Cascore's Note: Alrighty! I stayed up all night getting this chapter done (seriously, about ten hours), and now it's here nice and quick, just like I sort of not really promised it would be. I tried to turn the spotlight onto Mario a bit more since he hasn't had nearly as much air time as the likes of Luigi and Daisy (and Toad and Tess and Peach and just about everyone really), so hopefully it makes you care just a little bit more about him. Anyway, like I said, I stayed up all night making this, so if there are any typos or anything, I'll probably come back and fix them up later. I'm just too tired to do it right now. With that, I'm off to salvage whatever sleep I can get and I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 14: "Reunion on the Blacktop"
Mario headed off for the basketball courts immediately as he began to regret volunteering to check the golf course in the first place. With something of a distant placement from the actual park (only about a half a mile away, but that was still daunting to think about) and a broad area to cover once he searched it, looking about the course would certainly be a time-consuming hassle for him. And playing a game or two while he looked around was simply out of the question, for rounds of golf always took quite a long time, not to mention he just didn't much like the game anyway; it was simply too idle for him and he preferred not to have to be a master at physics to play it well. Having to keep in mind the wind speed and direction and choosing the appropriate club and aiming for certain terrain and blah, blah, blah, that was just too much to think about when you went in to smack the crap out of a little white ball.
The one thing about the game that really appealed to him were the dandy carts that people got to use between shots. Even though they tapped out at about five miles per hour, it was still fun to drive those things around for whatever reason, and the Sport Day committee was sure to supply the public with plenty of them (somewhere around seventy-five), partly in anticipation of the fact that people would simply like to ride them around the course.
...Huh, now there was an idea. If Mario could get a hold of one of those carts, not only would that cut down on the amount of time he spent looking for Daisy, but he could also have fun while doing it. Being in control of a set of wheels that he could drive pretty much anywhere, the wind blowing by his face as he kept his eyes peeled for the girl of his little brother's dreams. Man, now Mario was actually getting a bit excited about headed out there and scouting the grounds. But that daydream would come to fruition right after he was done looking around his first fenced-in, blacktop destination, which he was coming upon at that very moment.
Looking around, Mario found exactly the type of people he expected to see at a basketball court; largely high school to college age teenagers and young men, a female sprinkled about here and there to mix things up a bit. Most of the participants were the likes of Piantas, Doogans, Koopas, and Humans, using their natural taller stature to their advantage as they towered over the smaller players such as Toads and, surprisingly, the occasional Goomba. How in the world a Goomba could possibly play basketball Mario would never know, but the ones that did appeared to be enjoying themselves, so at least they were having a good time.
Casting away his initial urge to watch several games of three-on-three match-ups, Mario set out to do what he was there to do. Passing by the outer boundaries of several basketball courts situated directly next to each other, he scanned the crowds of faces to see if he could catch any sign of the brown-haired girl. However, thanks to the sheer tallness of most of the players, and to the rapid pace and activity that naturally accompanied the game, the process of picking out individual faces was much harder than Mario originally thought it would be.
If only he could make everyone settle down and stay still for a few minutes so he could get a proper look around. Seriously, it was getting to the point where, if he wished to get a good looked at a single court, he had to stand idly in crowds for several minutes as he unsuccessfully tried to discern faces from one another. The blur of the activity was getting to be so much that people started to all look the same. Either that or he mistakenly looked at the same people over and over and simply thought they were someone else. It seemed very possible at that point.
Before Mario could become too frustrated with the uncooperative energy that emanated from those around him, he felt something bump against his lower back. Turning to see what it was that made the rough contact with him, Mario was immediately met with the images of a black basketball weakly bouncing away from him and a Human girl making her way over to retrieve it.
At the sight of her, Mario instantly came to a freeze at the same time that the girl slowed her advance to an awkward halt as she looked back at him. That teenage girl, with her long dark brown hair and her large light blue eyes, wearing that white tank top along with a pair of red sweatpants...that couldn't be who Mario thought it was. The girl Mario was thinking of disappeared without a trace two years ago. That girl was supposed to be gone...
