Cascore's Note: Look at that chapter title. So dramatic. So powerful. It almost makes me want to cry. But as I suppress my tears, allow me to thank Michaiah, Fyras14, MarioLuigi25, rereishere, SugarBullet, and hoom for supporting this story via reviews. I greatly appreciate the time given to read and leave a review. I hope you all continue to enjoy the story as much as I enjoy writing it.
Chapter 5: "The Cook Within"
Luigi stood out in front of the school. Waiting.
Students casually passed him by, paying him no mind as they chatted with their own group of friends that accompanied them. Some of the kids were off, beginning their journeys back into town, while others climbed into the cars of their parents or older siblings to be chauffeured back to their homes. It was a rather busy atmosphere as everyone milled about doing their thing after a long and hard day of cramming their heads with education. Everyone milled about, except for Luigi. Who stood idly by in front of the school. Waiting.
Mario was already headed home, having taken one of the large, yellow, public, low class limousines supplied by the school for transportation. Unlike Luigi, he wasn't obligated to stay after the last bell rang and keep an eye out for his project partner. He was able to simply go home and relax with Mom and Dad. They could probably go out to the park together and spend the day having fun. While Luigi stood out in front of the school. Waiting.
He seemed unable to stand around any longer. He had to move around, to pace to and from an invisible Point A and Point B. He didn't feel well at all, for his heart beat heavily and slowly as his anxiety grew. He couldn't believe he was letting himself get so worked up over simply meeting Daisy after school. It was bad enough that he agreed to see her in the first place, but the wait... The wait was simply killing him on the inside. And he just couldn't control the feeling as he walked back and forth.
Out of nowhere, all kinds of irrational thoughts popped into his head. What if Daisy suddenly decided that she wanted to read the book at her home? When nobody else was around. Curled up on a comfy sofa. In front of a warm, cozy fire underneath a soft, shared blanket...
Or what if she planned to read the book as they took a walk down the trail to Goomba Village? And she lured him off the path. And took him behind a tree and stabbed him with a fork. Repeatedly. As revenge for hurting her the previous day...
"Hey Luigi."
The farfetched thoughts immediately threw themselves out of Luigi's mind as he visibly jumped at the shock of hearing Daisy's voice greet him from behind. He instantly hoped and prayed that she didn't notice the sudden movement. But, of course, she did.
"Did I scare you?" she asked with a small smile as she placed a hand on her hip. Completely embarrassed, Luigi turned to face her, but centered his eyes on a ladybug he spotted on the ground below, appearing to take a sudden interest in it as it crawled along, minding its own business.
"I was just thinking a bit..." Luigi admitted nervously. "You kinda caught me off guard."
"Well, be glad my voice wasn't a baseball or something," Daisy teased, making Luigi's cheeks turn nearly as red as the ladybug he observed. For a second time, she made a stab at his misfortune from the previous day. But, he figured, at least they were even now. He hit her twice, she joked about it twice. Maybe now she would just let it die. He hoped she would anyway.
"Sorry it took me a while to get out here," Daisy apologized, giggling to herself silently as she noticed Luigi's blush. "I forgot it was Tuesday; the day I have to babysit my little cousin. My aunt and uncle just called and said that I had to hurry home because they both had to be at work soon, so I need to get back pretty quick."
The news felt like a breath of fresh air as Luigi was given the perfect excuse to bow out of reading with Daisy that day. The ladybug ended up flying away, but Luigi, now feeling rather relieved, didn't mind looking at Daisy directly. He began to speak, to suggest that they put off their appointment for another day, or, better yet, just call it off altogether, but Daisy soon spoke once more. And what she said only served to make Luigi more nervous than he'd ever felt around her.
"So I was thinking you could just come over and we could knock this chapter out while I look after my cousin," Daisy offered, making Luigi's jaw drop slightly. Daisy didn't notice however, as she'd taken notice of a formation of birds overhead and she threw her gaze upward for a moment. Luigi quickly closed his mouth as she looked back at him. "I was gonna suggest we read at the park so we could volunteer when we were done, but I need to keep Ilys at home while her parents are gone."
When Daisy never asked if Luigi was up for the idea, he felt that he was automatically expected to oblige. He could feel himself sweating as he hoped Daisy would quickly add "Or we could always just meet some other time." But she never did. She simply looked at him for the next few seconds as Luigi forced himself to appear to think about the suggestion. In actuality, he was only buying himself more time before he had to speak, for his heart was racing and he felt that, if he tried to speak, he would throw up on the spot.
