He listened with mounting horror as Peach explained the details of the— the—
Ruse.
That's what it was, really. In some ways, Luigi supposed the terms of Mario's deal could've been a lot worse. As it was, all he had to really worry about was...
Pretending. Dressing, styling, talking. Being a companion.
Honestly, he could do all those things just fine. Doing them as Peach was a different story, but not unmanageable.
But doing them for Bowser of all people? It was revolting!
Peach went on to explain that under no circumstances was he to reveal his true identity to Bowser, something which had both its benefits and drawbacks. Keeping his disguise up constantly would no doubt be exhausting, but having the Koopa King find out just who was pretending to be the Mushroom Princess would be infinitely worse.
Besides, being in full costume all the time would likely prevent Bowser from trying anything. Right?
Goddammit, what was Bowser expecting out of this deal? Just a Peach lookalike he could spend all day staring at, or something more? Luigi very much doubted Bowser would've accepted a deal of this magnitude simply for some eye candy.
Actually, fuck what he'd first thought about how the deal could've been worse.
This was already worse.
And now Peach was going on about how his impression of her was already great, but she'd give him extra pointers, and how she'd help him pack all the supplies he needed, and he just—
He couldn't take it. Was he never going to see any of them ever again? Was this to be how the rest of his life played out, surrounded by unfriendly strangers, at the beck and call of a tyrant, kept from meeting with any of his friends?
Never again talking with Peach, or Yoshi, or Toad...
Or even Mario?
Because true as it might be that his own brother had sacrificed him, they were still family, and if Mario thought this could establish peace in the Mushroom Kingdom, then how was he ever going to refuse the deal? He could be honorable to a fault, and though Luigi sometimes disliked him for it, he'd never resented him for it.
And he wasn't about to start now.