Out of nowhere, the girl looked at the basketball that rested on the ground just before Mario and blushed, appearing to be more ashamed than she was timid as her lips turned into a slight frown and her eyes revealed a curious look of self doubt and regret. And it was at that moment that Mario knew. It was her. It just had to be her.
"...Pauline?" Mario forced himself to speak up after several seconds of tense silence, causing the girl to quickly step forward and kneel down to grab the ball, obviously in a hurry to break away from Mario; break away from the boy from her past. But Mario wouldn't let her get away quite that easily.
"Wait," he commanded, stepping forward in preparation to follow Pauline as she began to head back for her basketball group. Thankfully, Pauline did stop once again after only a few small, hurried steps were taken, Mario's voice somehow having successfully frozen her on the spot. At the same time though, her friends from the nearby court were calling her over, beckoning her to rejoin them and leave the boy behind so their game may resume. Feeling that this conversation just may give her a chance to apologize though, give her closure about the wrong that she committed on Mario those two years ago, Pauline decided that she would excuse herself for a few moments to talk with this boy.
"Just a minute you guys," Pauline called over to the rest of the players, able to mask the feelings behind her voice quite well as she tossed the ball over to the group to be caught by a female Koopa, who held it under her arm as she waited somewhat impatiently for her friend to return.
With a small sigh, Pauline turned back around to face Mario, who was looking at her with slightly furrowed eyebrows and a pair of lips that obviously wanted to deconstruct into a frown, though he was doing a good job of keeping them straight.
"Mario..." Pauline mumbled with an almost pleading voice, as if asking him to forgive her right away. Of course, he wouldn't be able to do that until he heard exactly why Pauline just up and disappeared the way she did two years ago. Really, he thought that by that point in time he'd be over it, but he wasn't. Presented with an opportunity to discover this mystery that'd been resting in the back of his mind since junior high school, Mario would not let Pauline get away until he was satisfied with what she had to say for herself.
As Pauline began to explain herself, Mario felt as if he were suddenly thrown into the past. He was thirteen again, only a month into his seventh year of schooling, and he was sitting in his rather upbeat social studies class that just finished discussing the hunting rituals of the ancient Tribal Shy Guys. Having been granted the last ten minutes of class to be spent however the students wished, naturally, the kids immediately began to strike up conversation amongst one another.
Mario himself wasn't much of a talker though. Like his father, Mario was a silent personality for a good portion of his schooling career, only having grown somewhat social once he began high school. He hardly had anything interesting to say, for he had almost no idea how to communicate with people other than the members of his own family and Toad, his one and only friend by that stage of his life (besides Luigi of course). As a result, most people never bothered with talking to the kid, and those who tried often found that they'd rather not do so again, for he quickly drove away their interest in him with his lack of skills in the arts of conversation.
Compared to who Mario was now, it was hard to believe that he was once an outcast himself. His peers thought he was boring, nobody particularly liked him, and, really, he just didn't care about any of that. Mario was perfectly content with being boring, living life day by day doing the same routine thing over and over, never bothering to throw in even a little spice to mix things up by making more friends and sharing in healthy chats with others. It was just his way of sailing the sea of his days on the Mushroom World out.
But that day, in that social studies class two years ago, that was the day that he would meet an individual who challenged him come out of his shell and explore the things in life he was missing out on by being reclusive and quiet.
That individual was, of course, Pauline.
She would approach him during that class within the ten-minute time span between the end of the lecture and the ringing of the bell that let the students out to lunch. She would greet him with a warm and friendly smile that Mario rarely ever saw from anyone besides Toad and his family. She would occupy the desk in front of him, turned so she was facing Mario over the back of the uncomfortable metal seat, and she would be the first person outside of Mario's familiar group of people he associated himself with that would not give up on the idea of making friends with him, even if it meant talking to a virtual wall for the first few minutes, hours, possibly even days.
