The first thing that Mario noted was the chinking of latte glasses and the chatter of business and gossip as he wandered into the café he'd been appointed to meet at. It was a good sound, a comfort, something that was beautifully familiar even on this alien soil. He hadn't been to Sarasaland often, but he felt at home knowing it was more or less a human settlement. His kind were still a minority anywhere in this world, but it seemed that most of them had decided to settle here, and as a result the diverse, global mesh of human cultures present tended to give off the vibe of an anthropology theme park. It was a weak imitation of home, but one he could appreciate from time to time – and there were some things that always remained similar.
He noticed Daisy sitting outside with a drink for herself at a table with a spare seat and coffee, waving him down rather conspicuously. A year or so back he might have been surprised that she didn't cover up and try to hide her face when out and about, but after spending so much time with Princess Peach, and accumulating some fame himself, he'd tended to notice that people would rarely approach you without a reason, nothing like the celebrity world back on Earth – at least in the city, that was the general case.
"Bongiorno, principesa." He bowed his head and smiled, tipping his cap to Daisy and removing it to place on the table as he sat. "It's been a while, how are things?"
Daisy tilted her head either side as she developed a response. "I guess things have been okay… I mean, everything's fine, of course, it's just…" She didn't seem to be finding her words easily.
"You wanted my help with something?" He said casually, taking a sip of the coffee she'd provided.
"… Yeah, that."
Mario raised an eyebrow. "I was admittedly confused by your message, it's pretty clear there's no invasion going on, so what kind of problem is this?"
"A personal one, I guess."
The man froze, a little confused and feeling that he might be out of his depth here. "How might I be of use, then? Surely you have advisors and counsellors at the castle who know how to-"
"-It's about Luigi, I thought you might be able to help because, well, you guys are pretty tight-knit. You know this guy better than I do."
Daisy started fiddling with her gloves a little. They'd only been going out for a very short time – about a month ago Daisy had asked him out and since then Mario had noticed he'd been taking a number of trips over to Sarasaland, but Luigi hadn't volunteered much information and Mario hadn't pushed him to. He was happy enough to see his brother finally manning up and seeing Daisy, he hadn't bothered to check beyond that.
"Things not going so well, then?" Mario inquired gently.
Daisy shrugged and leant in. "I really don't know if this is gonna last all that long, Mario. I thought if we got closer we might, y'know… I just hoped he'd calm down a bit, but he's worse than ever. He's so awkward to be around."
"What?" Mario almost laughed, but suppressed it to a brief, sharp exhalation. "Luigi's nervous? Of course he is, he really likes you! He doesn't know what to do with – well, any woman – but the fact that you're a princess and that he's really worried about screwing things up with you means he's… gonna screw things up twice as bad."
"He doesn't seem to like me all that much." Daisy said with a touch of insecurity.
Mario stopped. "… How so? I saw him cutting up our entire front garden into a bouquet the last time he left to meet up with you."
"Well he never says it! He hasn't even kissed me on the lips and I have to really push to get him to hold my hand. He jumps and apologises for so much as brushing my shoulder! How could he possibly like me if he's not even comfortable around me?" Daisy slumped. "It's not like I expected at all, I expected him to be… well…"
"Expected him to be what?"
"I dunno, more like you I guess."
It was Mario's turn to respond, but he honestly had nothing to say. Eye contact with Daisy was suddenly less comfortable, so he decided to stare into his drink that was no doubt going to go cold at this rate. He was glad that the roar of the busy café hadn't faltered, he half expected it to just to make the moment less comfortable. Daisy suddenly realised what she'd vocalised.
"Wait, that sounded dumb." Daisy restarted. "Sorry."
"What I mean is I still remember seeing you after you rescued me from Tatanga. You were really nice to me. You treated me like a pal from the start and I really appreciated that. You were just, cool, y'know? I hate when people are too nice, because I'm a girl or because I'm a princess. I came over for tennis and parties and stuff and we were always just buddies – we could laugh and make jokes, and I'd seen Luigi being like that around you and Toad, I thought you guys were more similar. I really like Luigi, and I thought we could be a little bit like that, but… I guess not."
Mario shook his head. "Daisy, you've got it all wrong. Luigi's acting like an idiot exactly because he likes you. We're not as different as you might think, I've done it too – the stakes are higher when you like someone more. Trust me, he wants to, he just won't, he always wants someone else to make the first move."
"But doesn't he already know what to do? He's the one who's dated other people, I… I'm useless in this situation."
"Never been… courted, as it were?" He couldn't think of a better word for what he was assuming royal matchmaking was.
