Yuck, this took me much longer than I wanted to take to write it up. But, it's here, no fear!

Oh, the world is right when we have Bowser and Mario happily together. So, let's have a nice, light but lengthy, mushy chapter, yeah! (And start it out with the fuzzy fluff right away, too!) Enjoy!

...

[Mario]

Underneath a silver shrine, between pillars adorned with star shaped carvings, I sat between Bowser's legs, resting against him. We gazed out to the dark night sky, crisp, starry, as we looked out from the purple mountaintops. Bowser slid his arms around me and pulled me into his belly, which was warm, heated, relaxing.

"What should we wish for?" He whispered softly, sweetly to me.

"Wish? I…I don't know," I admitted as he scooped my hands into his.

"We'll have to think of something just right," he murmured, gently rubbing my hands with his thumbs.

"But we already have what we want, don't we?" I asked him, and glanced up at him.

"It's not about what we want, though, is it?" Bowser countered, and I lowered my head as he put his atop mine.

Then…what was this about?

My eyes slowly opened and I pushed myself up from the dark red pillows. Still tired, I rubbed my hands over my eyes and tried to refocus my eyes.

"Hey, you ok?"

A light amount of worry in his voice helped me open my eyes again. Bowser walked from his ebony wooden wardrobe, back over to the bed and sat down on it, facing me.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I smiled to his fiery red eyes; even in the darkened room, they stood out sharply.

"You didn't have another nightmare, did you?"

"No, but I was at Star Hill again." I sighed. "Actually, we were both there. Something about a wish we were making together. I…didn't really understand it."

"Sounds pretty romantic to me," he purred and smiled mischievously, inching over, closer to me.

"Maybe that's all it was," I murmured, though I wasn't as certain about that.

"Or, we could look into it, today." His arm glided across the bed sheets as he lowered himself next to me, his face neared mine. "I've got all the time in the world for you."

Smiling, taking in his hot breath, I shook my head. "No, you've got your own schedule to work with," I reminded him, and leaned over to put my face near his.

"There's always those days where you can't get any work done," he seductively whispered, cupping my face with his hand, lightly scratching at my mustache with a nail. "And maybe, just for today, I came down with something. You couldn't get me out of bed." He widened his grin while bringing our faces closer, air stifled. "So, I'll give Kamek some assignments, check on Junior for a bit, and then come back here, with you…"

He pressed his lips against mine and we shut our eyes. I kissed Bowser back, lifting a hand under his chin, rubbing softly. We broke apart for a minute for a breath, but quickly went back to kissing each other. He slipped his tongue into my mouth and ran it over mine. I shivered as I let mine slide against his before it retreated back behind his lips. Again, we broke apart, breathing heavily, but smiling.

"Well…?"

"Answer's still 'no,' Bowser," I refused him again. "We can spend more time together later."

Disappointed, Bowser groaned. "Why must you be such a good little…? Fine. But, we should work on it later, tonight. Ok?"

"Sure, definitely." We exchange smiles, but I raised an eyebrow. "You did mean my dreams, right?"

"What did you think I meant?" He playfully grinned again and moved his arm down near my leg.

"Nothing in particular, just checking," I pushed his arm away.

"You sure?"

"Get going, Bowser. You're up early enough for work, so get to it."

"Yes, dear," he mockingly huffed, and forced himself up from the bed. Then, with a wicked grin, asked, "Or should I call you 'my fire?'"

"I gave you that in confidence."

"And I loved it."

"Then don't mock it."

"But I'm not, I'm just using the title you gave me," Bowser teased.

"Go, or I'll pulverize you."

"Want me to make it easy for you?" He walked over to the door and swayed his hips and tail around. "It's your favorite target, remember?" I lobbed a pillow at him as he laughed. "So, I'll see you later then."

"Goodbye, Bowser."

"Unless you want me to jump back onto that bed and we could—"

"Goodbye, Bowser."

Again, he laughed and opened the door. Slowly, Bowser stepped out of it and turned around to stare at me again. He couldn't shake the smile stuck on his face, causing me to keep smiling back.

"Mario…I really don't want to leave."

"I'm not going anywhere this time."

"Great, but I still don't want to leave you."

We sat quietly for a minute. Still, I shook my head. "You have things to take care of, and I don't want to distract you."

"Too late."

"Bowser—"

"All right, I'm going." He pried himself away from the door and closed it, leaving me to get myself ready.

