All right, time to slow down a bit here, because I don't have enough mushy moments between Bowser and Mario. So! Let's. Get. Sappy!
...
Hello World,
I'm on top of you right now! Finally, after ages of hiding it, finally Mario and I could admit our feelings to one another! Everything is ecstatic!
Oh, all right, that's not completely true. He's not tolerating my taking over the entire Mushroom Kingdom, as I expected. And Peach's forces refused to surrender, as everyone anticipated. However, I was expecting to maintain a tighter control on the Grasslands. It appears that Mario's brother is putting up more of a fight than my troops imagined. We've only faced them both countless times, so forgive me for expecting better of them. To their credit, we haven't completely lost the territory just yet, so we'll see if we can hold it or not.
Adding to the troubles there are my personal problems here. After I sent to get Mario moved closer to my room, a good number of soldiers felt their heads turn, quite literally for the Dry Bones troops. Several tried to talk me out of it, but I appealed to them, stating that he'd be safer if he were closer and that I had done so before with Peach. (Truth: I haven't, but no one seemed to remember or correct me when I said so. We really do kidnap her too often.)
Otherwise, everything is currently in our favor. Kingdom control, kidnapped hero, relationship started, everything is looking up! Now, if Mario could just let me take the princess's castle, we'd be done with everything. Why we can't simply be together and not worry about whom we step on is beyond me, but I knew he wouldn't give in that easily. Not everyone's hotshot hero; he would never.
Still, I can't object to finding a new approach. It's been a few days and we haven't been able to come up with an idea that works. Mario's still losing sleep over it, so I feel like we should take it easy for a moment. We still haven't spent much time together since we professed our mutual attraction, outside of me slipping in quietly at night to make sure he was doing ok and nagging him to rest more.
How is it possible to be so close and so far at the same time? It drives me insane.
At any rate, I've sent word to get Junior to come home; even if we're waging a war, I don't want him involved, especially if we manage to create a more peaceful solution. The trouble with that, however, is whether I should tell him about Mario and I. Duping soldiers, guards, and advisors is one matter. Trying to fool my boy is another one entirely, and not one that I can keep up. Even if I avoid explaining it to him for a while, he's bound to figure it out eventually. I just can't think of the right words yet.
In spite of this, I refuse to keep him away any longer. The Koopalings can maintain control on their own and will excel doing so, I'm sure. Furthermore, I'd like today to not be about all of our troubles. It might be foolish, but I want some time alone with Mario, and I'll be sure that I can get it.
Everything else can wait, just a bit longer. We deserve at least one day.
Try and stop us,
Bowser
(On second thought, don't.)
[Bowser]
Blinking, I look over what I wrote and think for a minute.
"This is crap," I mumble, grabbing a scepter to seal it away with the rest. There have been a good number of times that I haven't liked what I wrote, but I'm too stubborn to get rid of any of them. It's not like I'm planning on showing Mario everything I write about him.
Though, maybe I should?
"Don't be an idiot," I grunt and move to a window. The sun is rising, which we can barely see through the volcanic haze. The land around my castle remains dark, as always, with few signs of life at the moment. Dull. And yet, I find myself wearing a stupid grin.
[Junior]
The Grasslands were ours! I don't understand how we lost them! Well, we haven't just yet, but it's as good as gone!
"Young sire," a red robed Magikoopa knocks and walks into my cabin. "The Koopalings have arrived."
"Super. Send Larry in!"
"Yes, sire," he replies and goes out. I bounce up from my seat, looking out a window. From this angle, all I can see are clouds and blue skies. The sun's rising, which isn't helping. A few seconds later, the bright blue-shelled loser himself comes in.
"You gotta be kidding me, Larry!" I yell. "We're supposed to have complete control over every stinking territory and you actually lose yours? It'd be one thing if it was Mario, but he's not even the one taking you guys down! And you're still losing!"
"My apologies, my young prince," he speaks the last part with a mocking tone.
And I'm not letting it go unnoticed. "Do you want me to throw you from this ship? Because I'll do it."
His frown curls into a smile. "Of course you would, Junior. But you must admit, we are your best—"
"Well, then, act like it!" I'm fighting down a smile myself. "Look, you guys may be older than me and my dad might like you, but you really gotta work harder at keeping things under our control! Remember what happened last time you seven disappointed my dad?"
