He's the prince; he doesn't have to follow any dumb rules!
How Junior Breaks the Rule:
There's too many people! This is so annoying.
With an aggravated huff directed at anyone who can hear it, Junior pushes past the barricade of bodies blocking him from achieving his goal. Various species send him glares when he haphazardly shoves any body that touches his claws before they seem to realize who he is and hurriedly get out of his way, sparing him a little more than a glance before he's swallowed by more bodies.
He needs to reach his target since everyone else is too busy to humor him for a bit. Junior doesn't understand that pathetic excuse. He's crown prince; surely his needs come first! Kamek insisted, rather sternly, that this isn't how the world works and Junior ran from that conversation, quite literally, before it evolved into a tedious lesson about whatever ideology Kamek spews.
Junior had made it out of there without wounded eardrums and a blooming idea. He knows someone who won't bicker at him and keep him from dying of boredom.
Like he somehow manifests her into existence by thought alone, he finally spots the orange-tinted, sun-dyed brunette hair thrown informally into a messy ponytail, towering above the shorter species surrounding her as she walks to a destination unknown to him.
He follows after the swishing hair like a flickering neon sign drawing him in, growling at the bystanders who refuse to move out of his way. Finally, he zeros in on a break in the crowd, squeezing his way through. He stumbles out of the chimera of gross, sweaty body parts with a victorious smile.
No longer suffocating from the heat of other bodies, Junior breathes in relief before he rushes over to her, calling out her name. He begins to wave frantically because his short height is an annoyance even if Papa says it makes him cute. When Papa proclaimed that, Junior huffed, throwing a fit until Papa hastily renounced his demeaning adjective, trading it in for 'charming' instead.
A little too late; Junior's psych had already suffered quite the blow. Everyone always sees him as some annoying little kid when he's going to be in charge one day!
Junior's obnoxious shouting warrants success as Princess Daisy halts in her tracks, spinning on the heels of her orange tennis shoes, chewing on a piece of gum. Her piercing gaze critically scans the mass of colorful species, searching for the source, before settling on the panting little prince in front of her. She quirks an inquisitive eyebrow down at him, blowing an impressive pink bubble before it pops.
"What's up?" she inquires, cocking a hip to the side. "Did ya need something?"
"I was looking everywhere for you!" Junior shouts angrily, slapping a foot against the concrete because she doesn't seem at all bothered by the hoops he had to jump through to get to her.
Daisy snorts at his temper, further proving his point. She places her hands on her hips, angling her body slightly forawrd. Her lips curve into a teasing, but knowing smile, eyes hooded as she surveys him like he's up to something she wants in on.
"Shouldn't you be bothering your precious Mama Peach?" she asks with an inflection that sounds slightly patronizing, but it's doused by the humor reflecting in her eyes and the lopsided grin on her face.
Junior shuffles nervously, fidgeting with his bandana like he's been caught. He twirls the edge of the fabric between his fingers, feeling meek and small. Darn, he's busted and he hasn't done anything yet. No, he can fix this. Salvaging for an excuse, he settles on the quickest one he can pluck from the random assortments his brain conjures up.
"She's busy," he pouts, cheeks inflating like a frog, mouth scrunched up. He lets out an irritated huff, puffing out a plume of smoke. "So I'm bored."
"Uh-huh," Daisy hums, unconvinced. Without any prompt, she wiggles her fingers and offers her hand to him. He immediately grabs for it, allowing her to take the lead on their little adventure. Together, they transverse the lively event, visiting vendor after vendor, browsing the collection of trinkets and merchandise for the tennis tournament.
The longer they stick together, the more Junior notes the jarring personality differences between Princess Daisy and Princess Peach. Curious at his sudden interest in mapping out these disparities, Junior studies her like he's stuck staring blankly at a math problem he has yet to solve, chewing the inside of his cheek.
There's a fond smile resting on Daisy's face which she directs down at a hat engraved with a green 'L', her hands are shoved into the pockets of an orange, oversized windbreaker, concealing the surely sporty tennis attire underneath. Whenever the opportunity to wear shorts and t-shirts is presented to her, Daisy seems to jump headfirst into the wardrobe.
Her face is tanner than Mama Peach's from the constant sun-exposure she basks in due to her Kingdom's hot climate, peppered with freckles, and her muscled legs have numerous scars from who-knows-what, and, unlike Mama Peach, Daisy's sapphire gaze carries a bit of mischief inside them, like she's always planning a snarky comment in her head or she's ready to physically throw down.
Sorta like a mixture of Iggy and Roy, but less creepy or annoying.