[Bowser]

Though I told Mario that I'd go, my legs stayed anchored just a bit outside of my room for another three minutes. After that, I forced myself over to my son's door and knocked.

"Junior? Son? Are you awake?"

Slowly, I opened the door and let myself into the bright green room, stepping where there were less toys scattered about. Junior hopped up from his bed and gave me a hug.

"Morning, Papa!"

"Good morning, Son," I laughed.

He let go and stared at me, smiling, but…unusually quiet, or hesitating.

"Something on your mind, Junior?"

"It's just…you're really happy again, Papa," my boy observed. "You haven't been like that for a little while now."

"Really?" I played oblivious to the notion. "It hasn't been that long, has it?"

Quietly, Junior nodded.

"Oh. Well, uh—"

"Did Mario finally start talking to you again?" He actually sounded intrigued over that.

"Um, yes, he did."

"Ha, I knew it!" Junior let out a light laugh. "I heard you laughing a lot when I woke up and I knew that you were with him again."

"Uh…g-good job, Junior." Though I commended him, I grimaced, hoping that I hadn't been loud enough for him to hear everything.

Junior caught my contorted face and tilted his head. "Are you ok, Papa?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine, Son," I nervously chuckled and shifted my legs uncomfortably.

"Are you sure about that?"

Actually, no, but I don't know why, I thought as I took in a deep inhale of air. "Junior, uh…w-what do you think of Mario? Now that he's…um—"

"Dating you again?"

"…S-Sure, right."

"Well…" He stopped for a minute and thought it over. "When you guys aren't fighting, he makes you happy, so that's good."

"Right, right, but…" I rolled a claw through my hair, struggling of how to ask him. "Junior, what do you think of him, without how he makes me feel?"

"Oh. Um…I guess we'd…need to hang out more." Again, Junior grew lost in thought, but shrugged this time. "Really, if he's not making any of us mad, I think he's ok."

"Good. Uh…so, what do you think of Mario staying?"

"Here, with us?"

"Yep."

"I guess I can get used to Mario being around." He smiled and nodded, decided over his opinion. "So, do I start calling him my papa too? Or do I wait until he and you get married?"

"Junior!" I gasped. My face flared up and I could only imagine my glowing red cheeks.

"What? What'd I say?"

"N-Nothing wrong, it's just…well…I-I don't know if he's…you can wait on calling him 'Papa.'"

"Ok, so after you guys get married."

A lump welled up in my throat and I forced it down. Trying to turn it into a joke, I forced out what I thought was a laugh and, "What, are you marrying me away?"

"Well, don't you love him, Papa?" It was an innocent question from the boy, yet it made my heart hammer harder than when I was with Mario before.

"I…yes, but…" My hands trembled, even as I tightened them into fists.

"Well, if you love him, you have to marry him, right?"

"N-No, not right away." I'm pretty sure I had at least one drop of sweat trickle down the back of my head.

"But some day, right?" He still smiled up at me, while I tried desperately to control my breathing and heart rate.

"Um…well…I…suppose…b-but it's not…going to be anytime soon."

"You mean like not until next year?"

"Uh…ah, maybe longer."

"…Two years?"

Flustered, I pat him on the head. "Junior, we'll talk more about this later, ok?" No, no we won't.

"Ok, see you later, Papa!"

We hugged before I hurried out of his room and rushed down the hall, not even stopping to wave to Mario, who had just slipped out of my room.

[Mario]

My mouth hung open as I gently closed the door behind me and watched Bowser zip down the hall, disappearing into the stairwell. Blinking, I turned to see Junior walk out of his room.

"Hey there, Junior."

"Hello Papa Mario!"

"…Papa?"

"Uh…sorry, that's…just forget it," Junior giggled. "So…what's the next sporting event you're planning? Have you started on that yet? They're really fun."

"Oh, I haven't actually thought about those in a little while," I admitted. "Which one is your favorite?"

"Um…I like all of them, really!" Junior smiled, but then frowned. "Oh, sorry about all the trouble I've given you, since that time on Isle Delfino."

"Nah, it's fine. You were just following your Papa's plans. Which…you're actually pretty good at, now that I think about it."

"Thanks!" He beamed with delight, joy. "I like making him proud, but I like him happy more. You're really good at that!"

