disobey royal commands, and while it didn't look like an easy trip to the roof, he was a Mario brother – scaling castles was second nature to him by that point.

-xxxxx-

"There you are," drawled Peasley as Luigi appeared over the edge of the tallest tower a couple minutes later. "I thought you'd get here sooner."

"Sorry," said Luigi as he walked over to the parapet where Peasley was sitting. He had his legs dangling off the outer edge of the battlements and his hands planted on the stone slightly behind him as he reclined back on locked arms. He watched Luigi over his shoulder, his head tilted back so that his golden yellow hair tumbled down his back. He was ridiculously fetching, and Luigi looked away quickly before a blush could give him away. There was no crowd to hide in now, and the stars were just bright enough to betray the flush already creeping into his cheeks.

Peasley smiled: it was the reaction he was looking for. And Luigi was just too cute. He probably doesn't know it, Peasley thought, he probably doesn't believe it when people tell him. He flicked his hair, watching through a cracked eyelid as the muted flash drew Luigi's attention back to him. I'll just have to show him, he resolved, before patting the bare patch of parapet beside him. "Come, sit. Enjoy the view of the kingdom you helped me save."

Luigi didn't argue that it was more like Peasley had helped him and Mario. Instead, he wordlessly crossed the last few feet of roof and hopped up next to the prince. There wasn't tonnes of room on the rock, but he didn't want to be rude and plunked himself down, scooting as far to the right as he could without falling into the crenel. The stone was perfectly smooth and still warm from the sunny day, and it would have been a perfectly pleasant perch if not for the fact that Peasley was seated only inches away and hadn't taken his eyes off Luigi once. He swallowed hard and simply stared straight ahead out over the Beanbean Kingdom, silently wishing for Peasley to turn his head away and do the same.

But Peasley didn't want to look away: he had been watching Luigi's face quite intently, reading his thoughts like a book, and he liked what he was seeing. The prince was a couple years younger than the plumber, but he was more experienced with this sort of thing. Everyone wanted a piece of him, it seemed.

Sometimes it got tiresome.

No, that was a lie. Peasley loved every minute of it. Every drop of attention, every hopeless suitor, every strutting peacock, every yearning look, every lusty mouth. Most didn't get what they wanted, of course. Peasley had refined tastes: most of his would-be paramours were miles out of their league. But Luigi wasn't a suitor: his desire was wrapped in fear and resistance and Peasley was keen to dig it out. It was a game he rarely got to play, and he knew he wasn't going to be disappointed: the Bean's victory was already foretold in the exotic redness of Luigi's cheeks.

Yes, Peasley had always liked humans – all the shades of skin colour, all the hair growing in such peculiar places, the big eyes and noses, the smell, the brilliant crimson blood. He didn't get to see many, however: mainly just his friends and immediate neighbours, Peach and Daisy. The provincial Mushroom Kings and their families were all in eastern Mushroom Kingdom, and Jewelry Land jutted out too far up the Sarasalandish west coast for him and Prince Pine and King Fret to interact much, and besides, Fret was old and both were straight, so that helped Peasley as much as his lady friends did. As in, not at all.

But Luigi was game. And he was cute. Peasley wondered why he was being shy now, when he had been a lot more obvious about his affections during the adventure. Maybe he had put more thought into it now that things had calmed down? Maybe he had put too much thought into it. Maybe Peasley would just have to do something about that.

Out of the corner of his eye, Luigi was quite aware that Peasley was still staring at him, and it was making him very nervous. He was as baffled by the prince's sudden friendliness as much as Peasley was by his reversion to his usual, shrinking-violet self. He cleared his throat. "You were right – it is a better-a view up here."

Peasley chuckled, and flicked his hair again. "It is, isn't it?"

Their eyes met, but Luigi quickly broke it. He didn't want to get his hopes up, after all. He had already figured out what was going on: Peasley was being friendly. That was all. Luigi had forgotten himself earlier, during the adventure, and he should just be glad that Peasley didn't think he was a fool for how he acted earlier. He was determined to keep his composure this time.

Peasley frowned ever so slightly. Luigi's shyness was a nice break from most of the handsome, swaggering, boring men who Peasley let get anywhere close to him, but the plumber playing hard to get was getting a bit boring too. Peasley wasn't the most patient man in the Beanbean Kingdom, and he knew his time was limited before the people downstairs started wondering where he had go to in earnest. Still, he wanted to butter Luigi up a bit more before he got what he wanted, so he smiled again. "And it's all thanks to you. There would be no peace in this land without you."