Daisy shrugged, "I guess after blowing a few guys off they just kinda stopped coming. Not that I regret that, they were all total prancers. What I like about Luigi is that he's down-to-earth. Just a guy, y'know? Not that he acts it when he comes over."
"He's just trying a little too hard – dating a princess is pretty intimidating to someone as common as a tradesman, you've got to understand. Experience doesn't matter that much, anyways, things follow pretty naturally – there are a few bumps the first time you date a guy, and it'll get smoother the more you go out, but Daisy, you'll be fine. He's not gonna pick up on anything subtle so you just have you bite the bullet and make the first move. If you ask me I'd bet he'll start making an effort to get closer if you do." Mario smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Most people tend to."
Daisy nodded, and took a moment to absorb this information. "So I guess this is all gonna be pretty awkward, huh?"
Mario couldn't stop himself from laughing this time. "Daisy, if it wasn't already, it will be. As long as you communicate, and love and trust each other that'll be okay, though. What's important is that you like each other enough to let yourself be awkward. And I think you should let him know that you want to be informal like that, because he doesn't understand at this point."
"Okay, I think we'll have a talk the next time he comes over, maybe we're both anticipating a bit too much."
Mario smiled and nodded. "I hope it works out." He raised his coffee and took a swig, and swallowed it thoughtfully. "Not quite stone-cold, not quite drinkable, damn."
Daisy laughed. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have ordered it before you showed up – let me get you another one."
"Don't sweat it, I'll pay." Mario said, reaching for his back pocket. "I oughta have lunch here while I'm at it, it's a long way back to the Mushroom Kingdom – how much was that coffee?"
As he took his wallet out, Daisy put her hand on his to stop him. "I'm a damn princess, you're a guest in this kingdom, and I am paying for your lunch. That chivalrous charm might work on Peach but I'm having none of it."
Mario blinked, but quickly recovered from the surprise and smiled at her cheekily. "Daisy, you have no idea how well it works for Peach. I'm not used to being knocked back like this, you know."
Daisy threw her head back and laughed. "Maybe I'm glad Luigi's not quite like you."
They continued to jest and talk for hours over lunch. Daisy got to hear some hilarious stories of Mario and Luigi's childhood, some of which she had to swear not to repeat to him lest he faint of embarrassment. It was an excellent afternoon full of cheer and friendship.
-
It was only a few days later that Mario noticed Luigi heading out to see Daisy yet again.
He was about to leave the house with a set of kitchen scissors when Mario stopped him.
"Going out to mangle the garden again?"
Luigi shrugged, "Yeah, got another date with Daisy tonight."
"Well with any luck you won't be home." He taunted.
Luigi's face didn't seem to know whether to go bright red or lose colour altogether. After pausing for a moment he scoffed at his brother's poor sense of humour and decided to respond to the remark by slamming the door and just walking away.
As if he had a chance at spending the night with Daisy – what the hell did Mario mean by that? Whatever he didn't know about the princess, he knew enough about Luigi to know that he was barely managing conversation across these last few weeks, let alone that. His brother was just having a joke, again, at his expense. It wasn't his fault that Mario always seemed to have some kind of smooth relationship running while he didn't. Well, actually, it was, but it was no reason to pick on him.
"Spend the night with her, what a load. I'll be lucky to last a few hours before embarrassing myself so badly that I'll have to leave."
-
Mario was woken at about 3 the next morning when Luigi started tapping on their bedroom window from outside. He looked exhausted and embarrassed, and was miming for his brother to let him into the house.
"Idiot forgot his key, seriously?" Mario muttered as he dragged himself out of his warm bed and made his way down the bunk's ladder. He shot Luigi a glare through the window. The guilt-laden brother in green rather promptly ran around to the front door to be let in.
"Thanks bro, sorry about that…"
"No problems, Weegie, just take your damn key next time. Man, I was gonna sleep in this morning…" He started to head back to bed, rubbing his eyes.
"Hey, Mario?" Half awake, the man gave no remark but turned to face his brother, indicating that he was listening.
"I made half the night, what does that count for?" Luigi raised his brow and crossed his arms. He should have felt remorse at waking his brother, but he was too overwhelmed at how well things had gone with Daisy that he didn't care – and the bastard deserved it for making that comment earlier. Mario, on the contrary, was too overwhelmed at having been woken up that he didn't particularly bother to enquire about how the date had gone, and didn't have the energy for a smug little brother at this point.
"Next time see if you can stay the whole night, okay? Didn't she even offer you a guest room at the castle?"
"Yeah, but I wanted to come and tell you how it went." Luigi's smile broke into a grin as he pulled the house key out of his pocket. "I thought you deserved to know as soon as possible."