AN: Well, I'm excited for Luigi's Mansion 3. So I hope King Boo and Peach actually interact, and this is how I imagine it would go.

Princess Peach awoke finally to the sound of giggles, unnatural and ethereal sounding ones. Although, they didn't entirely sound unfamiliar either, but the sudden unfamiliarity alone was what startled her awake, and thus it didn't take much for her to deduce that she was kidnapped yet again, especially when she took in her surroundings. She wasn't in her hotel room…well, it was close, but fancier somehow, and she was even on a magenta chaise and she distinctly remembered that there wasn't one in her hotel room, just a random blue couch. Even her bed suddenly had canopy furnishings over it. So much for trying out how a commoner lived when crashing at a hotel for the night.

She tried to go over the kidnapping in her head since that was a bit more important at the moment…unfortunately she couldn't even do that…either she was drugged with her room service or she took a nap and they moved her then. Either way, this was too clean to be Bowser's handiwork. Besides, he was too prideful of his kidnapping accomplishments to let a bunch of a singular species do the job. He simply wouldn't let just anyone kidnap her unless they were under the guidance of himself, Bowser Jr., Kamek, Kammy, the Elite Trio, or any of the Koopalings…maybe that one quartet of captains with the little red flags on their heads, but that was a situational stretch.

Suddenly there was a knock at her door, and thinking quickly she smoothed out any fringes in her hair from sleeping, and smoothed down her dress as she stood up to look her usual diplomatic self. She had an idea of who would be behind the door, but not the identity exactly, just the idea that it was her captor. It certainly wasn't room service again if room service already got her into this predicament.

"It's your hotel isn't it? You might as well come in then." She called out, not really knowing what to expect, but there was no way in Jaydes' hair that she was going to answer the door herself.

"Clever girl, it's good to see that you're awake. I must say, it is such an honor to finally make your acquaintance properly, despite the obvious circumstances." Came a deep voice as the door opened and a deep chuckle followed, as a very big round figure floated in, and was followed by two smaller round figures.

Peach was only mildly surprised to see King Boo float in with two Boo attendants as a small royal posse. The two Boo attendants kept their eyes away from meeting hers in any way to avoid their natural Boo instincts of hiding behind their stubby little hands. King Boo on the other hand didn't dare turn his eyes away, as a power play most likely, but that was another thing, his appearance was the only thing that truly startled Peach, because it was such a stark contrast to how he looked during sporting events, kart races, and parties. She could only suppose that his appearance was due to having a different crown, one that had a jewel in it that as if the color alone was connected to his appearance by magic, made his eyes pop out of the surrounding shadows in a bright pinkish-purple.

"Out of politeness I can say the same," Peach admitted earnestly, "and despite the circumstances that I'm unfortunately used to, it's refreshing that it isn't Bowser. However, I must ask out of curiosity, why me and why now?" She didn't take her eyes off of him for a second, for she knew from Luigi's stories that despite being king, he was still a Boo, and she wanted to know how long he could last before he would break and hide behind his nubby hands.

Another chuckle from him before he promptly replied, "Come now my dear, surely you know better than I." He paused for dramatic effect, making sure his fangs were glistening in the low light. "You simply came to the wrong place at the wrong time."

Peach gave a skeptical look and King Boo was all too happy to provide even more clarification.

"My goal as always is to turn the Mario Brothers into paintings and hang their glorious terrified faces upon my favorite wall. You and your fungus attendant are merely collateral bonuses. Though if I'm being perfectly honest, you especially are being held captive so I can hand you over to a certain Koopa King for a hefty price. Since kidnapping you was not preordained, I do want compensation for all my troubles." King Boo finished with a menacing grin as if it was the most brilliant plan he's had yet for an expendable prize. Well, at least she had a chance to not end up in a painting like Mario probably already was for the third time.

However, Peach couldn't help but give a small, unladylike snort at his misinterpretation of how Bowser would handle her being kidnapped by another's hands…and without his permission…even if she was being offered on a silver platter, she and the silver platter had a price and he wouldn't be happy about that at all.

King Boo's face turned into suspicion immediately.

"My apologies," Peach started after gathering herself and needing to explain in order to stay out of a portrait possibility, "It's just that you'll have to make your traps ten times more difficult than whatever you already have set up, because even if you threaten to harm me to Bowser's face, he won't give up a single coin for me. He'd rather take me from your clutches by force." She explained confidently.