"Ah…I guess so," I chuckled as my face flared up, bright with a blush. "What are you up to today, anyway?"

"Probably going to practice fighting with my Junior Clown Car," he decided. "And then without it. I want to spit fire like my Papa does someday."

"You'll get there, I'm sure."

"I hope so. Thanks again!"

And with that, Junior sped off, cheerfully giggling, down the stairwell as well. With both of the royal Koopas out and about, I decided to head downstairs myself.

As I exited the stairwell, however, that proved to be a less than ideal idea. Down the hall were two Magikoopas, a Shy Guy, a Lakitu, and three Goombas. As soon as the group caught sight of me, they charged down after me.

Quickly, I ran off to the right and glanced into doors to see if anyone would be willing to help me.

"Just hold still, Mario!" The Shy Guy shouted as a shaped hex spell ripped across the room, missing me.

"Come on, hit him!" shouted a Goomba and I glanced back to dodge the Lakitu's Spiny Egg.

Unfortunately, most of the other rooms I passed were either empty, or the soldiers inside simply were not paying attention. Except for a pink…or Red Boo, that laughed when I ran by.

Eventually, I hit a dead end, and glanced up. The ceiling was far too high and I didn't have a chance of wall jumping to the top. Turning around, I watched as the unruly group rushed in to corner me. The Magikoopa raised their wands.

"Game over, Mario," giggled one of the Goombas, and the other two laughed.

Suddenly, a glowing, blue fireball shot forward and blasted to bits above me. None of its embers rained down on me, instead falling in front of me. As soon as they hit the ground, taller pillars of bright blue fire spiked up from the ground. A sizzling noise hissed from the other side of the pillars, which died down slightly, still burning forebodingly on the ground.

When I watched the two Magikoopa, they had panicked faces, and the entire group pivoted around. Abruptly, the Goombas were knocked about while the other four dissenters scattered. Roy cracked his knuckles and strolled through, with Ludwig and his wand in tow.

"Fascinating." Ludwig's single word caused each of the rebels shiver, tremble in their places. "In spite of watching just how dangerous the Bowser Games were, you fools still seem to think that rioting is just a fantastic idea, to the point where you'd kill Mario while he's without an escort."

"L-Lord Ludwig," pleaded the Lakitu, "p-please sir—"

"Excuse you." Roy pounded his fist, with a light, faint shockwave firing out and knocking some of the troopers over. "My brother wasn't done talking."

"Thank you, Roy." Ludwig cleared his throat. "The seven of you are to be taken to the dungeons by yours truly. And since we recently had others go through a trial, I highly doubt Bowser will be looking to give you the same opportunity. If he lets you live in the dungeons, that will be lucky on its own account."

"How did you even know about us?!" blurted out a Magikoopa. "Not even Kamek had suspected us!"

"Treason against not only Bowser, but Kamek as well?" Ludwig laughed. "You're just racking up strokes against your lives."

"How did you know?!" snapped the other Magikoopa.

A quiet, cheerful cackling was heard. From the wall beside me, the Red Boo passed through and giggled.

"Ehee hee hee! Guilty, which was me, Ruby! Ohohoho!" The Boo laughed and teasingly floated around the dissenters. "You should have planned your route more carefully. As soon as I sighted Mario, I went and got him some help right away."

Outraged, the Shy Guy jumped to swipe at the Boo, who flew out of reach and laughed again.

"An attempt on my life may not net you as much trouble as an attempt on Mario's or the royal family's, but that's certainly not going to help your cause!"

"He's right," agreed Ludwig. "But, please, continue being disruptive. It's not as if you're all already in deep enough."

Visibly angered, but with nothing left to do, the group quelled down as Ludwig cast a blue binding spell around them.

"Thank you," I whispered to Ludwig, who shrugged.

"Don't think I'm doing this because I like you. This is just the enforcement of punishment that my King has declared on any dissenters." He glanced over to his brother. "Roy, stay near Mario for a little while, or take him to the other Koopalings. I'll take these idiots to the dungeons."

Tightening the binding spell, Ludwig caused it to burn the seven slightly as he forced them to trudge back down the corridor. I turned to Roy, who shrugged.

"People get confused and think that I'm the more sadistic one." He let out a light laugh. "I mean, they're not completely wrong, but Ludwig can really crank it up when he wants."

"So I noticed. Still, thank you as well."

"No problem."

