Summer, that season of the year after Springtime when the temperature started to boil. Today was a very particularly hot day, especially for all of the inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom. In nearly every neighborhood across the land, Toads were turning on their fans and sealing themselves indoors with the windows closed.
While the situation wasn't a full-on heat-wave, it was still hard to have fun outdoors due to the near intensity as the heat came in. However, some people were able to enjoy themselves.
Mario was in his home, eating spaghetti as he usually did, no matter what time of the day it was and no matter what he was doing. At least the silly plumber didn't have to worry about end-of-the-world scenarios or some other misadventure triggered by other circumstances.
The air conditioning was on at full power, protecting Mario against the boiling heat pouring in through the windows.
He scarfed down his next plate of spaghetti, devouring every meatball and noodle he could sink his teeth into. Mario had quite the big appetite for what he ate, no matter how much he'd eaten, and the mustached Italian hero wasn't worried about having a stomach ache.
While the plumber wasn't greedy, Mario still loved his precious, very-tasty and endlessly delicious Italian food that he'd cherished for almost his entire life.
A satisfied Mario finished devouring his spaghetti and belched, then he sipped down some milk that went along with his meal to wash it down. He let out a soft burp and rubbed his round belly, given the world's cartoon-y nature, Mario was lucky that he didn't put on more weight.
Plus, he didn't get a heart attack from eating too much. The red Italian was semi-immortal, especially with all of the unlimited lives he had. No matter how many times he bit the dust, Mario would pop back up, good as new.
That made the plucky plumber very fortunate, where would his friends and the rest of the universe be without him?
Mario checked the temperature, it felt humid here, mostly due to the air conditioner's battle with the boiling heat trying to invade the house. Mario was beyond lucky that he wasn't dealing with a heat-wave, at least the outdoors were safe, but only for a few minutes until it got really hot.
The happy plumber thought about what his friends were doing; SMG4 was making hot summer memes at Peach's Castle and Saiko was busy doing who knew what at her place.
Meanwhile, Fishy Boopkins was off watching anime with Bob and Shroomy was either demon hunting or partaking in scout stuff, Bowser was hanging out with his kids and Melony was training to improve her fighter prowess.
Mario picked up a nearby photograph of himself and a certain orange-haired gal whom the plucky red Italian and the others knew very well; Former Inkling-turned human Meggy Spletzer.
And as soon as he started thinking of her, his heart began to beat rapidly, filling up with butterflies as his body temperature rose. She was so cute and gorgeous, Meggy was the plumber's second love next to spaghetti.
In the years they'd known each other since they first bonded, the two had become closer to one another until they all realized the truth and confessed their eternal love.
'Oh, mama mia.' Mario thought, 'I'd give anything to hang out with her today if we had-a the time. I could give her a call and we could arrange something, maybe a dinner or a swim at the beach.'
And as if the universe could read the plumber's mind, his phone began buzzing in his pocket and the sound of Inkling music instantly reached his ears.
Mario pulled out his phone, seeing that Meggy was calling with her profile picture underneath her name tag showcasing her old Inkling form. The Italian smiled and took in Meggy's picture for a moment, seeing who she used to be made him smile.
Mario tapped the answer button and Meggy's voice chimed up from the other end; "Hey, red."
"Hey-a, Meggy." The fat Italian quipped optimistically, "How's-a my number one Splatfest girl doing on such a blistering day?"
"Just trying to survive here, AC's broken down and Loaf's bearing it in whatever way a cat can handle the boiling summer heat." Despite the stress and exhaustion, Meggy's voice was like music to Mario's ears, like a songbird from the heavens sent down to fill his heart with nothing but pure joy.
"Well, Mario's doing not-a so bad himself, my AC's functioning just-a fine. I just finished eating my favorite spaghetti and I've-a got nothing better to do right now."
"Both of us, eh, red? Well then, maybe we could hang out? I was thinking about going to the Mushroom Hot Spring near Toadstool Lake, just the two of us, alone at the hot springs during a perfect day as this despite the intensity of the heat. What do you think, Mario?"
"Mama mia, Meggy. I'd be delighted, let's-a go, just-a let me get-a changed. Ok?"
"Okie dokie, then. See you soon, Red."
An optimistic Mario put away the phone and went to his room to get changed, emerging not long after in his red-white swim-trunks with a pair of slippers and a towel over his shoulder with his hair and mustache neatly combed.
"Here we go, it's-a hot spring time." Mario said in his trademark chipper attitude.
The plucky plumber was just about to leave when he recalled that it would be hot outside, that meant there was the danger of getting sunburn.
Thinking rationally despite his low IQ, Mario fetched a can of sunscreen and rubbed some lotion upon his arms and legs as well as his face. Now that detail was settled, he could depart to the hot springs and enjoy some sun with his girlfriend.
Mario slung his towel back over his shoulder again and waltzed out the door, humming the overworld theme all the way to the Warp Pipe. He stopped to make sure that he didn't drop the towel accidently, then the mustached hero climbed up onto the large green-colored pipe and leaped inside.
Off he went, traveling through the dimensional warp beyond space and time, focused on where he wanted to go: Toadstool Lake, where his date with Meggy waited, the perfect place for their day out.
A light appeared, signifying that a Warp Pipe was appearing on the other side for him. He took a leap of faith, emerging on the other side. Mario climbed down, setting foot on soft grassy ground, but kept his sandals on just in case. He felt the temperature, the air was still hot.
He walked around, following the smell of steam until he walked off the grass onto stone hard ground, strolling through the bushes. Mario looked behind a big rock and a smile washed over his face. There it was; the hot spring.