She insisted that Mario eat lunch with her. She insisted that they meet up in the halls between classes and chat with one another. She insisted that Mario accompany her to pep rallies and school sporting events. And eventually, even though Mario was a tough case, she turned the previously antisocial recluse into something of a social butterfly.
Nobody knew why in the world why Pauline took such an interest in Mario all of a sudden. Her closest friends didn't know, her parents didn't know, even Mario didn't know. Hell, she probably didn't even know. But there was something about him that she just found utterly attractive and she was determined to shape him into talkative, likeable guy. And she succeeded astoundingly. It only took her a month to undo Mario's self-created cocoon and replace it with a pair of wings that allowed Mario to soar into the heights of popularity that he never would have achieved had it not been for Pauline's sudden interjection. And Mario had to admit, he liked this new lifestyle.
Suddenly, the world seemed like such a friendlier place. People smiled at him, greeted him in the hallways, complimented him on how good he looked that particular day. And, to top it all off, he was in his first (and so far, only) relationship, for, after finishing her objective of bringing some sociality into Mario's life, Pauline began hinting that she would like to go on several dates with Mario to movies, restaurants and other areas of that nature.
So it became official. Mario and Pauline were a couple.
...But they wouldn't maintain that status for very long.
See, only two weeks after Mario and Pauline went out on their first date, Pauline attended the birthday party of a friend of hers without bringing Mario along. Of course, a party filled with thirteen-to-fifteen year old hormonally-charged teenagers sounded bad enough on paper. Throw in the fact that the party was unchaperoned and...well, that just seemed like a recipe for disaster. And, as it turned out, it was.
Everything started out innocently enough (despite the fact a few of the girls were dressed in rather revealing clothes and more than a few guys were eager to share their company). There was dancing, there were games, there was food, the cutting of the cake, the opening of the presents. The whole party went along just fine. Of course, Pauline's friend was rather trustworthy and pretty responsible, so it grew apparent that the party would probably be able to pull through without parental guidance.
It was only when it was was an hour away from coming to a close that things made a dramatic turn for the worse.
Pulling the classic trick of sneaking alcohol into the house without anyone's notice, a group of five boys made a quick job of spiking every two liter bottle of soda that was in use by the partygoers. Given the fact that only four bottles remained and that all of them were just about half empty, the boys were able to pour in more than enough liquor to get just about any one of the teenagers a bit tipsy without much more than a little sip.
Unfortunately, Pauline would end up taking a bit more than a little sip. As a matter of fact, one of her friends challenged her to drink an entire cup's worth of soda without stopping even once. A proposed mission that could not have come at a worse time if it had tried.
Filling up a quarter-liter cup with a soda of her choice, Pauline proposed a formal heads up just before turning the rim to her lips and beginning her nonstop journey to the bottom of the cup. The drink admittedly tasted weird, but she figured that it was her own taste buds at work, for she had eaten some rather spicy hot dogs not long ago and they were likely still playing with her ability to taste.
However, it was merely a matter of seconds before the effects of the alcohol hidden within the drink began to impair her ability to walk, talk, or see without having to seriously focus whenever she tried to do anything. Insisting that she just had a bad stomach ache, she convinced the friend that challenged her to drink the soda as well as the birthday girl to escort her to a bedroom or a lounge room or just any room that was isolated and had a place to lie down. Resting on the birthday girl's bed, Pauline informed the pair that it would be alright if they left her alone and that she felt better now that she was lying down. She wasn't telling them the truth at all, but she simply didn't want to ruin the party for anyone else, even if it meant suffering through this sudden attack on her body alone.
The room was spinning all around her as she lied there staring up at the ceiling. She never felt like this in her life. It was horrible and dizzying...she almost wanted to vomit, but she wouldn't allow herself. Not in her friend's room and on her friend's birthday. That would just be sick.