"Sounds good to me," Luigi eventually forced himself to say. Daisy removed her hand from her hip and used it to give Luigi a quick pat on the shoulder before turning to begin walking off.
"It's not a very long walk. We should get there in about ten or fifteen minutes," Daisy mentioned as Luigi slowly followed her. The anticipation of her simple touch seemed to stimulate every nerve in his shoulder, making a good portion of his upper arm tingle as he strolled after her. He would soon take a few quicker steps forward as Daisy playfully urged him to walk next to her.
Luigi seemed unable to control how he felt about walking with Daisy to her home. Initially, he was nervous enough to consider asking that he simply go back to his own house for the day, despite the fact that he lived clear across the town. Just the thought of going to someone else's home was enough to put him off, for he'd never even gone to anyone's home besides his own. At least, not without Mario and his parents. But here he was, walking with Daisy, just the two of them, headed for her house. Not only was it intimidating enough that Daisy was a girl. Daisy was a girl that he actually liked. And that was what made Luigi wonder why he didn't think of this as a good thing.
Most guys would probably agree that being invited to a girl's house for just about any reason, especially when she was in charge of babysitting, was definitely a good thing. The house would be completely empty. Well, except for her little cousin at least. But Daisy said she was like four or something, they could probably get her to take a nap. After they got that done though, conditions would be perfect. Luigi's first irrational fantasy could probably come true if he played his cards right.
But that was the problem. While Luigi knew that most guys would be thinking about what they could probably do to get the most out of the situation, his mind track simply didn't work like that. Sure, he could fantasize all he wanted, but when it came to the real deal, he simply knew he could never go through with playing it out in the end. All in all, he knew he was just too shy to even try. And even if he wasn't, with his luck, he figured he'd mess things up somehow anyway.
Oh, what did it matter? They were approaching the front porch of Daisy's house already. The driveway was empty, so it was evident her aunt and uncle already left. No matter what thoughts weaved their way through Luigi's mind, all he could do now was try his best to keep his composure until he was able to leave. He wouldn't try to weasel his way out. He wouldn't try any tricks to try to impress her. He would do what he did best. Luigi decided that he would just treat Daisy like any other friend. He would simply be himself.
Daisy stepped up onto the porch and dug in a back pocket for her house key as Luigi peered into one of a pair of thin, door-sized windows that rested on either side of the front door. He could see a small girl with short hair gazing back at him with a pair of large eyes. She smiled toothily at him and gave an energetic wave as Daisy inserted the key into the padlock. Luigi smiled back at the girl and lifted his hand up as well, giving a less enthusiastic wave while the door swung open and Daisy immediately knelt down to greet her cousin face to face as she picked her up.
"Hey Daisy!"
"Hey Ilys!"
They shouted their greetings with equal energy as Ilys put her arms around Daisy's neck and gave her a loud raspberry on the cheek. Daisy gave Ilys a raspberry right back, but kept it going for much longer, making Ilys giggle uncontrollably as her older cousin eventually settled for rubbing her nose against the small girl's neck. And as he observed, Luigi couldn't help but smile warmly and chuckle. It was obvious these two had a lot of fun with each other.
"Who's that?" Ilys asked through her giggles, pointing at Luigi behind Daisy' back. Daisy turned around, making Ilys readjust herself accordingly so she could keep her eye on the boy in green.
"That's Mister Luigi," Daisy answered brightly, making Luigi feel rather odd. It was weird being called "Mister" Luigi. Especially by someone who was his own age. "Luigi, this is my baby cousin Ilys."
"Nice to meet you sir," Ilys greeted cordially, extending a tiny hand out towards Luigi. With a smile, Luigi grabbed her hand softly and gently shook it.
"It's nice to meet you too," Luigi returned, making both Ilys and Daisy smile simultaneously.
"Come on in Luigi," Daisy invited, turning back around to step into the house with Ilys. "You can leave your bag anywhere you want."
Of course, Luigi would have felt rude simply throwing his backpack aside upon entering the house like he normally did at his own home. He instead opted to carry it a few feet further into the house and softly prop it on the floor next to the living room sofa. He felt inclined to take a seat, but, in the back of his mind, doing that would have felt like he was trying to get a little too comfortable a little too quickly. Instead, he settled for simply standing and looking around the room as Daisy set down Ilys before dropping her bag next to the television set.
