Chapter 4
Even though Marth left a bad impression towards the newcomers (Ike especially), the newcomers were quite surprised that Marth was actually kindhearted and friendly. While he wasn't as social as, say, Peach, Marth welcomed them with opened arms and a small smile. Even Wario and Sonic were given the same treatment, and although Wario didn't show it himself, they appreciated his warm welcome despite how he had acted during the introductions.
However, the two people that Marth still disliked were Ike and Pit. While the other Smashers didn't understand why he acted so rudely towards the two, Peach was the only one who knew why. While she does want to let the King know that the way he was acting towards them were hurtful and downright immature, she kept her mouth shut—she could see why Marth reacted bitterly towards the two. While Ike apparently understood it, Pit, on the other hand, was quite confused, but didn't say much of it, instead shrugging it off.
As Peach tried to teach the Hero King how to cook, she brought the two newcomers up. "You should really try talking to them," she suggested.
Marth turned to face the pink princess, a frown forming on his face. Of course, he couldn't avoid them forever, but he was still upset with them. He shook his head as he looked down at the carrots he was cutting for the special dinner for the newcomers.
"You know, Ike's not bad at all. We talked a little bit, but he seems like a nice person. It's not really his fault that he replaced Roy."
"Peach..." Marth sighed as he looked over at his friend, still cutting the carrots. "Roy hasn't been replaced. There is an empty space where he used to be..."
"Then why do you keep on hating Ike and Pit?" Peach tilted her head. "I knew you're better than that, Marth. You're usually the one who would never hold a grudge against someone. Not even the two wars you went through had you like this..."
Marth groaned, not wanting his past to be brought up like this. Even though he didn't show it, he still held a grudge against Gra for causing the two wars in the first place. He decided that despite the bloodshed, he wouldn't stay angry towards them—it would do no good for him if he acted out on his grudges.
"It's just that..." Marth explained as he placed the knife down on the cutting board. "It felt like Roy was taken away from me all of a sudden. Where I am, everyone wanted me to produce an heir, but… as you may already know, I don't swing that way. While I did hear that male and male relationships are frowned upon in the modern world, I feel that I was free because Roy was always there for me despite that… but now he's gone, and I felt that he took some of my freedom with him..."
"I understand," Peach frowned. "But that doesn't mean you show off that attitude back in the Auditorium, young man!"
"...My apologies for how I acted back there, Peach," Marth apologized as he picked up the knife again and continued cutting the vegetables. "I… wasn't in a good mood at the time—" When he said that, he felt a small sting on his index finger, and he hissed in pain as he moved his left hand away from the cutting board. Peach gasped, placing her hands on her mouth in fake shock.
"Oh my," Peach gasped. "Did you hurt yourself?"
"..." Marth glanced down at his finger, and saw a small trickle of blood coming out from there, thanks to the knife. At least he didn't cut off his whole finger. He should listen to Peach's advice and pay attention to his work before he could lose a hand.
"That is a bad cut, Mr. Lowell!" Peach scolded him with a smile on her face. "You're bleeding heavily! I think you're going to die! We must see Dr. Mario this instant!"
Marth couldn't help but show a small smile. While he had been moping around, Peach tried her hardest to cheer him up. He was quite happy that they were friends—and not because her tea parties were enjoyable. She was quite fun to hang out with, and whenever he had problems, she was always there to lend an ear.
"See?" Peach giggled. "I knew that smile would come out eventually!"
Marth chuckled, rubbing the back of his blue head. "Thank you for trying to cheer me up, Peach..." he thanked her.
"No problem! Now, you should take care of that cut before it gets infected!" Peach pointed out.
"But what about your cooking lessons—"
"Would you rather have your blood all over the vegetables?"
Marth sighed, shaking his head at the woman. "All right, all right..."
With that, he walked out of the Cafeteria, where he could overhear Peach talking to Crazy Hand. He could only hear bits and pieces of the conversation—something about how Crazy Hand had made yet another fire while he was trying to make the soup, and Peach's loud groaning. He could only smile and chuckle slightly—apparently he wasn't the only one who needed cooking lessons.