His smile's gone and he shudders. "Unfortunately," he admits.
"Then get it together! How is Mario's brother giving you this much trouble anyway?"
"You'd be surprised."
There's another knock at the door and Larry lets the Magikoopa from before in.
"What is it?" I ask impatiently.
"News, sire. Your father requests your presence home as soon as possible."
"Really? But we're still trying to hold the Grasslands." I'm happy that he wants me home, and it's been almost a week already, but I feel like we're not done yet.
"He says to come regardless. There's also a request for the Koopalings to journey with you."
"Us too, huh? Neat," Larry comments.
"Wait, but then who's going to watch the castles?"
"We'll see that it's taken care of before we depart," the Magikoopa bows and pulls out his scepter as he walks out. Larry folds his arms and looks over at me.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"You're gonna see your dad. It's been a while. You should be thrilled, right?"
"I guess, but I don't get it. And now he's definitely going to be annoyed that you couldn't keep the Grasslands."
Larry sighs, but nods. I shrug and start to get ready for the trip home.
[Bowser]
Outside Mario's room, two guards are only half awake at their post. Nudging them, they suddenly become alert. They're flushed pink with embarrassment. Good.
"Hey," I snap. "Get yourselves some rest and make sure the next shift comes."
"But sir," one Koopa protests. "We still have two hours."
"I'll be here for most of that," I wave my hand to send them off. "I can keep an eye on a door too. Go, or you'll keep disgracing yourselves."
"Yes, sir," the other Koopa interrupts and drags the other guard off with him. Idiots.
With a small sigh, I wait a moment before opening Mario's door. The room is more spacious than his cell, with an actual bed and dresser. It's dark now, but there is a light so it doesn't stay that way. It's not perfect, but it's above and beyond what Mario had before. He's flopped over on his bed, face buried in a pillow pool of drool. How adorably disgusting. To be fair, I'm not better when I haven't slept much. Actually, I'm not much better period. Quietly, I sneak over to his bedside.
"Good morning, gorgeous," I chuckle, and he jumps up, eyes suddenly wide open.
"W-What are you doing in here?!"
"Oh, I don't know, visiting my boyfriend, maybe?" After shrugging, I stick my tongue out and give him a playful look. Secretly, I'm waiting to see if he reacts to his new title…our shared title to one another. And listen to me, like labels define us.
"But the guards," he points to the door. "They, they're, there?"
A laugh slips out and I sit on the bed with him. "No, they're not there. I sent them off to rest. They looked almost as tired as you've been. When did you manage to get some sleep?"
"I passed out about…three hours ago," he estimates.
My mouth falls open a bit. "Are you joking? You need to rest!"
"We need to think of solving our problems first," rationalizes Mario.
"You'll do better with that if you actually sleep," I argue.
He shakes his head, "Have you thought of another way of ending your feud with Peach that doesn't involve taking control of everything?"
"Uh…no."
"And you've been sleeping, so what good has that done for you?" He smirks.
"Look, it's better than not getting any sleep or answers," I insist, and he shrugs.
"Maybe you should have left me asleep then."
"I expected that you would have actually rested like normal people do."
"Who do you even know that's normal? Is anyone?"
"That's not the point!" I pinch my eyebrows together and hear him laugh. Releasing them, I turn and look at him for a minute. His brown hair looks as smooth as it is messy. "You just love annoying me, don't you?"
"Of course," he teases. "How else can I keep your attention?"
Scratching under my chin, I think a minute. "Well, I can think of several ways."
"I'm not sure I want to know."
"You asked!"
"All right, name one."
"Flexing."
"That's going to keep your interest in me? If I just show off my muscles?"
"Why wouldn't it? I like looking at you." We pause. "Sorry, that's creepy."
He laughs. "I guess I shouldn't say that I do the same then." Now I laugh with him. And I think he tries to be subtle about it, but I feel him wrap his hand around mine. The laughter dissipates and we sit quietly for a minute. He breaks it, "We don't have long, do we?"
Breathing in and exhaling, I sigh, "Not very, no. They'll send someone by soon to make sure I'm all right and that you're contained."
