A/N: Red dot, Blue dot, One-shot becomes a Two-shot! Since everyone liked the AU blind Peach so much and the very next prompt was "Touch", I decided to go ahead and do another little story featuring her and Bowser. I hope it's okay!

Peach stood with her back to Bowser, silently staring out the tower window. She pressed her palm against the cool glass and closed her eyes. "It's raining."

"Yeah," said Bowser, "Guess our little picnic will have to wait."

Peach sighed and Bowser sat on a large plush chair specifically designed for him. "If you want, we can play some board games," he offered.

"Okay, can we have snacks again too, like yesterday?"

Bowser paused, trying to remember where they kept the board games. It had been so long since he had played any games, since he never had guests and Kamek always beat him until he refused to play anymore.

Soon, a board and some pieces from a dusty old box had been assembled on the nearby mahogany table along with a plate of grilled cheese sandwiches with Bowser's insignia grilled into the bread.

Bowser handed Peach a pointy metal token and a number of slips of paper. "You can be the Power Star, and this is your money. Uh, the different money is different colors so, uh…"

Peach nodded, "I will fold the different corners so I can tell the difference."

"Right. Okay, I'm going to set your piece on the start. You're a girl, so I'll let you go first," he beamed.

Nearly an hour later, Bowser's smile had grown along with his stacks of pretend cash, "Ah, looks like you've rolled a six and landed on my Dry Dry Railroad again. You know, I built a hotel there last turn, so your stay won't come cheap, Princess."

"Hmm," mused Peach, "I didn't know it was possible to build a hotel on a railroad…"

Bowser scoffed, "Of course it's allowed! Where would the travelers stay if their train got cancelled?"

"Hmm, it just seems it would be awfully noisy," Peach said, handing over the requisite amount of multicolored cash. She slowly began to count her piles, finishing quickly as there was not much left.

"Living in this kind of world is expensive," she muttered, "My income appears to have stagnated while prices are rising around me. At this rate, I will not be able to afford to feed my family and keep a roof over my head."

Bowser laughed and rolled the dice, "Sheesh, it's just a game, Peach."

The dice landed snake-eyes, and Bowser moved his pawn 3 spaces, right past Peach's property. "I get to draw a Charity card. Huh, looks like I won the local turkey basting competition and won 500 tickets."

Peach tsked, "And somehow the wealthiest members of this community manage to bypass the traps the rest of the population can't seem to avoid and end up further enriching themselves…."

She placed her hands on the dice, feeling the grooves before picking them up with a smile. "…illegally."

She gently placed her free hand on Bowser's pawn and sent it back a space. "Now, I believe you owe me some money."

Bowser coughed, "H-Hey, you can't move my piece! Fine, take my money, it won't mater anyways, I'm still way ahead."

Peach laughed, "That's because you've been cheating this whole game, Bowser."

"Says who?" Bowser roared.

"Well, I was able to tell you've been dishonest about your die rolls since the very beginning of the game, and when I turned to have another sandwich, you switched my money stacks around so I would believe I had less 500 tickets, and these," she waved five green 50 tickets in the air, "are 50 tickets, not 500 tickets. Please pay the full amount owed."

Bowser opened his mouth in rage, "Well…well, this game is stupid anyhow! I'm only playing to be nice to you."

"Oh?" Peach turned toward him, and Bowser was shocked to see the ghost of a hurt expression on her face and immediately regretted lashing out. "Hmm, was the turkey basting competition a real card?"

Bowser scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, that part was real."

"Well then," Peach stood up, "You're correct. This is a terribly stupid game, and I think I am finished playing. Thank you for your kindness, now would you kindly have someone escort me to my room?"

The storm raged on well into the evening and Bowser sat alone at the dining table, strumming his claws on the glossy wood.

I can't believe I tried to cheat a blind girl at a board game. This is…a new low.

He ran his claw through his tangled red mane. He had to make this right somehow; he had to go talk to her, but what could he say?

Soon, he found himself outside her door, pacing anxiously. She was his prisoner, it shouldn't matter if she was sad or angry or whatever but…

He knocked on the door and pressed his head against it to hear her reply. He nearly fell forward on top of Peach as the door opened inward. He caught himself in time and stumbled into the room. "Hey."

"Hey," she parroted, "I was wondering when you were finally going to knock."

Bowser frowned, "You knew I was out there?"

Peach smiled wryly, "I think the entire castle knew you were out there. Your footsteps are quite loud and you were muttering to yourself as well."

"You…you sure don't make things easy for a guy…"

"Make what easy?"

"Uh," Bowser blushed, "Well, I came to apologize, I guess."

"For what?"

"Oh, uh, you know…the cheating at the game thing."

"Oh," Peach's face fell flat, "It's fine; I don't care about that."