Marth had took care of his cut, and he was heading to his room. Though when he arrived, he frowned upon seeing that the plaque was newly designed, removing Roy's name and replacing it with…
Residence of:
Marth Lowell
Ike Greil
Marth sighed, shaking his head, as his depression rose up again. There was no way he was going to let Ike replace Roy this way, and even though Peach had told him that it wasn't Ike's fault, he couldn't help but feel quite upset at this, with his lower lip sticking out and his eyes narrowing at the plaque. Part of him said that he should rip the plaque out from the door, but another part of him said to not do so, that Master Hand wouldn't appreciate him destroying the property of the Mansion. Thankfully, he listened to his latter part.
He entered his room, and sighed when he saw that Roy's bed was intact. He'd rather have his own bed be taken instead of Roy's.
He closed the door and sat on Roy's bed, burying his face in his hands. Even though it was only a few days since Marth had sent his response to Roy's last letter, he couldn't help but worry. The war apparently was serious from what he read in his lover's letter, and he grew even more worried for Roy's safety. What if he was captured and tortured? What if Roy was seriously hurt? He would never forgive himself if any of those scenarios ever happened. In fact, he yearned to go over to Pherae and help Roy in the war. He wouldn't care if he had to leave the tournament; Roy's safety was what mattered to him—
Knock knock knock.
Marth jumped at the knocking on the door. He turned to face the door, but didn't bother to open it. He didn't have time to talk to anyone.
"Go away," he muttered.
Apparently, the unknown visitor didn't hear this or they flat-out ignored his muttering, as they opened the door and entered. When Marth looked up, his heart almost stopped.
It was Ike. The other blue-haired man appeared to be somewhat taller than Marth—and also muscular. Then again, he did drag a two-handed sword around with just one hand. Despite the tension in the air, Ike had a small smile on his face.
However, Marth growled, his teeth gritting. Every time he looked at the blue-haired mercenary, his depression grew much worse from there. To Marth, it felt both uncomfortable and hurtful, seeing that the person who replaced his Roy from the tournament was just standing here, being all friendly.
"Get out," Marth growled, totally ignoring Ike's raised brow. "I refuse to room with you. Go find someone else."
Ike stared at the Hero King, as if he was in shock that the friendly man—which he had heard from the newcomers—reacted towards him. But Ike didn't move. Marth opened his mouth to shout at the other man to get out, but that was until he glanced down at Ike's hand and noticed the envelope.
"Sorry," Ike apologized. "Just wanted to give this to you." He handed Marth the envelope.
With his glare still on his face, Marth took the envelope forcefully from Ike's hand without a single thank you. Ike, however, didn't seem to mind as he turned to leave the room, possibly to the Cafeteria to get some meat and maybe chat with Link. From what Link had told Marth, the two became quick friends. Marth wasn't sure why they hit it off so well—but he decided not to question it as he opened the envelope, recognizing the parchment. His expression changed into a large smile when he saw Roy's messy scrawl on there.
Without hesitation, he began reading the letter, as his mind raced on how to respond to each and every word that was written there.
Ike was usually the one who wouldn't take rudeness kindly, but after hearing Marth's side of the story from Peach, he could see why. Granted, it wasn't his fault that he "replaced" his lover, but he could still understand why Marth was still hurt by the whole replacement thing. He honestly wished that he was told that he was replacing someone; in his opinion, it felt wrong to do such a thing, even though it was Master Hand's decision. He wouldn't be in this tournament in the first place if he was told this.
But it was too late now. And all he could do was shrug it off. In fact, if Link didn't want another roommate (he does have Toon Link as his current roommate) for the week until Marth calmed down, he'd be fine sleeping on the couch. He just hoped that the Hands wouldn't mind.
He entered the Cafeteria, where the newcomers gathered for a special dinner. To his delight, meat of all kinds sat on the long table, and he immediately chowed down. He doesn't know what he liked about meat, but my GODS were they delicious.
"Hey Ike!"
Ike turned his head to face the voices behind him, a piece of meat on the side of his mouth, and he waved at Link and Pit. Upon closer inspection on Pit, apparently the angel had been eating a lot—crumbs were on his face, and even on his hair. He never knew that he would have a huge appetite that would rival Kirby's or even Wario's.