"And you too," I turned to the Boo, who snickered while he floated freely.

"My pleasure, ehee hee! It's always fun to make others miserable, especially if they have it coming to them!"

He disappeared behind the wall with a roar of laughter. I blinked and turned to Roy, who shook his head.

"Boos are freaky."

"Tell me about it," I agreed. "One trapped me in a painting…twice."

"Ah…right, that…King Boo."

"Yep." I paused and raised an eyebrow. "Have you met him?"

"Uh…nope, not me."

Roy shrugged and waved me on to follow him. I hesitated at his response, but followed him all the same.

[Bowser]

With a heavy sigh, I shifted in my throne as several soldiers debated their plans and strategies to me.

"Sire, all I'm asking is that we reinforce our troops more." A Boomerang Bro. shook his head. "The Mountains and the Skyline will need their defenses fortified if we want to maintain the fortresses there."

"You're on about that, but we still need support before that," countered a Goomba. "Peach's forces will be after us in the Jungles next."

"If we keep sending out too many forces to those other areas," argued a Koopatrol, "we'll weaken our homeland's defenses. We don't need the Mushroom Kingdom being able to rally against us here."

"There is still a chance to use Mario strategically." I picked up my head up from my hand as the Blue Guy…or, blue Shy Guy, interjected. "Oh, not as any kind of bait, Your Highness. Those were from ploys with Peach and they never worked out anyway. What we should be looking to do is utilize what Mario knows about the coming threats against us, create countermeasures—"

"No, no countermeasures," I interrupted. "I'm not asking Mario to help us think of ways to hurt his friends."

"…Sire, you do realize they still have every intention of brutalizing the rest of us, even if Mario no longer does?" I nodded to the Koopatrol, who threw his hands up at my response. "Then we need to act!"

"Actually, I wasn't counting on using violence with my tactics," explained Blue Guy. "What we need to do if find ways to disable Mario's friends in whatever offense they try to mount against our defenses, not prepare counterattacks against them. Once they're unable to defeat us, we can try to settle them down for more peaceful negotiations."

"Peace?!" snapped the Goomba. "This is Princess Peach! She's as vicious as all of the other rulers have been. What we need is to stop her."

"You misunderstand," Blue Guy shook his head. "We have Mario with us, and we still have that leverage against Peach. It's not down to how we use her against him, but how he helps all of us to cooperate with one another—"

"No, no cooperation," the Goomba challenged again. "They'll only figure out how to turn the screws on whatever deal we make and have it backfire against us."

"To be candid, I agree." My head sank back into my hand as the Koopatrol joined in. "Sire, we understand that you don't want Mario involved any longer, but—"

"But nothing," I asserted. "We're not using him."

"That kind of sentimentality will get us all killed!" The Goomba gasped as I stood up from my throne, perhaps knowing my reaction just as he utter the words.

"You would dare to question my orders?" I roared at him.

"Absolutely not, no! Sire, please—"

"Out of anyone here, you—"

My throne room doors slammed open as the yellow robed Snifit hurried in, with Boom Boom and Pom Pom in tow.

"Oh, excuse us, sire!" Jasmine bowed. "We didn't mean to interrupt."

"What's the big deal if we did?" asked Boom Boom. "He'll want us."

"And what will I want you for?"

"Isn't this a war meeting, of sorts?" questioned Pom Pom. "You're going to want the two us to work as additional units to fight off Peach and friends, right?" I nodded. "Then we'll do just that. After all, we were so delighted to hear about your new relationship with Mario, weren't we Boom Boom?"

"We were?" Pom Pom punched his arm. "Ouch. Uh, yeah, definitely!"

"If you're looking for some type of reward out of this, you'll actually need to do more than just slow Princess Peach." I scratched under my chin.

"Well yeah, we can knock their heads around and then some," assured Boom Boom.

"All right, then I'll defer further tactical discussions to the two of you." The Goomba and the Koopatrol bowed and walked out with Boom Boom and Pom Pom.

Blue Guy was following them, but stopped by Jasmine.

"Hi there!" She cheerfully greeted him.

"I…uh…h-hi." A smirk slipped onto my face as the Shy Guy waved. "Um—"

"Hey, Blue!" I shouted. "Flirt less and get going! They're going to need you for the proceeding discussions."

"R-Right, yes, sire!" He timidly hurried out of the throne room while Jasmine watched him go.