"Well, me and my bro," corrected Luigi, nervously cutting his eyes between Peasley and the horizon. He wasn't used to getting more than his fair share of kudos.

"I suppose... But it was you alone who saved me from that plant. And who knows what would have happened if I hadn't been free to play my part in everything."

"Oh yeah," nodded Luigi, letting out a small breath of relief. Peasley was giving himself too much credit again – things were getting back to normal.

"But I suppose this is all old hat to you by now," continued Peasley. "Saving kingdoms and rescuing royalty and being feted at grand parties and what have you."

"Usually Peach just thanks us with a kiss and a cake these days," shrugged Luigi. He could have left it at that, but something inside him compelled him to say more, and with a wry little smile, he admitted something else. "And… I've never-a saved a prince before, you know. I've-a helped Mario save the Mushroom Kings and-a Princess Peach, but I wasn't with him when he-a saved Prince Pine, so…"

"Oh, well there's a first time for everything," beamed Peasley.

"Oh yeah," nodded Luigi.

"To tell the truth… This is my first time for something too," said Peasley, lowering his voice to a murmur and leaning in closer.

"Oh?" Luigi didn't dare lean in too.

Peasley nodded. "I'm sure it's hard to believe, but I've never been called upon to save my kingdom before. Nothing has ever threatened us the way that vile witch did this time."

"Oh…" Luigi would have left it at that, but Peasley was very close to him, and looking expectant, so he cleared his throat again and added, "Well, you-a did a great job."

"I did, didn't I?" Peasley laughed, tossing his tresses again and almost brushing Luigi's face in the process, but the tickling little whoosh of air against his hot face and the smell of fresh-cleaned hair alone was enough to make him swoon.

What happened to being cool this time? Luigi admonished himself as he tried to recover from the rush before it became too obvious that his mind was swimming, but the embarrassment of the dignity he had already lost himself only made his blush deepen.

It took every inch of self restraint in Peasley to not jump the other man right then and there. Not yet. Not quite yet.

"You know… it's sort of my fault that it happened," said Peasley softly.

Luigi turned his whole head to face Peasley at that, an eyebrow cocked as he frowned in disbelief.

"It's true," insisted Peasley, twisting his body to face Luigi more directly as well, even as he focused his eyes somewhere past the other man's right shoulder. "There's a bit of a succession crisis, or rather, there will be in a few decades, but Cackletta couldn't wait that long and decided the lineage was weak enough to strike now."

"What do you mean? Succession-a crisis? But I thought-a you're the heir, so what's-a the problem?"

"Well you see, the Beanish crown is matrilineal. It is supposed to be passed mothers to daughters, but my mother only has me, a son."

"But you're-a the heir," repeated Luigi, also turning his torso to face Peasley, looking him straight in is suddenly clouded eyes. "Isn't the crown going to-a pass to you?"

"Yes, because they have no choice and everyone loves me so no one will complain." Peasley snorted, his mouth twisted as he rolled his eyes towards the stars. "But then what?"

"Then, you have a kid and it all-a works out?" It surprised Luigi how agitated the usually calm, composed Peasley was getting.

Peasley shook his head, his voice continuing to get louder and sharper as he continued. "It must be through the female: pollen can come from any old male, but there is no question about who dropped the seeds."

"But, technology!" Luigi drew his legs up from over the edge: Peasley had gotten him too worked up to let them dangle carefreely over the edge anymore. He tucked them under his body and faced Peasley directly as he finished his thought, leaning forward with his hands planted on the smooth rock before him, on either side. "Like-a the DNA stuff: it's come really far, and you can get-a paternity tests."

Peasley was shaking his head again, the pale starlight glinting off the gold as he also shifted his body into mirror of Luigi's kneel, their hands and knees almost touching. "It's no good: it's tradition, and when I die, the throne will be up for grabs."

"But-a traditions change! And you-a said it yourself: everyone-a loves you! In the party, all eyes were on-a you. If they-a love you so much, they'll accept-a your heir too, I'm-a sure!" Luigi's eyes were round as he tried to get through to his friend, desperate to cheer him up after this sudden flash of melodrama, although part of him wondered if being a drama queen was part of Peasley's MO in general. Part of him also took note of how he could feel the heat from Peasley's knees radiating out to him over the cooling stone parapet, but he tried to ignore that.

