[Last time we left off, Luigi and Bowser were hurdling into a mysterious forest that they had been flying over, after being attacked by some mysterious enemy. Who could have attacked them? And furthermore, why? These questions are second to the most important question... where are they, and how do they get out?]
Luigi coughed leaves out of his mouth as he came to, and immediately fell out of the tree he had landed on. Groaning, he stood up, aching all over.
But he was alive.
And judging by the loud growling and roaring sounds, Bowser was alive, too, and not in a good mood.
Fearing the greater koopa's anger, Luigi started to run in the opposite direction from the angry noises.
He could hear Bowser angrily demanding help. Then... sadly pleading for help.
Luigi stopped in his tracks and sighed. Why did he have to be a hero?
He turned around and walked towards the loud and scary sounds, cursing himself for the good morals he and Mario always aspired to, helping everyone in need, even if they're enemies.
And it's true that while they weren't always met witth gratitude, sometimes they found great allies that way, too.
It wasn't long before Luigi found Bowser, having crashed through a tree, utterly stuck in it.
Bowser turned to look at Luigi and snarled... which would have been intimidating if Bowser's cheeks didn't flush red from embarrassment.
"Oh look, it's Green Stache, here to laugh at the big bad Bowser stuck in a tree!"
Luigi tried to not laugh, but he couldn't help it – he actually did start laughing at the comical sight, which just made Bowser roar and start struggling more, which just made Luigi laugh harder.
All tension removed, Luigi wiped a tear from his eye and approached the very stuck Bowser,
"What are you doing!?" Bowser cried, "Keep your plumbing hands off of me!"
"Now Bowser, believe it or not, I'm here to help you out," Luigi said, grinning, "Though if you breathe fire at me, I might just run for my life and leave you here."
"No, don't!" Bowser said, suddenly fearful. If that fear wasn't so genuine, Luigi might have found it comical. He should have found it comical. But it sobered him up a bit. "I'll be good, just please get me out of here."
Luigi nodded and walked around the tree. It seemed like the only options were to either pull him out or push him out from behind. He told the King as much.
"Pull! I don't want you anywhere near my tail – not after what you brothers keep doing with it!"
Luigi briefly remembered how he and Mario would swing him around by said tail and fought back a chuckle. He resolved to try pulling Bowser out. Grabbing him by a hand, he pulled hard, bracing himself against the tree itself.
"Ow ow OW OW STOP!" Bowser cried, and Luigi stopped. Bowser fought back the urge to cry from the pain. "The wood's digging into my body!"
Luigi rubbed his chin for a moment. He could remember sometting – when he and Mario were children, Mario got his finger stuck in a small hole, and their father used something slick to grease it with so he could pull the finger out.
"Hold on for a moment, Bowser, I'll be right back!"
Bowser whimpered pitifully, unable to do anything else.
It didn't take Luigi long to find what he was looking for – a tree with a plenty of sap oozing off of it. Luigi took a large piece of bark and gathered as much of the sap on it as he could. It was sticky and slick – perfect! When he thought he'd gathered enough, he took it back to Bowser.
"What are you going to do with that, Green?" Bowser asked, eyeing the sap suspiciously.
"I'm gonna grease you up and pop you out of there like cork out of a bottle!"
Bowser raised an eyebrow at that and Luigi laughed self-consciously, "It sounded better in my head."
With that, Luigi set to greasing Bowser, starting at the back end. Bowser grumbled, probably because Luigi was near his tail, but Luigi got the edges of Bowser's hips greased up, and...
...Was it getting hot in the forest suddenly? Luigi fanned himself, feeling a bit flushed, before moving around to the front, greasing the back of Bowser's shell and around his belly.
Bowser snorted... multiple times.
Luigi paused for a moment... and experminetally poked at Bowser's side. Bowser snorted again.
Oh my Stars... Luigi thought, and he found himself grinning.
"Oh Bowseerrrrrr... are you ticklish?" Luigi asked.
Bowser's fearful face said it all, "No! Ofcoursenot! I'mnotticklishatall! Don'tyoudare!"
Luigi grinned, "Then I guess you'll be fine if I do this."
Gathering sap in both hands, he started to aggressively grease all around Bowser's belly and sides, using his fingers more than anything.