"Yes?"

"Oh, right! Master Kamek was also looking for you, Lord Bowser."

"Fine, thanks." I watched her tap her mask as she studied the nearest window.

"Jasmine."

"Y-Yes?"

"You're pretty level headed. Go help Blue and the others."

"Certainly, sir!"

She hurried out of the room, ran back in to bow, and ran off again. I chuckled as I walked from the room myself.

[Mario]

Roy led me down another hall, snarling at a Spike and a Paratroopa that glowered at me as they passed, and we came up before a wide brown studded door. He stopped and turned to me. I hadn't told him how we had gotten back together, but he was curious about us dating again, so I told him an abridged version of yesterday and this morning's events.

"So, he was going to take the whole day off just for you?"

"Yep."

"And…you told him not to. Why?"

"Well, he is a king. He can't spend every day drooling over me."

"No, I get that, but you two haven't been together all that long. Shouldn't you, I don't know, spend a few more days together? You've spent years fighting each other."

"That's true. I…I don't know. I don't want him going over the top for me."

"Wow. You're way too late for that." Roy laughed. "The whole castle thinks he's gone insane over you."

"Do they really?"

"Yeah. I think it's cool that he's really into you though."

"Thank you." Oddly, talking with Roy had been far more easygoing than I had anticipated.

"Sure. Anyway, I got other work to take care of with Larry and Morton outside of the lab here. Iggy's working on tech, or whatever. Lemmy might be helping him. And Wendy should be there for a little while too. You should be fine."

With a frown, I nodded. "This feels like a burden on you guys."

"Nah, you just need to wait for things to simmer down some. Then we'll…uh…"

"…You know what? Maybe I'll go visit Bowser for a bit, when the others come by for me."

At that, Roy smiled. "You got it!"

"Great." I paused for a minute as he went to open the door. "Hey Roy, you enjoy making Bowser happy too, don't you?"

He froze as his hand was outstretched for the door. "Uh…kind of, yeah. Just…I'm not sure about the others, honestly."

"Just you?"

"Um…yeah, or as far as I know. So, uh, don't—"

"Stays between us."

"Cool. Thanks."

Roy pulled the door open and we walked in. The room had lighter stones decorate the walls, with light bulbs and lamps lighting up the room instead of torchlight. A few long, white desks were set up as various workstations, with Koopas and Monty Moles working at the different tables. A good number of them looked up to see me, and slowly stopped working. Larry and Morton made their way over to Roy.

"We ready to go?" Roy asked.

Morton nodded. "Sure, I'm looking to fix up the Clown Cars already."

Larry stared at me and I tried to smile to him. He leered at me in response, scratching the blue star marking on the side of his head.

"This is still really weird," confessed Larry to the others.

"What is?" questioned Roy.

"Uh, him," Larry deadpanned and pointed at me.

"Relax, little bro. Mario's cool," Roy assured his brother.

"Even still, I'm not so sure." He glanced at his other brother. "Morton, what about you?"

"It is all new to me too," admitted Morton. "But, I don't really mind much."

To that, Roy nodded while Larry shrugged. After that, the three of them walked out of the room, and I was left to find the other three Koopalings. I walked over to the first table, where a Koopa eyed me suspiciously and covered up his current project.

Deciding on a calm, sociable approach, I stood beside him. "So…what kind of weapons are you guys building?"

"We don't always build weapons," snapped the Koopa.

"Right, sorry. Um…what are you working on?"

"Nothing for now."

I opened my mouth and went to point as his towel covered supplies, but he pulled everything together and walked away from me.

Moving to the next table, I walked over to a Monty Mole, who was hammering down a nail on a block…with a wrench.

"Do you double as a Rocky Wrench?" I asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Well…that's why I asked."

"Good for you." Quickly, he also snatched his supplies and took off.

Barely glancing at the other troops scattered around, I had the feeling that none of them would want me near them. Catching a glimpse of the three Koopalings in the back, I went straight over to them.

"Just how much longer are you going to be, Iggy?" questioned Wendy.

"It'll be done when it's done, Wendy." Iggy grumbled. "You can't rush good things."

"Yes you can."

Iggy used a screwdriver on what appeared to be a mechanical Chain Chomp. Lemmy watched him while Wendy read a book. I grabbed a stool and sat next to them, with the Koopalings pausing their activities to study me instead.

"Um…hi?"