"Hey," Ike greeted as he swallowed the meat, a hearty grin on his face.
"Hey," Link greeted back with a small smile. In his hand was a vanilla ice-cream cone that he occasionally licked. "Have you seen Marth?"
"Oh, him?" Ike raised a brow. "He's in his room. I delivered a letter to him, but… he doesn't seem to like me one bit."
"Marth? Oh yeah! The girly guy!" Pit cried, only to be rewarded with a smack on the head by Link. He cried out in pain, and rubbed the back of his head. "What was that for? It's true!" he defended.
"I know," Link nodded. "But Marth's still… a bit depressed by what was going on."
"Depressed?" Pit tilted his head. "Why?"
"I think Peach could explain it best," Ike spoke as he grabbed a pork chop and gulped it down in practically one bite. "She told me what was going on with him."
"About what?" Pit, being the cheerful angel that he was, was quite nosy. The dork. "It's not like he has a lover who was genderless!"
"Pit, please..." Link sighed, his hand raised as if ready to smack Pit again.
"All right, all right..." Pit laughed.
"Well..." Ike shrugged as he took a bite out of a chicken leg. "You heard of that Roy guy, right?"
"Oh yeah!" Pit cried. "That guy who left this tournament!"
"Yeah. Marth apparently has a crush on Roy."
"Ooooh, so they're both in love?" Pit's grin grew wider from here, to which Link smacked him over the head. "What? I wasn't teasing this time!"
Ike chuckled at the two. They were perfect foils for each other: Pit being cheerful, and Link being the serious type. He could sense a rivalry in the making. "Sort of," Ike answered Pit's question. "All I heard was that they were only lovers for a few minutes before Roy had to leave."
"Awwww," Pit frowned. "That sounds so sad!"
Another smack on the head.
Ike shook his head at the two, though as Link and Pit began arguing, Ike began to think: perhaps the Mansion had been more accepting when it comes to gay love. He remembered falling in love with Soren, his chief tactician during both the wars he went through, but he kept his feelings hidden out of fear of what his friends and family would think. In fact, he didn't even say goodbye to Soren or even anyone in particular before he left to go to the tournament.
Come to think of it… he wondered what Marth was doing now since he delivered the envelope?
Dear Marth:
That is totally fine. Call me love anytime, love. And I'm quite surprised that the delivery went soundly. I honestly expected that it would get lost! But I'm glad that it was sent to the right place! And so far, we're doing fine: there was a funny incident where it involved Lilina, a healer that we recently recruited, and your pair of underwear that I brought with me (what? I wanted to bring it with me, heh). I rather not disclose it here out of fear that our enemies would find this. And same here; if I ever died, I would never forgive myself as well. I mean… who would be there when you have those nightmares? I'm sure you'd be heartbroken, but don't worry; we're doing well so far. I guess all that sparring with you had paid off!
I miss you so much too, Marth. But I promise you this: I'll come back to you safe and unscathed. That's my goal in this war—to get out of this alive. Granted, I wish I shouldn't be fighting, but I have to do this for my country. You'll probably do the same if this was your country. And that's not forward at all! Every night, I think of how we'll settle down and what life would be like when we do so. It does help me sleep despite everything happening around me! I agree: it would be the best years of my life, spending it all with you. Reading that made me even more determined to keep it up. I'll live on. For your sake.
I hope that you're doing well in the Brawl tournament. It's a shame that I wouldn't be there to cheer you on as you kick some serious butt, but I'm sure you'll win this!
Take care, love.
-Roy
P.S. Don't worry about the candle-wax and the wine—the army had been celebrating our recent wins. I refused to drink though—despite the fact that here, the underage drinking laws weren't around (though I do miss drinking soda back at the Smash Bar. My father still NEVER let me live down the time where I mistook some wine for apple juice!). And don't worry—I've been sleeping well. Besides, if I do stay up to study our tactics, Wolt would drag me to bed, heh.
Marth couldn't help but smile brightly. Roy was such a dork—which added to his charming appearance and his amazing personality. Without hesitation, he sat down beside the desk and began writing a response, totally knowing what to say now.
Constructive criticism is welcomed!