Instead, Pauline tried closing her eyes and focused on feeling better. She thought about being able to walk straight and talking without slurring her words and, most of all, being able to actually see again. Her sight was so impaired it was unbelievable... What in the world was in that drink?
She tried opening her eyes once again.
...Wait a minute, when did she fall onto the floor? Somewhere in that swirling mess next to her was the bed that she was previously on and underneath her was cold, white tile. How could she not even realize that she had fallen? Had she gone unconscious for a moment or...
Hold on, someone was coming into the room. Pauline may not have been able to see or, apparently, feel much of anything anymore, but her hearing stayed intact and she could tell that there was some boy snickering as he quietly closed the door behind him...and locked it. Who was this guy...? What was he doing...?
Pauline hesitated to continue as her vague memories of the night felt like such a dream that it could have easily been one had it not been for the open and blatant ridicule that she received at school the following Monday. Mario remembered that day himself; Pauline was a crying wreck and she wouldn't tell him what was wrong. And, having heard the story behind it, it finally made sense why she disappeared from his life directly after that.
For the entire day of school after the party, Pauline was mocked and teased by what felt like absolutely everyone in the whole school. How Mario never found out what happened was a mystery in itself, but Pauline could hardly walk two steps without being shown pictures of herself taken on various cell phones that were present that night.
Pictures of her naked, drunken body being carried out of the bedroom by a victorious and vicious boy that used her impaired state to his advantage to both have his way with her and to eternally embarrass her in one fell swoop. Pictures of the words "Slut" and "Whore" scribbled all over her entire body as she lie unconscious on the floor. Pictures of her furious parents grabbing her and her clothes in a huff, regretting allowing their daughter to attend that party in the first place...
It was horrible enough that these images were taken in the first place, but the wonderful world of picture mail helped circulate them all over the school in the matter of a single Sunday... And Pauline's entire life was ruined thanks to one night and one dare to drink an incredibly unhealthy dose of alcoholic soda.
She couldn't show her face in that school ever again if she hoped to retain her sanity. A single day of endless ridicule was enough to drive her to the brink of desperation, to the point where she even considered taking her own life because she knew it would no longer be worth living if that night was going to follow her for the rest of her life. Thank God her parents stepped in before she could bring herself to carry out the action and suggested that she switched to a different, smaller school that rested in the nearby Koopa Village. The daily commute would be slightly longer than the local school, but anything was better than having their daughter remain eternally miserable. Or eternally out of their lives.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before Mario...but don't let this change anything alright?" Pauline pleaded, noting a look of pity in Mario's previously angry eyes. "Just forget about me okay?"
How could Mario do that? That was the first time he'd seen Pauline in two years, he'd finally learned her reason for leaving him behind, and she practically shaped Mario into who he was that very day. How could he forget his first girlfriend and the girl that ended up having so much influence in his life? Especially now that he felt closer to her than ever, having heard this story...
Pauline was intent though, and, with a sigh and a nervous glance at the ground, she imparted another bit of information that would hopefully serve to deter Mario from ever thinking about her again.
"Look, Mario...as long as I'm spilling my guts here, I may as well tell you this," she began rather quietly before raising her volume slightly and looking back into Mario's eyes. "I never really liked you in the first place."
…
"It's stupid, but I was feeling left out in junior high," Pauline continued. "All of my friends were starting to date and I was the only one that didn't have a boyfriend. I wanted one so I could fit in...and you just seemed like an easy target."
...Easy target? How in the world was Mario an easy target? If he remembered correctly, he was quite unapproachable in his junior high school days.
"Sure, you were quiet and everything at first, but I learned that all you need to do to get a quiet guy to open up is spend a lot of time talking to him and act sweet around him. And with you, it worked," Pauline explained, causing Mario to think back and realize that that was exactly what Pauline did. "And yeah, I had to work a little bit to make you into a guy that I could see myself being with, but I was just never attracted to you. I'm more into tall, kinda wild guys. And you're shorter than me...and really predictable."