"Hi Mario!" giggled Lemmy. "This is new."

"Guess that's what today's been about for everyone I met."

Wendy bookmarked her page and snapped the book shut. "Ok then." She glared at me. Then, slowly working her authoritative voice up, she commanded, "I. Want. Details!" I raised an eyebrow at how excited, cheerful the last word sounded and she suddenly ran around, practically reappeared, to the other side of me.

"On…what, exactly?" I inquired.

"Everything!" Uh oh. "I want to know the story from your perspective. At what point did you fall in love with Bowser?"

"Kind of, uh, early? I just kept coming here, or he joined in with sports and other adventures, so the more I saw him, the more interested I became."

She nodded. "Yes, Bowser had a similar response. That's…so cute! Ok, ok, next part!"

"Come on, Wendy," groaned Iggy. "Are you just going to have him reiterate Bowser's story from before?"

"Absolutely!" She waved her book at us, titled, Simply Star-Crossed. "The main couple in this book is far less interesting than what our king and Mario here are going through, and I need to know every last bit of their much cuter relationship."

"Everyone already knows about the relationship Wendy." Iggy took off his glasses and wiped a hand over his eyes.

"From Bowser's side!" Wendy argued. "I want to hear Mario's!"

"It's the same thing."

"With probably adorable differences!"

"Sure," deadpanned Iggy, "instead of Bowser sobbing over Mario running away, we get Mario sobbing over having run away."

"…That's a very distinct difference!"

"I don't mind retelling it," I offered.

"See?!"

"Well, I mind listening to a rehashed story." Iggy put his glasses back on.

"Ugh, you're such a buzz kill." Wendy pressed her head against the desk while Lemmy pat her back.

"They're back together, at least," the smallest Koopaling offered.

"Ooh, yes!" Wendy shot back up, knocking Lemmy over. "When did that even happen?! Did Bowser serenade you with all sorts of love words and silly gifts?"

"Um…yes, actually?" I admitted, surprised at her accuracy.

She squealed. "That's super cute! Ok, ok, what was the one thing that got you back into his arms?"

"Wendy, I'm trying to work," moaned Iggy.

"Why can't you just let me have this?!" Wendy snapped. "What, you can't be bothered listening to the cutest love story?!"

"No! I can't!" thundered Iggy and he slammed down the screwdriver. "It's distracting!"

"Why?!"

"Because it is cute and I want to give it my full and undivided attention!"

"…Oh."

Wendy blinked as Iggy tooled around with the mechanical Chomp, which started up and barked, but short-circuited seconds later. Frustrated, Iggy banged his head on the desk, while I became deeply fascinated with the shelves of inventions, Mechakoopa, and larger tools, including drills and sledgehammers.

"…You know what might help, Iggy?"

"Not now, Wendy."

"He's right here," she sang.

"Not now, Wendy."

Lemmy bounced back up and looked at me. "So…what'd you think of the Bowser Games?"

"They were pretty dangerous." I shook my head. "Honestly, I was worried that one of the prisoners might have died."

"Oh, nah, they weren't…um…" Lemmy glanced up and stared at the other troopers in the lab, who were either focused on their work or observing me, not listening to him. Quickly, Lemmy finished, "…Yeah, it was really great that they all made it out. Lucky too."

He pulled out a small yellow bouncing ball and dribbled it around, leaving me perfectly perplexed over his answers. To take my mind off of it, I returned my attention to Wendy and Iggy, with the former poking the latter in the arm.

"Will you cut that out?!" snapped Iggy. "You're driving me insane!"

"Iggy, you're always insane."

"Hush, that's the secret."

A Koopa walked over to a cabinet nearby and opened it. A miniature mechanical Chomp barked and leapt out, tackling the startled, screaming Koopa. Iggy snickered while the rest of us stared from the fleeing Koopa to Iggy. Wendy shook her head.

"…Did you really?"

"What? I love pranks!"

"That's not a prank. That's terrorizing."

"Same difference."

Stifling my own laughter, I shook my head and went to look back around the room, but the lamp on the desk grew brighter.

"Is there a way we can turn this down?" I asked and pointed to the lamp.

"Sure, I got it." Lemmy hopped over and switched it off.

Instead of improving my sight, the other lights in the room grew brighter instead.

"Better?"

"Um…no. Everything else got brighter now."