His heart beat with peaceful bliss, it wouldn't be long now until he was relaxing in that sparkling clear and steamy pool with her.
Soft approaching footsteps perked up Mario's sense of hearing, going along with the sound of birds tweeting as they flew by. The footsteps slowed, someone tapped on wood, fingers drumming on the side of a tree. Filled with certainty as to who it was, the plumber turned around...
Mario fought against the urge to yelp, his heart skipped a beat and pounded intensely in his ribcage. Meggy stood by the tree with a hand on her hip, wearing a dark-red bikini swimsuit. After all these years, after what she went through, she looked very stunning and Mario could not resist drinking up the sight before his very eyes.
"Like what you see, my spaghetti-lover?" Meggy twirled around, showing off her figure and flashing a little wink-kiss at the plumber.
"Mama mia, Meggy." He said, "You look so nice."
"Oh, c'mere, my little red pog-champ." Meggy waltzed up and pulled Mario into a hug, she kissed him on the cheek and the plumber's face turned red as his hat and overalls.
Mario kissed Meggy back and swept her off her feet, halter style. He held her in his arms for a minute, gazing into her gorgeous eyes, and the two shared a little kiss with Meggy cupping the plumber's cheeks and stroking his mustache affectionately.
"Into the hot spring, my princess?" Mario asked.
"Yes, you."
They walked towards the pool and dipped their feet in the water, Mario held Meggy's hand gently as she shuddered, they both felt the heat and their skin tingled as it adjusted.
Mario stepped in first with his girlfriend beside him, they were ankle-deep, then they moved further until they were knee deep in the spring. Once they selected a spot, Mario sat down in the hot water with a sigh.
Meggy sat next to the plumber, letting the water soak into her human skin, into every muscle in her body. She took a minute, but once she was fully comfortable, Meggy relaxed with ease.
A content Mario let Meggy lean on his shoulder, her hand reaching over to rub his arm gently and the plumber held her hand in return. Meggy turned and looped her arms around the Italian and happily kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks for agreeing to join me here, Mario." She said sweetly.
"Oh yeah, anything for my special woomy princess."
"Has my silly and heroic boyfriend saved any princesses lately?"
"Nope, Bowser's busy doing-a other things, doesn't kidnap Peach that much."
Meggy giggled, "He's probably spending more time with his kids, doing family stuff together." The orange-haired girl frowned, her happiness melting away into a look of puzzled uncertainty, "Um. Aren't you two still doing your cooking show?"
"Oh, that's gonna be ages before we revisit that, long story, but we went to jail last time."
Tears rolled down Mario's face and Meggy helped him wipe them away, giving her boyfriend a comforting embrace.
"It'll be ok, Red." The ex-Inkling told him, "We've been through worse, but we always pick ourselves up no matter what. You may come off as a silly idiot, but you're brave and heroic and that's one of the reasons why I fell in love with you. Never give up, Mario, things will work out in the end."
"Aw, th-thanks, Meggy. I needed that encouragement."
Meggy giggled and Mario smiled at her. They locked eyes and the plumber pulled his girlfriend closer to her, holding the ex-Inkling's hips gently.
Eyes drooped, hearts beat in unison and the two leaned in, sharing a kiss on the lips that made way into a make-out with Mario running his fingers through Meggy's hair while she stroked his shoulders.
They lay back in the hot spring's hot and steamy waters, sharing the passionate and caring love that boiled inside their constantly beating hearts with every passing minute of their fleeting lives.
The rising steam appeared to increase around the two, spicing up the romantic scene between the human couple and Mario was more thankful that he and Meggy were able to have this date, he then kissed her harder on the lips and gently caressed her cheeks while Meggy ticked his mustache.
Both she and Mario then sat up with Meggy sitting upon his lap and kissing him further as well, her legs looped around his waist and with Mario's hands placed around her smooth upper back.
Meggy ran her fingers through Mario's hair and the plumber kissed her on the neck, tickling the Inkling-turned human and eliciting a slight giggle from her.
Then the two exchanged tongues and made out further, French-kissing away until they couldn't breathe and pulled back into reality, pulling away while still in one another's arms with Meggy planting a sweet kiss on the plumber's cheek.
Mario hugged her warmly and they leaned back against a rock, relaxing in the hot water without a care about anything else other than themselves. Mario then had Meggy turn around, letting him see her back, then he put his hands on her and started massaging Meggy's shoulders nice and gently.
He pressed his thumbs into her muscles, rubbing around Meggy's shoulders and helping her to loosen up. The orange-haired human sighed with content, today really was the perfect day for this.
She reached behind herself and stroked Mario's chin, leaning back against his neck and rubbing her head against his face like a cat wanting love. Mario took this as a sign that she loved this and continued rubbing Meggy's arms for a couple of more minutes, stroking her arms in a loving manner.
Mario finished his massage and hugged Meggy closer to himself, resting his hands on her flat stomach and kissing her on top of the head.
"Thank you for that lovely massage, Red." Meggy said happily.
She turned around and kissed the plumber on the cheek again, leading into another brief make-out. Mario's hands rested on Meggy's hips and she stroked his torso, they locked eyes, even after they broke the kiss. Then Meggy glanced at the lake and asked, "Would you like to go swimming?"
Liking the idea, Mario flashed a thumbs up. "I actually would, thank you, Meggy."
Mario and his girlfriend exited the hot spring and walked towards the lake, holding hands with happy smiles and ignoring the blazing heat as they dove in for a nice swim. Today was the perfect day...
The End