Gee, thanks.
"So you were just using me," Mario concluded bluntly, his frown threatening to return again, though this time due to disappointment and a bit of self consciousness.
"Well...yeah," Pauline answered just as bluntly, not pulling any punches with the young man as she spoke. She did want him to forget about her after all, and what better way than to be to-the-point and somewhat insulting about the facts?
Still though, even as he slowly left Pauline behind without another word to be exchanged between them, even as the first girl of his dreams stared after him for several seconds, watching the crestfallen boy depart after finally learning the truth kept secret for two years, even as he broke off all ties with the only girl he truly ever held a relationship with, Mario still felt an ounce of gratefulness for having at least met her in the first place. For without her, who knew where he would be that very day.
He might not have ever had as many friends had he never met Pauline and, without the confidence that Pauline imbued in him those years ago, he may not have been able to make the advances that he did on the current lady of his affections; a lady that certainly was a genuine lady and not really a bit of a tramp that was simply looking for an arm to hold on to.
Mario was glad he ran into Pauline that day though. It only helped to reinforce his feelings about Peach and to appreciate her openly genuine feelings towards him in return. Mario knew that she liked him just as much as he liked her. She even playfully asked him out on a date once, only to quickly take it back as a joke before Mario could even answer. The way she blushed when she insisted that she wasn't being serious though... Well, that wouldn't be the blush of a simple friendly jest.
But Mario could think about Peach all he wanted after he finished his search for Daisy. Thankfully, the talk with Pauline did settle him down a fair bit, allowing him to look about the massive crowds of people with a bit of a calmer eye. Of course, that didn't mean that all of the activity was any less confusing. Or frustrating...
Ugh, that golf course was summoning him...
–
It would be a full two hours before the search party (minus Mario's and Luigi's parents, who seemed to be enjoying themselves too much as they wandered about to simply stop) returned to their rendezvous point in front of the tennis courts. Peach was the first on the scene, walking a bit stiffly to the site, for she was sucked into several track and field events that she was in no way, shape, or form conditioned for at all. Having to take up a one hundred and two hundred meter dash, followed by a high jump, long jump, discus toss, and a grueling eight hundred meter race, it was evident that her legs and arms were going to be screaming for the next few days at the very least. Nevertheless, she had to admit, it was pretty fun. And, according to a track veteran, as long as she kept moving, she could keep her muscles from growing so sore that she couldn't walk. So seeing Peach constantly walking back and forth in front of the tennis courts for fifteen minutes straight was a sight that many passersby would be able to witness until Mario appeared.
He didn't look or feel fatigued at all (he did get to ride around in a golf cart for forty minutes) and smiled upon seeing a slightly red faced Peach. It was getting to the point that simply walking back and forth was feeling like a chore for her. Her legs felt quite like jelly at the moment and Mario insisted that she take a seat.
"But then they'll get sore won't they?" Peach asked, though she looked at the nearby bench longingly, thinking of how magnificent it would feel to sit down for a while.
"Yeah, but at least you'll be able to rest. You'll fall over any minute if you keep walking," Mario insisted as he urged the aching girl to take occupance on the bench. And she obliged. But very slowly. It felt like every inch that she bent her legs was an instance of pure pain wrapped in a layer of torture with a beating stick pounding away at the casing. But, needless to say, it was with great relief that she finally managed to seat herself onto the bench. And never in her entire life had Peach been so grateful to have a place to sit.
"How in the world could Daisy even think about doing this for a whole day?" Peach asked as she attempted to massage her legs, an endeavor that never seemed to bring any results when she tried to do it herself but felt nice nonetheless. "I swear they were trying to kill me on the track."