"Wait, what?" Iggy stopped working and looked around. "I don't think anyone made their lights brighter."

"Are you all right, Mario?" Wendy tilted her head, as she looked me over.

The door opened again, with a gray-shelled Buzzy Beetle and a mint green Blooper wandering inside. Catching a glimpse of me, they made their way to the back of the room.

"Beg your pardons." She floated lower and appeared to curtsey with her tentacles. Master Mario is needed, at the great Lord Bowser's request." Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the Koopalings rolling their eyes.

"More like wanted, Miss Olive," corrected the Buzzy Beetle.

"Ah, fair point, Sir Glaucus. Either way, we'd like you to come with us, Mario."

"Sure. I'll see you three around."

Each of the Koopalings waved as I followed the two servants out of the labs and back into the halls. Oddly, though the lighting dimmed, everything still appeared brighter.

[Bowser]

Kamek finished giving another Magikoopa instructions and sent him back out to the courtyard, where several others practiced dueling one another. Various hexes and spells fired across the area, with bright colors and magic dust lighting up the place.

"Sorry," Kamek apologized as he walked back to me. "That one would have encased himself in stone with his casting form. Now, where were we?"

"It's just, I don't know," I sighed. "Junior was going on about us getting married, and I just can't focus on that. He's already trying to call Mario his papa too!"

"You…do realize that your son brings up a fair point." Kamek stroked under his chin.

"Yes, yes, he'll have two fathers. If anyone tries to harass him over it, I'll tear them apart so quickly—"

"Actually, I wanted to focus more on the marriage aspect of it. Others around the castle have discussed the matter too."

"What?!" I cried out. "Why that?!"

"Because for the first time ever, we'll have two kings that rule over us."

"So?"

"How many years have you ruled over this kingdom on your own?"

"Then imagine how much better I'll be if I actually have someone else helping me. Uh, no offense."

"None taken, I can understand where you're going with that. However, are you truly ready to have Mario step up and take a joint role of ruling beside you?" Kamek adjusted his spectacles while I stood quietly and folded my arms to think. "Sure, he may not be your exact equal, but, he'll certainly have a prominent role in…well, a large number of decisions and actions you make."

"It's something to consider, but I'll…I don't know, figure it out as I go. Mario and I definitely won't agree on everything; he cares too much about people that I could easy stomp all over." I shrugged as Kamek shook his head. "But…well…I guess I want to go through those changes with him. We'll learn and grow together. That may not be the best approach, but we won't really know about what tomorrow holds until we get through today."

For a minute, the coot observed me in silence. "That's…very mature of you."

"Listen, you old fart, I happen to know a few little gems of wisdom, even if you steal most of them away."

"I suppose you'd have to." He burst out laughing while I growled. Calming down, he continued, "Anyway, let's discuss present events. When are you proposing to Mario?"

"W-What?! I have no idea! We just got back together!" My hands clawed through my hair and I tugged on my horns.

"Yes, yes, how wonderful," Kamek murmured, undettered, "but really, we do need to consider the near future."

"Who thinks that's the near future?! We haven't had more than a single date! Mario might not even want to marry me!"

"Have you asked yet?"

"Of course not!"

"Worth a shot," he muttered. Back to a normal volume, he carried on, "Regardless, I haven't had the chance to prepare for a royal wedding, so excuse me as I immerse myself in studying up on that."

"You…you've married troops before!"

"Troops. Castle weddings. I've never married off a king before. I'll need to learn just what measures I should take to make this an unforgettable moment in Koopa history."

"But…we're not getting married!" I protested.

"Not yet, of course. Some day, however, is always right around the corner!"

Kamek then grinned widely. I turned around and saw Olive, Glaucus, and Mario approach us. With a yelp, I jumped back as they approached.

"Is everything all right, Sire?" Glaucus checked.

"Uh…y-yes, it's fine. He's fine—I'm fine!" My cheeks began to burn as the three exchanged confused looks and Kamek broke into another fit of laughter. "Um, Mario, come on back inside with me."

Still confused, Mario slowly nodded. In spite of Kamek, I scooped up Mario's hand and took him back inside with me. We strolled over to a door and slipped inside of a trooper break room. A Goomba happened to be in there, but one quick snarl sent him flying through the door at mach speed. I sighed and dropped my hand from Mario's crashing down on the tacky lime green couch. He eyed me with a raised brow, but I ignored it and pulled him onto my lap.