He nods and frowns, which I mirror. "Can't you get your troops to stop or not want to kill me anymore? You are their king, so it should be possible, right?"
"It should, but they'll certainly believe that I've gone mad, if they aren't thinking that already. And they have every right to, with me kidnapping you, keeping you alive, visiting you, moving you closer to my chambers…I'm practically giving us away."
"I see," he sighs. His grip loosens in my hand.
"Mario, don't believe for a second that they'll kill you. I simply will not allow it."
"If what you say is true, then they might not care what you have to say about it. All it takes is for one of the soldiers to snap and come after me in the middle of the night or some other time you're busy."
Clearly, he's doing a better job at assessing these situations than I am. "I'll work on that, then," I muse, tightening my grip on his hand rubbing my thumb softly against the back. "And here I thought I could just walk in and make your day better."
"You did. You're here, and that helps. Even if it's a risk, I'm glad you did it."
"This is still my castle, my kingdom," I tout, puffing out my chest and sounding snobbish. "It may be complicated, but I'm still getting a few things that I want."
He laughs harder now and I'm glad I can give him that much. "Bowser, you are most certainly a piece of work."
"The finest, naturally," my response comes complete with a toothy grin.
"Of course," he snickers. I'm ready to retort when I suddenly hear a flapping noise. Hushing Mario, I move over to the window and look outside. Nothing. I hear the flap again, open the window, and look down. Below is a Paratroopa, with a white winged shell and matching white boots.
"Hey," I bark. "What are you doing over there?"
"Oh, good morning your majesty," replies the airy Paratroopa as he looks up at me. "Tm just cleaning the windows and making sure that they're secure." He continues cleaning the window, almost forgetting that he was speaking with his king. Then he lifts his head again. "Sir, is everything all right with that window?"
"It's fine," I growl. "Is this all you have to do?"
"At the moment, yes, sir."
Grumbling to myself, I want to tell him to do something else. Anything. "Did you clean the other sides of the castle windows?"
"Yes sir, and if I didn't, then someone else was assigned to it," he cheerfully answers. A groan escapes me, loud enough for him to hear. "My apologies sire! I should be up shortly. All I need is to get the next window up and then I'll clean that one you're near right after."
"Thanks a bundle," sounds my sarcastic voice.
"You're very welcome, sir!" He's either a complete ditz and responds happily to everything, or is much smarter than I'm giving him credit for and is trying his hardest to please me. Either way, he's not my favorite worker right now. Sighing, I close the window and return to Mario.
"So, time up due to maintenance?" He smiles while asking this, but I'm still annoyed over it. He pats my arm softly. "It's fine. We can find another time."
"I'm coming back tonight. And nothing is going to interrupt us then. Especially not Feather Duster out there." He laughs, but I'm mostly serious. We were supposed to be together longer. Instead, I'm leaving before the first hour is up. Grumbling, I rise, with Mario getting up with me.
"Don't stress it too much. We have more important things to worry about."
"Like you getting more sleep? You should while I'm gone."
"I can try."
"Fair enough." We smile at one another and I turn to leave.
"Oh, and Bowser?" I turn back around instantly.
"Yes?" He walks closer to me.
"I like being your boyfriend."
Leaning up, he kisses me a little below my cheek. It's soft and sweet, yet far too quick; I can barely feel his mustache graze against me. Admittedly greedy, I already hunger for more. However, I decide not to press my luck too early. Instead, I rest my face against the top of his head. His hair is smooth. Kissing the top, I whisper, "I love being yours." Mario moves into me and we embrace one another for a while.
A year could have passed and I still would have thought I left too soon.
[Luigi]
Screaming fills the air as we charge forward. It's me, of course, as I jump up and crash down on a Koopa Troopa, firing it from its shell and tossing it at the other Koopas and Goombas ahead of me. My Toad tagalongs race ahead, jumping up a few cliffs and grabbing onto the flagpole. I launch myself after them, leaping above where they latched on, and spin around to the other side. We pull the black flag with Bowser's insignia down, and I replace it with my own green one.
"We did it," cheers the Yellow Toad. "We recovered the next location!"
"And we're almost at the castle too," adds the Blue Toad.