Peasley smiled warmly. "I appreciate your confidence, but even if what you say is true, there will be no heirs forthcoming from me."

"Why not?" asked Luigi, panicked thoughts flying through his head. Was Peasley barren? Had he been injured? Was it disease? And why was he laughing?

He doesn't get it! Peasley was both touched and amused by the stricken look on the plumber's moustached face: clearly, he feared that Peasley's childless future wasn't by choice, but because there was something tragically wrong with him. Well, it wasn't by choice, but there was nothing wrong with Peasley. He flicked his hair as his laughter rang out, shining starlight into Luigi's unblinking eyes as he leaned in even closer.

"My mother never thought she'd be stuck with only a son," said Peasley, still grinning wildly as he finally said aloud something he had carried with him for so long. It was something he never bothered the others with, and indeed, which he didn't bother himself with most of the time. But he knew Luigi, who everyone wished was more like Mario, would understand, and he wasn't going to let the opportunity pass. "Obviously, things didn't go according to plan, but while she didn't get the daughter she wanted, I like to think she got the next best thing."

Peasley was right: Luigi could understand what it was like to feel like you're the short end of someone's stick. But he was surprised to hear anything remotely like that coming from the pretty mouth of the beloved Beanbean Prince. And he didn't understand that last bit at all. "What are you talking abou-"

The answer to Luigi's unfinished question came in the form of Peasley's mouth locking onto his. All his confused and concerned thoughts vanished in an instant, replaced by one single inner voice chanting mama mai mama mia mama mia in disbelief as Peasley kissed him and he kissed back. The rest of his body was held rigid and unmoving upon the hard stone battlements as he focused on copying the prince's lead, his last kiss having been a tentative mess years previously, and nothing like the assured movements of the other man's lips on his.

Correction: lips and tongue – Peasley moved fast. But Luigi was fine with that. The Beanish prince tasted bittersweet, like nothing Luigi had experienced before and as the kisses deepened he found himself longing for even more. He could barely stop himself from moaning into Peasley's equally hungry mouth as slick flesh and hot spit twisted together. His head was spinning too, and his tingling fingers felt like his Thunderhand was activated – he longed to reach up and run them through the flashy blonde hair, but he didn't dare make any such move without Peasley leading the way. He didn't want to push it: Peasley was out of his league, and this sudden combustion of desire was a privilege. Part of Luigi was still convinced what was happening was a dream, even as Peasley finally pulled back and gave him a smolderingly seductive smile that told him it wasn't over yet.

"So…" said Peasley, interspersing his speech with more quick pecks, determined to not let Luigi's lips go idle for more than seconds at a time. "Whose … thank-you-for-rescuing-me … kisses … are better … hmmm? … Mine … … or Peach's?"

Luigi was almost surprised to hear himself answer the question through the fog of burning green lust as Peasley finally paused his incessant attentions. "Actually, she only ever kisses us on the nose or cheek or…"

"Oh, I see..." Luigi was silenced by another long, lingering kiss, this time with Peasley's hands coming up off the stone and cupping his burning cheeks. Peasley pulled back again, his black eyes twinkling in the starlight as he ran a bare finger over Luigi's slackened lips. "Well, her loss," he shrugged.

With another smile, Peasley slid closer, and then right into Luigi's lap, straddling the kneeling human and wrapping his arms around Luigi's neck and back to bring their bodies flush against each other as he put an end to conversation once and for all. The courtship dance had taken longer than he would have hoped, and he was determined to squeeze every last drop of enjoyment out of the few minutes they had left that night. But as the groan of pleasure Peasley had been listening for finally escaped the human, and faintly electric fingers buried into his golden scalp, the Beanbean Prince decided that the results were well worth the wait.

-xxxxx-

Luigi never made it back to the party, but Peasley made sure to return before someone came looking for him, and did an excellent job as always to hide what he had been up to on the roof. It was an open secret which way he swung, of course, but he wanted to keep this particular who private.

They even put on a little show when it was time for the Mushroomians to return to their kingdom – or, at least Peasley was putting on a show when he dodged Luigi's attempt for a glomp or goodbye kiss or whatever, but he felt like the plumber's tears of rejection were acting too. He hoped they were, at any rate: he wanted to make Luigi cry, yes, but not that way, and not with an audience.

No, what they had, and what he hoped to continue next time the two met, would remain Peasley and Luigi's dirty little secret. Just between them – and the twinkling stars above.

The End