Throwing my head back, I moaned out, "I think I'm going to be sick."

"You? What's wrong?"

"People are already expecting us to get married."

"Us to what?" He pushed himself up slightly, but I pat his head and ruffled his cap a bit.

"Relax, nothing's happening yet." I assured him. A grin popped onto my face, and, suggestively, I added, "Unless you're as impatient as everyone else is."

"No, I…I'm good." He sighed and I laughed.

"Exactly. And I'm not ready for it either. But…I don't know, my son was asking about it, Kamek brought it up, I heard that it's a hot topic buzzing around with the latest castle gossip…and I'm just not thinking about that right now. And I know it's not on your mind either."

"Not really, no." He paused and thought about it again. "Well, it wasn't until now, anyway. I'm sure you haven't so much as entertained the notion either."

Thinking back to the time Junior caught us, I realized that it had crossed my mind. "…Uh…"

"…You've seriously thought about getting married? To me?" His voice had a mixture of disbelief and…was it hope?

"W-Well…maybe for a quick…it-it's not important and now's not the time!"

Flustered, I turned my head away to focus on the black fridge and counters, face blazing. He laughed and reached up to kiss my cheek. I looked back to him and we shared smiles. My arm slid around his back, but he slumped back down onto my lap.

"Too fast?" I joked.

"No…it's…really bright," he mumbled. I blinked and noticed that Mario had grown paler. His breathing now appeared irregular as well. "The lighting has been…like this? It seems harsher ever…since I left the lab."

"Mario?" My grin dropped quickly as I carefully rearranged us to have Mario lie down on the couch, his head on my legs. "Hang on a second." I tried to place my hand against his head, which was a little hotter than usual. "Did you catch something?"

"Maybe, I must have."

"Damn it, I shouldn't have kept you in that dank room for so long." I grumbled to myself over my foolish choices.

"But…I felt perfectly fine earlier," Mario murmured. His eyes widened and he stared directly at me. "What happened?"

Baffled, I raised my eyebrows. "What's wrong?"

"Your eyes are…blue. And your scales…they're a dull blue."

"What?" My body was still the yellow-orange amber it always was.

"And your hair is…gold now."

Blinking, I quickly yanked a stand of hair from my head and looked at it. Red.

"Mario—"

"There's…someone…behind you."

My eyes widened and I glared behind me, but only a blank stonewall met it.

"Um…there's no one here, Mario."

"It's…right there." He gasped. "With a dark colored robe…black…? Glowing eyes?"

"But…who…?"

Without another word, Mario shut his eyes and turned his head into me. Frightened, I shook him a few times and shouted his names.

No response.

...

Haha, fooled ya. That secondary genre of Drama stings a bit now, huh?

Ending put aside, that was a pretty cute chapter, right? Mario getting attacked, having issues fitting in with people whose friends he's killed…oh, wait, those are the negatives. I mean, awkward family and marriage talks, yay!

Actually, I reveled in Bowser dealing with that subject, because he's made plans to just further his own plans using marriage, but he hasn't had his family bother him over it, nor actually tried to get married solely for love. (Marrying Mario doesn't gain additional benefits of kingdom conquests, unfortunately.)

But yes, I wanted to try a chapter where Mario tries to actually adjust and live in Bowser's Castle, because hey, what would that be like? He also hadn't shared a scene with Junior and hadn't dealt with all of the Koopalings, so, two birds, yeah! Besides, who didn't want Mario awkwardly talking to Bowser's kids? How could you not want that? What do you mean, "because it's not Bowser?" They were great together, you're crazy.

As for throwing in the geek squad servants with the names again, well, I'm just trying to keep them fresh in your head. Love my crazy OCs please! I'm just kidding, I don't mean to be annoying with them, but they will be around for a little longer. At least Peach's Castle doesn't have this much annoyance with character overloads, right? No? …Oh well.

So, what's going down with Mario at chapter's end? That'll be revealed in the next chapter. Sort of. …Ok, it'll start to be revealed next chapter. Just know that it's all connected, and that we haven't seen the end of Bowsario kisses. Until then, Bowser will probably have a panic attack (or several) and start yelling at everyone (help, I'm not safe).

And that'll do it for now. Comments and criticisms are welcome, via message, review, or any other means. They're simply delightful! Thank you for reading! Here, let me pass the tissues.