"Mommy and Daddy told me to tell you that they left you a note in the kitchen," Ilys informed as she touched down to the ground. Daisy simply stood and blinked for a moment as she took in the information.
"The kitchen..? Ah man!" Daisy groaned as she hurried over to the kitchen, separated from the living room by a portion of a wall ending at an archway. Luigi looked after her as she departed while Ilys followed closely behind. Luigi took a few steps over to glance around the corner and quietly spy on Daisy as she removed a sticky note from the refrigerator door. After reading the message to herself silently, she let out a rather exasperated groan. "They want me to cook again tonight," she moaned as she slumped her shoulders. As if she were a miniature clone of Daisy, Ilys imitated her movements flawlessly.
"But my tummy still hurts from last time," Ilys whined, rubbing her belly as she pouted.
"I know Ilys. Mine does too," Daisy sighed, placing a hand over her own stomach as she pouted as well.
As part of the agreement for letting her stay with them, Daisy had to promise to cook dinner for the family at least a couple of times every month. Jeff and Julie stated that they implanted the rule so Daisy would learn how to cook so she could take care of herself when she was out on her own, but they seemed to forget that she was a princess. When she was out on her own, she would have cooks and chefs to do that stuff for her. But Daisy volunteered anyway. Anything she could do to get herself out of the castle and into public school. Of course, she was happy to be living with her extended family, but cooking was the one chore she absolutely hated to carry out. And Jeff and Julie had to admit, they took a serious risk to their own health as well as Ilys's every time they asked her to make a meal. But they stood firm that it was for her own good development.
However, Luigi just so happened to be a rather accomplished cook himself. As he overheard the girls express their disdain for Daisy's terrible cooking skills, he felt inclined to step forward and offer a helping hand.
"Well, hey, um..." Luigi muttered as he stepped into the kitchen, drawing the girls' attention. "I'm...actually pretty good at cooking. Maybe I could help you two out."
"Oh, no no no, I couldn't ask you to do that," Daisy declined with a rather surprised smile on her face. "You're a guest here. It'd just be rude to make you cook for us."
"It's not a problem," Luigi insisted as he stepped further into the kitchen and looked around, observing whatever ingredients and utensils were directly visible. "I cook for my family all the time. It's pretty fun actually." Both Daisy and Ilys seemed to drop their jaws at the same time as they heard this piece of information.
"For real?" Daisy asked, placed both hands on her hips, maintaining her surprised smile. "I never expected to hear that from a boy."
Luigi stopped looking around and lowered his gaze to the floor as he placed a hand on the back of his head. It was true; often the very last thing on a teenage boy's mind was learning how to be a good cook. This made Luigi a dime a dozen, for he actually cared about making a meal that people would thoroughly enjoy. When he wasn't busy playing some sport with his brother or doing homework, he was often found in the kitchen, experimenting with new ingredients every now and then while whipping up old favorites that his family loved to chow down on.
His hobby of cooking even extended to school, for he signed up for a cooking class that he took at the end of the day. And, of course, he was the only boy in the entire class, alone among roughly twenty girls, mostly Juniors and Seniors simply taking it so they had at least some skill by the time they graduated and left home. The fact there were no other boys in the class at all prompted Luigi never to say a word to anyone, but he felt completely comfortable when they got to cook during class. And his results were always impressive. But no matter how many girls repeatedly asked what he did to make such a delectable dish, he remained at a loss for words, making him unpopular even in the one class where he set himself up to be a star. His life as a cook was a lonely one, and he took a friendly risk by letting Daisy know that he could make a dish pretty well.
"You don't think it's weird or anything that I like to cook do you?" Luigi asked shyly, keeping his gaze away from both Daisy and Ilys, making them both shake their heads immediately.
"Are you crazy? I think it's great," Daisy responded. "Most guys wouldn't bother with it. My uncle doesn't even cook."
At this, Luigi smiled once again and brought his gaze upward, focusing his eyes back on Daisy.
"So what do you say?" he asked, persisting. "I wouldn't mind cooking for you at all." Daisy and Ilys looked at each other, both of them now having their hands on their hips. Ilys gave Daisy a nod, prompting a nod in return. The pair looked back at Luigi at once, who awaited a final answer.