"It just takes a little practice," Mario said with a smile as he took a seat next to Peach. "I'm sure you'll be looking forward to Sports Day just as much as Daisy does after a while," he added as he leaned his entire body over toward Peach, bumping into her lightly with his shoulder. As slight as the brief contact was however, Peach couldn't help but let out a small squeak of pain. However, she decided that she wouldn't allow Mario to get away with the act and chose to make a counterattack.
"That kinda hurts you know," Peach responded playfully as she leaned into Mario, bumping him back a little harder than he bumped her, though she obviously ended up hurting herself much more than she hurt him. And this only prompting Mario to continue the small exchange by rebounding and bumping into her once more, though he continued to do so as softly as he had the first time.
"It can't hurt that much."
Retaliation bump from Peach.
"Believe me, it does."
Return bump from Mario.
"Anything I can do to help?"
Peach feigned the action of bumping back into Mario, but instead stopped slightly short and gently rested her head on his shoulder. "No," she answered simply as she closed her eyes and imagined a body that wasn't positively sore all over.
Appreciating Peach's flawless ability to turn the friendly exchange into a more intimate position that subtly urged the pair to scoot just a bit closer together, Mario carefully reached up a hand that extended across Peach's back and placed itself on her far shoulder. Instead of letting it simply rest there though, Mario began to press down on the muscles behind the shoulder blade with his thumb, moving it in small circular motions in an attempt to soothe at least one part of Peach's body that he knew must have been in pain after the activities she had been though. And, thankfully, his attempt was much appreciated, for Peach let out a sudden satisfied sigh as a smile came across her lips, her eyes still shut tight as she focused on the spot that Mario was massaging for her.
"That feels so good..." she seemed to mutter unconsciously, for she sounded as if she were speaking to nobody in particular as the words floated out of her mouth quite angelically.
Mario couldn't help but feel himself break out in a small sweat as she said this. Something about the way she uttered her satisfaction with his efforts to make her feel better was rather seductive in its own way, though he was sure that Peach wasn't trying to pull any moves like that on him at the moment. It was simply a statement of appreciation for his effort.
Mario let several minutes pass by as his massaging hand wandered to various regions of Peach's back, but never going any further south than the waist. He kept an eye out for his brother, Daisy, his parents, anyone that just might put an end to the search that had been going on for roughly two hours and thirty minutes by then. But there was nothing. It was really starting to look like Daisy actually wasn't there after all.
"I wonder what's taking Luigi so long," Mario muttered to himself as he continued to looked around. The original plan was for everyone to be back by the tennis courts after about an hour and a half of searching. Considering Peach was the first to arrive and she was a half hour late herself, she and Mario were already pretty far off schedule. Luigi was running a full hour late by now though. What could possibly be keeping him up?
Whatever it could be, Mario certainly couldn't ask Peach if she knew. Without notice, she'd managed to slip off into sleep, leaning a bit more heavily against Mario as he slowly brought the massage to a stop. He certainly didn't expect her to fall asleep that easily. But, considering the fact that she must have been pretty tuckered out thanks to the intensity of the track and field events, just about any halfway comfortable position she could get herself into would likely send her into slumber without much effort. Nevertheless, she continued to massage her shoulder and her back, having grown into a comfortable groove that he didn't want to break away from.
Thankfully, his brother would soon appear on the scene at last. However, as he approached, Mario noticed that Luigi appeared to be rather dazed, for he looked off into the distance with a blank gaze and slightly stumbled about as he walked. Quickly locating Mario and Peach though, Luigi roughly shook head and made his way over in as straight of a line as he could.
"Hey you guys," Luigi greeted with a tone just as dazed as his stature as he plopped himself down onto the bench next to his older brother, looking up into the sky as he tried his hardest to gain his bearings.
"You okay bro?" Mario asked, observing his brother's state with a slightly concerned look on his face. Luigi placed a hand on his head as he closed his eyes, hoping his apparent dizziness would work its way out of him if he didn't look at anything for a while.