King Boo had a single involuntary eye twitch before managing to center himself enough to smile darkly again. He was… perturbed that she wasn't cowering in fear in the slightest, he could only feel that she was intimidated by him, but she wasn't scared of him, and that bothered him greatly. However he did have the upper hand and she was his prisoner, and he would remind her of her place in his grand scheme of things.

"Be that as it may, it will all have to wait. For as I'm sure you're painfully aware, I have to defeat a certain green plumber first." He told her proudly, puffing up his nonexistent chest and closing his eyes to give his Booish instincts a rest.

No mention of Mario, she noted, that means she was right to assume that he was already in a painting. Still, she was proud to technically have two champions of the Mushroom Kingdom, even if the second brother was more situationally dependable.

"Underestimating Luigi again, are we? And this is what - the third time to boot?" Peach asked smugly, brushing off nonexistent dust from her hip. She didn't get the chance to admit that she did know of his past failures considering that she was friends with the brothers, as King Boo had zoomed up close to her and glared right into her eyes to invoke as much fear as he initially wanted from her. Being a politician, she tried not to flinch at his sudden closeness, which she succeeded at and was only a notch more intimidated than she already was. This ticked off the ghostly king even more.

"How dare you." His voice dripped with as much venom as Peach assumed he could muster, as it was in one of those tones of how one would say 'how could you?' in disbelief.

Truly, he wasn't scaring her in the slightest, he was intimidating of course as would anyone else who would capture her and it wasn't Bowser behind the deed, but he couldn't scare her no matter how hard he tried. Especially not with the memory of Luigi managing to joke about how squishy the Boos were the last time he had to capture them, comparing them to bouncy balls and marshmallows while he was at it. It took every fiber of her being to not poke him in his nonexistent nose to push him away to a more respectable distance since he was so close... and to feel if he truly was somewhat squishy. Plus, it was amusing to her that despite giving away her knowledge of his past two failures, he seemed to be more focused on being insulted.

"You are in no position to make threats, Princess." King Boo continued, the venom in his voice was a little more effective this time, especially when he said her title, and because she finally gave an annoyed glare back at the way he said her title.

Despite her glare, she was otherwise undeterred, and had a counter that would tease him and most likely push her luck, but she decided to chance it anyway.

"I'm flattered you found that the least bit threatening in the first place, all things considered."

He glared harder at that, furiously fighting his instincts in order to remain as intimidating and threatening as possible, but she wasn't even phased and it was infuriating.

"Keep this up, Princess, and I'll inhabit your body and use you as a shield against the plumber!" King Boo threatened with a growl.

"Wouldn't be the first time." Peach countered nonchalantly.

"What?!" This had taken him aback, quite literally even as he actually backed away from her by a foot, stunned stupid by the entire implication that the notoriously sweet and innocent Princess Peach Toadstool had already been possessed before.

"If a thousand-year old demon known as the Shadow Queen taught me anything in the short time that she possessed my body, it was how to stand up to the likes of you." She retorted, nearly spitting out the last few words in a bout of agitation, but she kept her composure and otherwise remained ladylike.

King Boo glared again, but the glare didn't have the bite to it like before, and it certainly didn't help that he was nearly at his limit again for ignoring his instincts to hide behind his arms. Luckily for him, news arrived to give him a break from her eye contact.

"Sire?" Called one of his footmen Boos. He turned to face the henchman in silent relief, nodding gratefully at a third Boo that wasn't there before and was obviously the messenger delivering the news of Luigi's accomplishments. "Luigi has captured all the ghosts in the lobby and the parking garage." The footman finished.

"Looks like we'll have to send reinforcements to the second floor… and also the dining hall for good measure." King Boo contemplated aloud. Food was a reliable bait to lure in a plumber, and food in general made him think of tea, and the Princess liked tea right? Right. He was a gentleman after all, despite trying to be terrifying most of the time, and she was a bargaining chip. A very valuable bargaining chip at that, and he had every intention of making sure that she was at the very least…comfortable.

Thus, he turned backed to her and simply asked, "Tea at two, my dear?"

"I…That sounds lovely, thank you." Peach replied hesitantly because he had dropped his intimidating demeanor entirely. His simple question for tea even sounded as innocent as if he were asking her out for ice cream as if they were children or something.

