A/N: Woah, four reviews? I think that's the most I've ever gotten for the first chapter of a story. Thanks, everyone!
No, not much happens in this chapter. But we'll get to action soon enough.
* * * CHAPTER 2 * * *
Luigi tightened his weather-worn green scarf around his neck for the third time as he stepped over the threshold, venturing out into the cold, windy air outside. It was winter – well, actually November, but he never believed that. Anyone who still insisted it was autumn was given blank stares from everybody around.
He let out a breath that vaporised in front of his nose and set off at a brisk walk towards the centre of town. It was Friday and he was late for work, not that he cared very much. It was hard to care about anything when he so often felt like the world was falling apart around him – a feeling reinforced when he looked up and saw the ruined remains of Peach's once-magnificent white castle on the horizon. But there was one little thing he still looked forward to seeing each day.
The bell above the door tinkled as he entered the coffee shop where he'd been working for two months. There were already a few customers seated at the little tables, including a pair of young Toads who were giggling quietly over something they must have found amusing. The only other occupied table was taken by someone he knew well.
Luigi felt something like nervousness rising inside him, but resolutely turned his eyes away from the one person he'd hoped not to see this morning, and walked past them as if they weren't there.
'Hey, Mr. Eyeballs!' the taunting, snide voice yelled at him, and he tried his hardest not to flinch. 'You ignorin' me, weegee? Hey! Get over here and stop wimping around in the corner or I'll –'
'Shut up, freak!' a clear female voice shouted back at him, and the man's angry tones subsided into inaudible muttering. 'Waluigi giving you a hard time again?' she added more quietly as Luigi walked up to the counter.
'Thanks, Daisy,' he replied, trying not to glance over his shoulder at the purple-clad man sitting at the table.
'No problem. C'mon over here, I'll get us a coffee.'
He followed her around the back of the counter, where two bar stools had been placed carefully out of Waluigi's line of sight. Despite himself he felt a little smile curving up one side of his face. 'You don't need to do this.'
'Yeah, but I'm going to anyway,' she replied without missing a beat. As Luigi settled down, she came back and handed him a paper cup full of scalding-hot coffee. He accepted it with a murmur of gratitude. Afterwards neither of them spoke for a while, just enjoying their drinks and watching the sun rise through the eastern window. The clear blue sky reminded him of the days when he and Mario had helped Princess Peach sneak away from her royal quarters to play tennis, or kart racing, or even football. She had always loved spending time with the two brothers, Mario especially, and was glad to have a way to escape the suffocating pressure of her normal life in the castle. The toad guards had never quite discovered what they were up to, but Peach had thought Toadsworth knew.
Those warm summer evenings felt like years ago.
Suddenly a hand rested on his arm, and he looked around in mild surprise and nearly sloshed the remainder of his coffee on the floor. But it was just Daisy. She was wearing an expression of gentle concern that made him realise she must have been watching him all along.
'What are you thinking of, Weegee?' The nickname didn't hold the cruel edge of Waluigi's voice. She didn't know it, but Daisy was the only person in the whole of the Mushroom Kingdom who could call him Weegee and get away with it.
'Hm? Oh, nothing. Just... reminiscing.' He gave a quiet, bitter laugh. 'Daisy, do you ever have that feeling where you wish so strongly to go back to how things used to be? To go back to... the past?'
'Back before everything happened.' She nodded, understanding. She always seemed to understand him somehow, even when he was rambling complete nonsense that made Mario raise eyebrows at him. At the thought of Mario, he almost wanted to cry. But he would not break down in front of Daisy, in front of the entire population of the coffee shop (such as it was). He drew in a deep breath and started talking again, fast.
'I remember when Mario and I used to play sports with the princess on hot summer days. I remember when you and I walked down the beach that evening and ate ice-cream...' Luigi trailed off, blushing slightly. He and Daisy weren't officially 'together' in that sense of the word, but he hoped she considered him more than just another of her friends. He was too nervous to ask her about it.
But she was nodding again, seemingly lost in thought and not noticing his momentary lapse. 'Yeah. It feels like so long ago, doesn't it? I mean, it's only been about two months since Mario left.' She looked at him for confirmation, but hesitated when she saw his forlorn expression. 'He'll be back, Luigi,' she said in a matter-of-fact tone. 'And with any luck, he'll have Peach with him. You know what your brother's like – he'd never give up until he's found her and gotten her to safety. I'll be surprised if we don't hear he's blown up Bowser's stinking Castle on a single-handed rescue mission.' She smiled slightly, hopefully.
Luigi shrugged, but he couldn't seem to stop his own smile coming. Daisy rarely failed to cheer him up; she was good at finding the right words to make anyone feel better. Then he remembered that Daisy had also been a close friend of Peach, and was probably worrying about the lost princess almost as much as Mario had been.
'Sometimes I wonder if I should join the war too,' he sighed thoughtfully, staring at his own interlocked, gloved fingers. 'That way I could be with Mario again, help him fight and save the princess...'
Daisy placed her empty coffee cup on the counter and reached out to grip his arm hard. 'Don't even think about it!' she said warningly. 'Mario joined the army because he had a very good reason to, and nobody could have stopped him once he'd made up his mind. But you don't need to go, Luigi. You can easily stay here and wait for him to come back. And if you run off to Bowser's Badlands without me knowing, you will regret it.'
'But it's not easy,' Luigi whined, attempting unsuccessfully to pry her fingers off his wrist. 'Waiting for everybody to come home, listening to the spiny shell bombs exploded all over town at night, seeing the castle ruined... how can you say it's easy? It's difficult. Too difficult.'
Her eyes softened fractionally, but still held a firm edge that refused to disappear, and her next words made a chill run up his spine. 'If you run off to join the war, Luigi, I'll follow you.'
He nearly gasped, then briefly wondered if she was just trying to scare him into not doing it. But there wasn't a hint of doubt in her face, nothing whatsoever that might indicate she was joking or lying. 'Y-you would?' he stammered.
She released his arm. 'Yes, I would. So don't even consider going there, Weegee. Toad Town has lost enough brave people, what with Peach and Mario gone to Bowser's Badlands... we don't need to lose you too.'
He coughed and pulled the brim of his cap down over his eyes, not wanting her to see how surprised – and flattered – he was at having any part of himself described as 'brave'. He was the weak cowardly younger brother; everyone knew that. Even Mario, when he was at home, seemed to want to protect him. As if he were incapable of looking after himself! Not to mention most of Toad Town's citizens couldn't even remember his real name, usually addressing him as 'Green Mario' or something more insulting. Daisy was the only one who considered him to be as much of a hero as his older brother was.
Adjusting his cap again, he looked back at her and found her smirking slightly in his direction.
'Done?' she asked teasingly, then stood up and threw their empty coffee cups in the rubbish bin. 'Listen, there's no work to be done here – I already served the customers -' judging by her irritable tone, he guessed she was thinking about Waluigi '- and everything else has been taken care of. Why don't we go for a walk together through town?'
Is she asking me on a... date? some part of Luigi's mind was saying idly. The bigger part was panicking, and his mouth had blurted out the words, 'A... walk?'
She grinned. 'Yes, Weegee, a walk. We could even play some tennis if you want, I know it's your favourite sport.' She headed for the front door without glancing bacj, leaving him with little choice but to follow. But he couldn't really bring himself to complain, even though it was freezing cold outside and he'd expected to spend the morning in the warm interior of a coffee shop.
'Hold up!' he called after her, then set off in hasty pursuit.