"Well, if you insist," Daisy began, making Luigi nod eagerly. Daisy smiled brightly as she extended a hand forward. "Then you've got yourself a deal."
Luigi accepted the hand, gave it a firm shake, and, before he knew it, he was extracting noodles, ground beef, a pot, a pan, salt, pepper, and anything else he needed to begin making a family serving of his specialty: spaghetti.
Daisy and Ilys watched from stools on the other side of the kitchen island, utterly shocked and quite entertained as they observed Luigi perform even the simplest of tasks, such as snapping groups of noodles in half before dropping them in a large pot of boiling water and chopping up a good chunk of ground beef as it heated up on the pan adjacent the pot. If Daisy wasn't already impressed with the fact that Luigi liked to cook, the fact that he did so in such an entertaining manner while still staying true to a good recipe did.
Salt and pepper shakers flipped through the air and Luigi tossed small slices of onions onto the chopped up ground beef as if he were dealing a deck of cards for a game of Blackjack. Soon, a second rather large pot came into play as Luigi placed it on a back burner. He poured a good amount of thick tomato sauce into the pot and found a healthy green mushroom in the fridge. After chopping it up in a blur of hand motions, he tossed the small bits into the sauce, grabbed a flat wooden stirring spoon, and began moving his hand in a circular motion as he hummed to himself happily.
"Wow, he's good," Ilys admired as she stood on her stool, leaning over the counter to get a closer look.
"I know," Daisy agreed, watching with her hand supporting her head as she leaned forward like her small cousin.
Luigi would have appreciated the comments, but he simply didn't hear them. When he cooked, he was in his own little world, and he wouldn't leave that zone until he was completely finished. Humming, occasionally breaking into a whistle, and working at a steadily busy pace, nobody would have ever guessed that Luigi was actually such a clumsy and awkward young man. He deftly handled razor sharp cutting knives and searing hot food items with incredible ease and confidence. It was difficult for Daisy to believe that this was the same boy who accidently launched a soccer and tennis ball at her the previous day. He was actually starting to impress her with his skill in the kitchen.
After roughly forty-five minutes in the kitchen, everything was put together. The sliced meat and onions were mixed into the sauce with the bits of the mushroom, the noodles were drained in a strainer over the kitchen sink, and everything was combined in the noodles' original pot. Luigi wrapped up by grabbing the wooden spoon and stirring once again, humming the final verse of the song that repeated in his head throughout the duration of the cooking session. Once he felt that everything was thoroughly mixed, he capped the pot with its lid and turned the temperature of the flame below it down in order to allow the pasta to simmer, ensuring that it stayed warm until the family was ready to eat. As Luigi's humming came to an end, he finally snapped back to the world around him, looking at Daisy and Ilys immediately.
"Well, it's all done," he announced rather unceremoniously as he gave a nervous chuckle. Ilys began clapping her hands, soon followed by Daisy. Luigi could feel his cheeks stinging slightly. Nobody ever applauded him before. It was a strange situation for him.
"I think I learned a few things watching you just now," Daisy admitted as she leaned against the counter once more, giving Luigi an impressed smile as she spoke. Luigi scratched the back of his head nervously before Ilys spoke up excitedly.
"Can we try some right now?" she asked. Daisy nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, I want to see what it tastes like," she added.
"Oh yeah, sure," Luigi said, turning to find the cabinet containing the plates. Once he located the platters, he grabbed two and placed them on the counter in front of Daisy and Ilys. He then discovered a large spoon with a long handle and scooped up a small helping of the spaghetti, carefully placing the pasta on the two plates. Setting the spoon aside, Luigi immediately went on a search for forks, handing them to the girls once he found them. "Hope you like it."
The girls smiled in anticipation as they dug their forks into the pasta. Grabbing as much as they could and scooping the meal into their mouths, Daisy and Ilys chomped down, soon to be greeted by a tasteful sensation of flavor and textures unlike any that they'd ever tasted before. Their eyes widened as they both stared at Luigi in astonishment, who was awaiting their final verdict eagerly. Daisy was the first to swallow her mouthful and allow herself to speak.
"Oh my God, that's the best spaghetti I've ever tasted!" she got out quickly before she excitedly scooped the rest of the sample into her mouth. "I must be dreaming!" she continued with a full mouth. "This is just too good!"
"Mommy and Daddy are gonna love this!" Ilys commented, now bringing the second forkful to her mouth.
