A/N: Howdy ya'll! I'm glad that everyone liked my little idea, so I hope ya'll will enjoy the ride! And gah, I'm very sorry for the late update, I was run over with writer's block. ._. Hopefully I can get back to my other fics that need to be updated, so bear with me.

The silence stretched to the point that it became awkward, Luigi coughing nervously and shifting on his feet. His electric blue eyes darted around as he wrung his hands, a nervous habit Mario was very familiar with. Thinking about his older brother's reaction to finding out that he had saved the Shadow Queen's pet made a chill run down his spine, but he knew it would be explosive simply because of his overprotective nature.

Many in the Mushroom Kingdom don't think of the Mario Bros as humans with faults, all they see are perfect heroes that never fail. Some Toads think that Mario never cares about Luigi's feelings, due to all the adventures he doesn't make his brother go on. But no one knew his brother like he did, he didn't go on solo adventures to hog the fame and glory all for himself. He did it because he didn't want his brother to get hurt, or heaven forbid, killed when he could prevent it.

Luigi never held any hate for Mario, just love at the fact his brother would do anything to keep him out of harm's way, even at the danger of his own life. He was pulled out of those thoughts at the sound of the red dragon moving, and her voice cut through the air like steel "You...you smell like the red garbed one..but with fear. Why would a cowardly worm like you save me? You should've ran while you had the chance, human." Hearing the tone in her weakened voice, and looking at the sneer on her face caused an unusual wave of anger to go through him.

How dare she?! After him saving her when he didn't have to, she had the gall to talk to him like that?!

"Excuse me?! I didn't have to save your scaly behind, so how dare you talk down at me like that?! I could've just left you to die here, but my conscience wouldn't allow it. If you don't want me to leave you here, then I highly suggest an attitude adjustment or you'll be one lonely dragon. You understand me?" Luigi didn't realize that he had yelled at her until he saw the stupefied look on her face, along with a dash of anger.

He wilted inside soon as the anger and burst of courage faded, for he realized why she looked like that. She probably wasn't used to someone standing up to her and talking smack, instead of screaming or begging for their lives. Hooktail's gray eyes blazed darkly, and the look she sent him made the blood freeze in Luigi's veins.

"Let me give you a piece of advice, pitiful human. Talk to me like that again, and that will be the last words choked out from your throat. You understand me?" Those last words were spat to mock him, but Luigi wasn't stupid enough to challenge her. She may be weak now, but she wouldn't be like that forever.

Why did he save her life again? Oh right, because of his blasted conscience and stinkin' hero complex. The Star Spirits must be laughing at his bad luck right now, he just knew they were going to troll him in the months ahead.

'Great, life royally sucks now.' Luigi couldn't help but think, cursing at his bad luck that followed him around like a Chain-Chomp.

"For the love of mercy, why can't being a hero ever be easy?" Mario muttered as he made his way home. Peach has been rescued, Bowser's behind was put on another silver platter, and all was good in the world. So why did he feel so uneasy as he thought about his younger sibling? He shook his head, trying to dispel the dark, gloomy clouds of his thoughts while holding the bag that held a cake from Peach.

Even though that sweet treat smelled divine, all he wanted to do was hop in the shower and bandage his wounds. Almost like they had a mind of their own, soon as Mario thought of them that's when they began to sear with pain. His breath hissing out, the red capped plumber gritted his teeth and ignored it. After all, he suffered from far worse while hunting for the Crystal Stars. What he collected from Bowser was mere scratches, something peroxide and a few bandages won't fix. Unless the wounds were life threatening, he and Luigi didn't bother with Mushrooms for there was no need to have a bunch.

They did have a limit for staying edible, and unless they had no choice the humans would choke down Dried Shrooms. "Ick." He cringed at the thought of eating those things, his lip curling back in disgust. Before he knew it, he was standing in front of their house. Looking over at the mailbox, he was surprised to see that it was empty.

Of course, he wasn't the most tidy brother so if Luigi didn't get the mail every two days the mailbox would be overflowing. He couldn't help but chuckle, thinking of the neat freak well...freaking out over all the mail not being sorted on the table. Oh, Luigi was so adorable even when he didn't try to be that way.

"Home sweet home..." The hero sighed with pure relief, picking up his pace to the best of his ability. Fighting with the door, he bit back a curse due to nearly dropping Peach's cake. That wouldn't been pleasant, that's for sure. Cheering when he finally got it open, he made his way inside and locked the door once he shut it.

"Luigi?" He called out, frowning at the silence that greeted him back. That was unusual, for he was usually at the dining room table once he returned. Shrugging, he made his way on over to it and placed the bag down. 'Okay, first thing to do is get cleaned up.' His nose wrinkled at the smell of his body odor, his face turning red as his cap once he realized Peach had to endure his 'glorified, heroic musk' as Luigi liked to call it.

Resisting the urge to slam his face onto the table, he groaned in both embarrassment and frustration at how poor Peach always smelled that after being rescued. "Dang blast it Bowser, you wouldn't give me a free weekend in months after my adventure so you had to be a complete troll." Cursing the Koopa's existence as he stumbled to the bathroom, he hoped Luigi was having better luck than he was.

Sadly for the green capped plumber, he'd rather fight Bowser blindfolded than having to deal with that kind of threat again. Shivering with the warning she gave him, he made his way home once he had no more reason to be there. Ugh, what he needed was a nice mug of hot chocolate. He hoped it didn't splash on him, that's all he'll need to stockpile the bad luck.

Shaking his head, he just hoped his brother was showering first before he dove into his bed. It really irked him, especially since the sheets and blanket were washed the day before! And there he goes again, ready for Mario's head to roll because of his tidiness. The older sibling always swore that he has OCD, a fact he viciously denied with every fiber of his being.

All he could think of as their house made it's way into his vision, was that he prayed he didn't make the biggest mistake of his life by saving the dragon's own. Because if it was, it would be the last thing he'd ever do.

Back in the meadow near Toad Town, Hooktail scoffed after Luigi had left her vision. Her shock and anger had faded a bit from earlier, but it still simmered as she thought about the sheer stupidity of how he talked back to her. She slowly raised her head, her gray eyes nonchalantly checking the slightly healed injuries on her body.

"Hmph, that human is both foolhardy and weak. I have no need for him." After she said that, her stomach rumbled with hunger. Based on all the trees, she knew some foolish Koopa or Toad would wander their way over here. But that was no concern, for they won't be going back to their families. 'Oh well, that's just life.' That was the morbid thought that went through her skull, she had been eating poor souls like that for the last few centuries and nothing would change that.

*Dodges mass of weapons thrown at me* I'm sorry guys, I know this wasn't much but I wanted to expand the character's personalities before I get into the groove of things. But there is something that's been bugging me, and I'd like to hear ya'lls opinion on it:

Should this be a slice of life fic before the events of Super Paper Mario, or should there be another world crisis? Depending on what idea ya'll want, how many chapters should this be?

But aside from all that, I hope ya'll enjoyed this!