"Great work, you guys," I compliment the duo. "The Grasslands will be ours again in no time." Saying so reminds me of the patch of grass on my overalls and I brush myself off, hearing a crinkle from inside my clothes. Reaching in, I pull out Mario's speech. The two Toads are too excited at first to notice that I've stopped following them. "Keep going, I'll catch up in a minute," I call to them. They stop, but I wave them ahead, and they walk onward.
Honestly, I complete forgot that I had this thing with me. Trying not to die from Bowser's forces makes me forget the time of day, let alone what I'm carrying with me. Opening the folded paper, I decide that I could use a rally from my brother. Even if he's not with me now, he can still motivate me.
"'Beloved friend,'" I read aloud. "'I have a confession to make…' …What?" Skimming through the first few lines confuses me quickly. This isn't a speech that Mario was going to tell people for a bridge opening. He must have taken the wrong paper. Reading along a little further, he goes on to talk about playing a hero role and keeps describing this enchantment he has with inextinguishable fire. My heart races and I'm growing worried about him, wondering if my brother's been going through more issues than I've realized lately.
As I go to read more, however, I hear one of the Toads yell ahead from a distance: "Luigi! We need your help!"
"Help Luigi!" The other Toad shouts. "We've got tough bad guys up ahead here!"
Reluctantly, I tear my eyes from the paper and look ahead. In the distance, the Toads are running from charging Goombas. Folding the letter back up, my eyes read, "love Bowser. Not Luigi," and I'm tempted to read it again. What could that even mean? Shutting my eyes as I stick the letter back in between my shirt and overalls, I run forward, off to help the Toads.
I'm not sure what scares me the most anymore.
...
Oh, did I not mention Luigi ending this chapter and possibly having his world rearranged in seconds? Oops.
But yeah, I wanted to spotlight the subplots a bit more, giving Junior a little longer to stick around. And is that a Koopaling in the chapter?! Why, yes it is! Larry finally got to show up, huzzah! The other six will come in time as well. Did you notice that they were invited back with Junior, but that Bowser wrote that they were supposed to stay out and about, holding positions? Hmm...someone didn't get the memo. (Or did they?) As for Luigi and the Toads, they're actually saving the day, whoo! Except, Luigi also started reading the note and that's not a good thing. (Or is it? ...Being cryptic is another one of the things I'm not good at.)
Anyway, this chapter is a little slower, with less information popping up and a focus on the romance between Bowser and Mario. (DID I MENTION THAT IT WAS A THING? It's a thing in this story. Surprise! ...I'm sorry that I'm not funny.) So, now there's cute fluff for us to enjoy between the enemy-lovers. Friendly enemies are called frenemies, so enemies in love are...uh...lovelemies? Um, um...it works, right? I can already feel so much bad judgment. Look, just keep shipping Bowsario and forget that I'm here. That's how this stuff works, right? No? Bummer, that makes me a fail-whale.
Writing wise, other than the surprise ending, it's still the "letter subplot plot" thing, which I'm changing somehow next chapter. Obviously I like this format, but it's going to get old too fast, and the differences aren't big enough between the chapters. If you like the style that I've used so far, let me know, and I can go back to it. Otherwise, I'm going to assume that it's boring the tears out of you and that's a no-go.
So, recap: Junior's going home, apparently with the Koopalings; Luigi's saving the day but freaking out over his brother; Mario is worried about being a prisoner and saving the kingdoms; Bowser thinks he's got the control switches on everything, but that's just begging for trouble later on; Feather Duster is a character; this chapter took place in the morning for once; Bowser and Mario is a cute pairing and needs more support. (This ship will sail or sink, but I keep putting corks in the leaks, so I'm forcing it to sail on.) Next chapter will probably contain more fluff, but it'll also get to advance the plot, because this one didn't get to as much.
And that'll do it for now. Feedback is welcome and appreciated! I got a lot of responses last time and that was super exciting. Comments and criticisms welcome! Messages and reviews are really helpful in giving an audience perspective. Regardless, thank you all for reading and supporting! This story has a ton of views and it's still going strong! So thank you for reading, favoriting, following, responding, and talking about this! I hope you'll continue to do so; I'll keep updating the story too. Thank you once again everyone!