Luigi beamed as he heard the girls compliment his work. He didn't have much time to revel in his success though, as he could feel a vibrating in his front pocket. Luigi dug into it and retrieved an emerald cell phone with the name "Mario" displayed on the LCD screen.
"Excuse me for a sec," Luigi said before quickly leaving the kitchen to return to the living room. He flipped open the cell phone and held it up to his ear, still carrying his smile. "Hey bro, what's up?"
"Hey Luigi," Mario answered over the phone. "How's it goin' over there? You sound pretty happy."
"I kind of am," Luigi responded, looking through the open archway at Daisy, who was looking back at him. She waved playfully just before Luigi turned back around. "I'm having a lot of fun over here actually."
"Not doing anything 'PG-13' are you?" Mario asked jokingly. Luigi blushed anyway.
"No. We were just...hanging out for a while," Luigi answered. He knew he couldn't tell Mario that he cooked for Daisy. He would make fun of him for days if he knew that he was cooking for her so soon after initially meeting her.
"Well when do you think you'll be home?" Mario inquired. "Mom and Dad want to know if we're gonna end up going to McGoomba's tonight." Of course. If Luigi wasn't around to cook for them, they always went out to fast food restaurants. Sometimes he wondered if he was the only one in the family that wasn't too lazy to actually make a meal.
"I'm not sure," Luigi admitted. "We're still reading through the chapter. It's taking a while because Daisy's keeping an eye on her little cousin too."
"Alright, just give me a call if you leave before five. Otherwise we're just gonna go out," Mario informed. Luigi nodded, though he knew Mario obviously couldn't see the movement.
"I will," he confirmed. Without any further notice, Luigi heard the dial tone coming from his brother's end of the conversation. He removed the phone from his ear and frowned. "Why doesn't anybody ever say 'goodbye' or 'talk to you later' anymore?" he muttered before slipping the closed phone into his pocket. Daisy and Ilys made their way into the room with him immediately, saving him the trip back into the kitchen.
"Was that your brother?" Daisy asked as she picked up her discarded bag and carried it over to the sofa, only to drop it once again when she was there.
"Yeah, he wanted to know when I was gonna be home," Luigi answered, taking a seat at the far side of the couch from Daisy and Ilys, who sat side by side while barely taking up one of the three cushions.
"Oh. I guess we better hurry up and read then," Daisy muttered as she ruffled through her backpack, seeking out her copy. As Luigi observed her in her search, he suddenly felt the urge to stay in that spot. He found himself realizing that he actually didn't want to get this over with quite so quickly. His family could live without his food for just one night...
"There's no rush," Luigi spoke up as he dug through his own backpack, extracting his book rather quickly. "I don't have to be home by any specific time."
"Really?" Daisy asked, having finally found her own book. "Your parents wouldn't mind if you came home a little late then?"
...What was she getting at here?
"I'm sure they wouldn't," Luigi informed as he looked over at Daisy, who already had her gaze fixated on him.
"Cool. Then you could stick around for dinner," Daisy suggested, causing Luigi to raise his eyebrows in surprise. "There's no way Aunt Julie and Uncle Jeff would ever believe I actually managed to make that spaghetti by myself. They should get to meet the guy who made it."
Dinner. She wanted him to stay for dinner. A dinner that he made with his own hands...
It was at this point that Luigi realized just how much his awkward nature was aiding him lately. If it wasn't for his accidently hitting her with those balls the previous days, the two probably would have never met. And if they never met, Daisy wouldn't have asked him and his brother to sit around Peach in English class. If Daisy never asked them to sit around Peach, Luigi never would have been paired with her. If Luigi had never been paired with her, she never would have invited him to her house. If she'd never invited him to her house, he never would have cooked for her. And if he never would have cooked for her, Luigi never would have finally realized that he actually could be comfortable and confident around a girl. He probably would have never realized that he had it in him to make friends with a female, let alone a female that he harbored feelings for.
And now, on top of all that, he gets to meet her whole family over dinner. How in the world did someone like Luigi manage to get this far in just two days? It was a mystery. And probably one that would never be solved by even the greatest minds in the detective industry.
Luigi couldn't honestly say that he cared though. He was happy to be in the moment. Sitting back against the sofa, reading aloud along with Daisy as Ilys listened, unable to comprehend most of the words that were read, but not bothering to bog down the process with questions. He was with two new friends, one of which he particularly liked.
Right now, life just felt pretty darn good.