Silence filled the room. "Uh, you still seem kinda mad though."

"Do I? I think I'm just tired." Peach sat down on her bed and sighed. "Can we talk about why I'm here, because I'd really like to go home. Tell me about this debt so we can get it settled and I can go back to my life and leave you to yours."

Bowser felt his lips twitch a bit. He had almost forgotten about the debt. The Mushroom Kingdom owed a substantial debt to the Darklands. The unpaid balance was a subject of annoyance among the Darklandian populace, but ultimately the amount was trivial compared to the size of the total Darklands economy. However, for the Mushroom Kingdom, repayment of the debt in full would be a crippling blow to their much smaller economy. Bowser had kidnapped the Mushroom Princess to pressure the Kingdom into a repayment it couldn't afford but now…

"Uh, maybe we better set up a formal meeting tomorrow if you wanna talk about that. We can have snacks again…"

"Okay, then I will speak to you tomorrow."

"Peach…I…Tell me what's wrong, I wanna help."

Peach shrugged, "What's wrong? I'm your prisoner, I've been kidnapped away from my friends and family to be used as some kind of political pawn and…" She trailed off.

"And what?"

"I feel like I was cheated in more ways than one this afternoon. I don't know why I ever thought…well, it's my fault, how could I ever think of a captor as a companion? It was stupid of me."

"Companion?"

Peach felt her cheeks turn hot and she scowled at her bedspread. "Against my better judgment I enjoyed the time we spent together and I came to lo—like, the sound of your voice. But now I know your voice is the voice of a dishonest king, and there is one more sense I cannot rely upon."

Now it was Bowser's turn to blush, "You…like the sound of my voice?"

Peach felt the heat crawl down her neck and back. What an embarrassing thing to admit; she wanted to cry now.

Bowser cleared his throat, "Uh, well I'd say you have very good ears then. I also, uh, like the sound of my own voice. At least that's what they say when they think I'm not listening," he joked. "I'm…sorry. Gah, I hate apologizing, so…so don't make me say it again."

Peach shook her head, "No, I won't believe anything I hear from you. I want you to make it up to me in another way."

Bowser gritted his teeth, "If you want me to cancel the debt your Kingdom owes…"

"No," she whispered, "that's not it either."

She stared up at him with her clouded blue eyes, "Let me touch you."

"No."

"Why not?"

"It's weird. What if you touch me and discover I'm so handsome that you go wild?"

"Hm, I guess I'll have to take my chances," she murmured, taking off one glove.

"H-hey, isn't this inappropriate for you or something? I'm a man, you know? A big scary man, and you're alone with me in your room, and you're trying to touch me. What would the Toads back at home say?"

She paused taking off her second glove, "If you're uncomfortable…"

Bowser grumbled, "No way, I'm not scared of any woman…touching me. Ha, I've been touched by plenty of women…all the women. It's just annoying how everyone totally wants to touch me all the time. Then you let one woman touch you and you have to let all of them touch you. Then everyone is touching you. It's weird."

Peach quietly reached out her ungloved hand toward him and he reluctantly sat on the bed next to her, leaning the back of his head into her hand.

"Fine, just be careful," he growled.

She felt a tangle of thick hair meet her hands, soft and silky but wildly messy. She let it weave between her fingers as she laughed, "Be careful? I'm not going to hurt you."

Bowser shook her hand out of his hair before grabbing it. Her eyes widened at the feel of his hand. "You're so warm and…"

He bowed his head forward, guiding her hand to the tips of his horns, "You need to be careful not to hurt yourself, Princess."

"Oh, you've got horns on your head!" exclaimed Peach, visibly taken back.

"Yeah, and I'm wearing spikes on my back, and around my wrists, too."

"Is that why people think you're so scary?"

"Maybe," Bowser replied, "Or it could be this." He placed both her hands on his cheeks."

Peach gasped, "So…you're a reptile…"

"Uh, in as much as you're an ape, sure."

"O-oh, I'm sorry, that was insensitive. What…what are you, exactly?"

He reached up, gently grasping one of her hands in his and holding it against his beating heart, "I'm a king, remember?"

Three days later, Bowser sat alone in his study. The girl was gone, the debt unforgiven; an ugly plumber by the name of Mario had come for her, and somehow his whole army had not been enough to stop one man.

A tiny daisy fell out of one of the plaits in Bowser's mane. He didn't have the heart to unwind the braids so lovingly crafted by Peach as she ran her hands though his hair over and over again, so now his mane stuck out in odd places with dried up little flowers interspersed throughout.

"Kamek," he ordered, "Command the troops to begin special training and order our finest chamomile tea. Tell the press that their lord and sovereign, King Bowser, will not rest until the Mushroom Kingdom pays its debt, in full, with interest."

Wait for me, and I'll see you again, my Peach.