"Yeah... Some little kids just...convinced me to get on one of those spinning wheel things at the playground..." Luigi explained. "And they...spun me around really really fast for...about five minutes. I've been trying to find my way here for the last...fifteen minutes."
Man, that sounded rough. Was the spinning really so bad that he couldn't even find the tennis courts for fifteen minutes? Seriously, the playground he talked about was hardly a two minute walk away. Heck, Mario could see it from that very bench once he looked around for a bit.
But that was beside the point.
"Anyway...I ran into Daisy's family at the go karts," Luigi informed, testing out his method of keeping his eye closed in order to alleviate the dizziness. Thankfully it worked, but he still felt rather queasy when he thought about just how long he was on that spinning torture device. "They told me that Daisy actually isn't here," he continued with a small sigh as he continued to look into the sky longingly. "She had to go visit her father because he'd caught a sickness and he wanted her to visit him this morning."
"Ouch. Where does her dad live?" Mario asked, making Luigi think a little bit harder to recall his conversation from earlier that day.
"I think they said Sarasaland," he answered just before giving off another sigh that was quite a bit deeper than his previous one. "I kinda just want to go home now to be honest. Daisy was pretty much the whole reason I wanted to come."
"Come on bro, you've been looking forward to today all month," Mario tried to persuade his younger brother. "You just met Daisy a week ago."
"Well, it's different now," Luigi muttered. "It's just not as much fun without her. I couldn't even play any soccer or enjoy go kart racing because she wasn't around..."
As if knowing what his brother would say in response, Luigi tore his gaze away from the sky and planted his eyes on Mario. The smirk that spread across Mario's lips was a dead indication of what he was thinking at that moment. And Luigi hardly wanted to believe it.
"You don't think I'm in love do you bro?" he asked, prompting an immediate nod from Mario.
Now, many would argue that love didn't exist in the high school years. And that claim was largely backed by the fact that most teenage couples that claimed to be in love usually ended up going against their own words and doing something that would result in quite the nasty breakup soon after.
The terms "love" and "in love" were used quite loosely amongst high schoolers it seemed. For most of the rest of the world, "love" likely meant something along the lines of a deep emotional caring that was boundless and continually present in a relationship, and being "in love" probably meant that both persons in the relationship would go to any lengths to see to it that their significant other was generally happy, because the happiness of one meant the happiness of the other.
For high school, it seemed that "love" was that giddy emotion one felt when their significant other bought them that bouquet of flowers and asked them to prom. And being "in love" seemed to mean that, well, you were willing to have sex with your partner (though far too many relationships seemed to actually be ruined by that act as it seemed) and still stay with them after that night was over.
Obviously, those definitions were very different, and one of the sets was much more naïve and shallow than the other. Of course, the type of love Mario and Luigi were discussing that morning was not the sadly misguided high school meaning of the word, for Luigi seriously contemplated his feelings as he sat on that park bench and looked back up into the sky once more.
It was true that Luigi was having a hard time enjoying a previously anticipated event because of the fact that someone he met only recent wasn't there.
It was also true that he would likely be in something of a sour mood until he knew that that missing person was back in the same town as him.
It was true that whatever that missing person was feeling, he seemed to feel at the same time, no matter how far apart they were or whether or not they witnessed each other as they expressed those feelings...
Great. He had to face it. He was either in love or infatuated to the point of creepy obsession. And, preferring not to believe that the latter was true...
"I don't want to be in love bro," Luigi whined as he pressed the palms of both hands against his forehead, obviously feeling overwhelmed by the sheer thought of it. "I can't even get used to the fact that I have a crush on her."
Mario gave his little brother a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as Luigi noticeably slumped down into the bench quite a ways, ruining his posture completely as he practically sat on his back and his rear end hung off the edge of the seat.
Perhaps it would have been comforting to know that, somewhere in the world, Daisy was feeling just as bummed out about her day as Luigi was. Or, if it wasn't comforting...well, at least it would be ironic.