The princess catches the intensity of his gaze, a cheeky grin spreads across her face and he quickly turns away, face burning. She's pretty, but she's not Mama Peach. She isn't regal, poise, or reserved like Mama Peach. She's boisterous, cocky, and competitive like Papa, but has a secretive 'girly' passion for flowers and plants.
Junior had learned of this accidentally when he witnessed Daisy receive a bouquet after winning a brutal tennis match against Waluigi. When the Mario Brothers handed her their colorful gift, her eyes sparkled with levity, her smile gentle as she cherished the blooms with the admiration and delicateness Papa displays to Junior.
And maybe Junior hands her a flower or two if he finds Mama Peach is too busy to receive them. He just wants to test his theory… an already proven theory, but whatever.
Daisy has definitely warmed up to him over the numerous competitions they've been in together and, although she's not Mama Peach, Junior… he likes her company too.
Actually, there's a lot he likes about her. He likes that she's the polar opposite of Mama Peach because she's unpredictable which makes her fun. He likes that she smells like coconut sunscreen and how she protectively pulls him close, burying his snout into the floral scent of her windbreaker when they dive into a crowd threatening to tear him away from her. She won't allow them to be ripped apart.
Junior won't ever admit any of this to her. Never ever. He'll take it to his grave before he admits it out loud.
As they browse the tents, Daisy stops, extending her hand towards a tent selling a broad assortment of sweet treats. "Want some cotton candy?" she offers, craning her neck down to look at him.
Her question yanks him out of his game of finding as many differences between the two princesses as he can. Junior blinks once to clear the haziness swimming in his vision while he registers the question.
Eager eyes trace the length of her arm, spotting the fluffy pink and blue clouds contained in plastic dangling above candy apples wrapped in colorful, spotted wrappers perched meticulously upon the shelves below them. Junior perks up, but his excitement is short-lived when he remembers the discussion he had with Papa beforehand.
He crosses his arms, glaring furiously down at the road. "Papa said no sweets," he grumbles, pouting. "He thinks I ate all the candy he bought for us when it was Lemmy and Iggy!"
Daisy chuckles, pulling his eyes back towards her sun-bathed face. She shakes her head like she's as exasperated as him, but more humored by his big brothers' antics than annoyed. She guides Junior along towards the tent, asking politely for the fluffy dessert. She fishes out a couple coins from her pocket and hands it to the Toad vendor with a polite, but striking grin.
The Toad is affected by her presence almost immediately, selecting a hefty bag of cotton candy, starry-eyed as he gazes upon her like she's a goddess. Then he notices Daisy's company eagerly standing on his tippy-toes, peeking over the counter to stare wondrously at the various equipment questioning their purpose.
The Toad's customer-service disposition sours, eyes narrowing slightly at him. Inexplicably offended, Junior bares his fangs at the bitter Toad, but Daisy swoops in with a thank you, shattering through the tension with a nonchalant wave of her hand and an easy-going compliment directed at the dumb Toad before they leave.
Junior rolls his eyes when the Toad becomes a flustered mess, practically melting into a puddle of mushroom soup as they leave him behind.
"You really know how to use that cuteness for evil," Daisy comments when they're safely on the side of the busy street. She hands Junior the bag of cotton candy. His little eyes grow wide and she winks, placing a finger to her lips. "Don't tell your dad."
Junior doesn't have to be told twice, and he takes a giant chomp out of his cotton candy, relishing in the sugary confectionery melting on his tongue. Sugar. He's missed indulging in sugar after Kamek's recent health craze and Papa purging all sweets from the castle after the Iggy Sugar Incident of last week.
Content, Junior hums happily, licking his lips free of sticky residue. He smiles up at her, mimicking her action by bringing a claw to his own mouth.
"It's our secret!" He winks back.
"Young Master!" Junior hears Kamek squawk, successfully ruining their bonding moment with his grating voice. "Where are you?"
Simultaneously, Daisy and Junior swerve their heads in all directions, searching for the source or the pointy blue hat in the sea of diverse species. The crowd is too dense, but knowing Kamek's almost extrasensory perception, it's inevitable he'll find Junior in no time.
"Oh no."Junior stiffens, staring at the cotton candy and debating how fast he can stuff it down his throat without suffering from the repercussions of a tummy ache.
"You start scarfing it down as fast as you can," Daisy says, pushing his little shell in the opposite direction of where she must believe Kamek's shouting originated from or maybe she spotted him. "I'll distract him."
Junior nods, shoving a huge cloud of pink and blue sugar into his mouth, hands sticky and full of fluffy patches of sugar puffs. He bolts into the mass of the crowd, stifling his giggles behind bites of cotton candy.
And unlike Mama Peach; Daisy's not afraid to break a few rules if it means someone is having fun.
I needed motivation so I started this little thing for fictober.