Bowser didn't even last one second before he started to guffaw and laugh, struggling.
"Nohohoho! Stahahap that! Plehehhease!"
"If you want me to stop, you'll have to call me by name!"
"Greeheheheeen! Pleease stahahahap!"
"That's not my name~" Luigi said, now blatantly tickling Bowser's belly. Bowser tried to swipe his hands away but Luigi was too quick for him, moving around.
"LUIGI STAAHAHAHAP!"
Luigi grinned, stopping, and Bowser panted for air, cheeks redder than a super mushroom.
"Happy now, Gr- Luigi?" Bowser said, hastily correcting himself.
"Yep."
And with that, Luigi grabbed Bowser's hand and pulled once again. After a strenuous moment of tugging, Bowser popped out of the hole in the tree, landing on the ground.
Luigi, feeling quite proud of himself, went to help Bowser up, grabbing him by the hand.
Bowser responded by standing up, lifting the much smaller plumber into the air, grinning angrily at him.
"You're gonna going to tell no one about what happened here, or I will be adding 'Roast Luigi' to my dinner options, capiche?" Bowser said, grinning maliciously.
Luigi nodded rapidly, suddenly regretting many of his life's decisions leading up to this point.
"Good. Now, I would take you prisoner, but with no airship, that would mean carrying you the entire way to my castle, and uh..." Bowser looked around, dropping Luigi, "I don't even know where that is anymore."
And that's when Luigi realized that they were completely and totally lost.
Bowser and Luigi sat near a fire that night, waiting for someone to come find them. Hopefully, the fire would attract anyone looking for them, whether they were Toads or Bowser's army. At this point, Luigi would take either.
In their mutual silence, Luigi pondered the events of the day. That strange dream this morning, the way he reciprocated Bowser's affection in the second dream... he couldn't exactly call them nightmares. Nightmares were scary. These dreams were just... he didn't know what to think of them.
Looking at Bowser, he observed him in a new light – literally, he'd never seen him in front of a campfire before. Bowser stared into the campfire, deep in thought. Bowser wasn't... conventionally attractive, by any means. Not being human, for one. And yet, Luigi felt maybe... just maybe... there was something...
"So, uh, how are you and Daisy?" Bowser said, Luigi nearly jumping a foot into the air at the silence being broken suddenly, "You two still going steady or...?"
Luigi laughed nervously, trying to pretend he wasn't just staring at Bowser intensely, "Oh, well, uh... actually, we broke up."
"Oh, uh... that's harsh?" Bowser said. It was clear that he was not good at small talk.
"Not really. It was sort of a mutual decision – we got together during a tennis event and started dating then, but we realized that the relationship wouldn't seriously go anywhere so we decided to break it off. We're still good friends, though, and we've become pen pals."
"Pen... pals?" Bowser asked, tilting his head inquisitively.
"We write to each other now, telling each other about our lives, that sort of thing."
"Ah..." Bowser said, looking down at the ground, "I guess that sounds nice?"
"You don't have a friend to write to?" Luigi asked
"I don't really have a friend, period." Bowser said timidly.
The awkward silence fell over the duo like a rainy cloud.
"I uh... guess I could be your friend?"
Bowser snorted, "No way! I don't need friends anyways, I've got a kingdom, I've got my son, and I've got the Seven Koopalings! I'm not so lonely that I'm willing to buddy up with a plumber!"
"Ah, well, uh... good for you?" Luigi said, awkwardly.
The awkward silence returned.
"...So, uh... about Junior... I've always wondered... who's his 'mama?'"
Bowser sighed, "Someone who I would rather not remember. I banished her, and she returned only to dump Junior on my doorstep." He grimaced, "He's literally the only good thing about that relationship."
"Ah... well at least you have that, then," Luigi said, nodding, "You may be a lot of things, Bowser, but you're a good dad."
Bowser seemed taken aback by the genuine compliment, but he smirked pridefully nonetheless.
Neither of them said anything more that night. They didn't need to.
[Oh boy, looks like they're starting to become a bit friendlier with each other now! And a cute little bit of teasing by Luigi, too. Luigi's starting to get some feelings there. Also, yay for Bowser attempting small talk! I didn't want to rush this relationship, though Luigi is just starting to realize he finds Bowser attractive.]