"Good, good. If you need anything else, within reason of course," he lightly warned before continuing, "Just ask the guards outside. And don't you forget, tea at two! I'll pop by if I'm not too preoccupied by then to join you. Take care! No escaping! No, seriously, I don't care if you can float especially well with a parasol or not, I specifically made this hotel extremely tall! Just…please, don't do anything that would make me try my hand at stuffing you in a painting!" All this as he headed out the door, oddly being polite enough to actually use the door instead of phasing through it…Unlike his footmen who did just that as soon as he shut the door, probably for their preference if anything.

Peach politely waved goodbye, though with a befuddled look on her face as she was still confused by his change in demeanor. If she had to pinpoint when it started it was probably his second glare after admitting her possession by the Shadow Queen. Now that she thought about it, the other expression behind the glare was probably some form of pity…if she had to guess anyway. Regardless, that was all in the past, even if she still suffered the occasional nightmares from that particular ordeal there was nothing he could do about it.

For now, Peach could only hope that her tea time with King Boo would go smoothly enough that she doesn't do or say anything stupid enough that would draw his ire to have him shove her in a painting. Whatever the outcome of her fate, she knew one thing was for certain, and that was that Bowser was going to blow a gasket about all of this no matter how he found out. She could only hope and pray to the stars that she wouldn't be too caught up in the aftermath that would surely follow when he does find out.

Meanwhile, the two footmen Boos were dismissed from the king's side, they were only in the Princess' room with him for show and a silent power play anyway.

"Hey, Boouncer, was it just me or did it seem like his Majesty was flirting with the Princess?" One of them asked the other.

"Naw, mate, he was just letting her know it was us that kidnapped her and making sure that she knew her place in the grand scheme of things, such as being a bargaining chip for Lord Bowser." Boouncer replied, but soon felt the need to chastise his fellow Boo. "Honestly, Booger, where in that entire back and forth between them, did ya even get that notion?"

"You mean despite getting up close and personal for a Boo, king or not? He asked her out for tea. I don't care how posh he is because he's a king, he's still a villain, and villains don't just ask their captives out for tea!" Booger gestured with his arms all about to get his emphasized point across.

"Oi, oi, oi, Lord Bowser's a king and he ain't posh, mate."

"That's 'cause he was never raised with class, he was spoiled rotten!"

"Point taken there, but just because our good king gov. asked her out to tea, that doesn't mean that it overall means anythin'!"

"It might! You never know! King Boo wants to take over the world too, just like Lord Bowser, and he's starting with the Mushroom Kingdom, you can't tell me that isn't a coincidence." Booger persisted.

"Bloody Underwhere, ya can't be serious, mate." Boouncer whined, knowing that of all things, he'd have to explain the obvious. "Of course it's a coincidence! Everyone and their mum knows that the Mario Brothers are a force to be reckoned with, if ya wanna take over the world, ya gotta go through them first. It's just basic math, mate."

"Yeah, but-!"

"No butts! If it weren't for wanting to lay low in Bowser's eyes for as long as possible, he wouldn't even hesitate to put her in a painting. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he asks for a reward much later and makes it come off as a favor needing to be owed or somethin', that's how I would do it anyway."

"I guess…" Booger relented with a dejected sigh, knowing he wasn't going to get through to his regional twin alone.*

"Don't make that face, Booger, I hate seein' ya so miserable, it just ain't a face a Boo should be wearin'. Tells ya what, I'm willin' to make a bet on this, if you're right about our king possibly growing a crush on the fair princess then ya can rub it in my face however ya so wish. If I'm right in that there ain't nothing going down and you're just getting delusional, then I dare ya to go work for Lady Bow for a week." Boouncer told him in order to cheer him up a little bit.

"That doesn't sound so bad though, she may be friends with Mario but she's still on good terms with our king." Booger replied with confusion.

"Oi, oi, oi, don't knock it 'til you try it, mate. Workin' directly for her is a bit of a barmy." Boouncer warned.

"If you say so…I still think I'm right."

"And I think you're lookin' too deep into this. If you're right about all this, everyone is going to lose what marbles they have left I tells ya. But! Only time can tell. Now let's pop off to our posts like we should've done ages ago before someone tans our hides and sends us off to be Gusty Gulchers." Boouncer left it at that.

He was right, only time will tell. But the outcome will be fascinating regardless.

*This is actually a joke on the regional differences between the PAL and US versions of Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon, since they're technically the same Boo in that regard.