Chapter 8 Bizarre Breakfast

When Luigi emerged from Mario's room, he felt dirty. Like he had just taken a bath in mud, like his hands were stained with the blood of millions of different people. The fact that he had kept his eyes closed hadn't mattered in the slightest; he felt like he had invaded every last level of Mario's privacy while getting dressed. He shook his head, trying to tell himself that nothing was wrong. He hadn't seen anything, hadn't peeked at anything. He committed no sin, and therefore didn't have to feel guilty about anything.

Regardless, when Mario emerged from his room, donning the green outfit that Luigi wore every day, he could barely make eye contact with his brother. Jittery and shaking, he swallowed a lump as he opened his mouth to speak.

"Did you…" he cleared his throat. "You didn't…see anything, did you?"

"Nope," Mario replied. "I kept my eyes closed the entire time." His form stiffened. "Why? Did you see anything? Did you peek?" When Luigi didn't respond right away, he placed his hands on Luigi's shoulders. The grip was so strong that it actually caused some pain. "Luigi, I swear, if you so much as directed one glance at…"

"No!" Luigi batted Mario's hands away. "Don't worry; I kept my eyes closed too. I…" He let out a breath. "I didn't want to invade your privacy."

Mario put his hand to his chest as he breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness." He directed his eyes down toward his new body. "Well, we are officially all ready to seize this day." He looked at Luigi, studying his appearance as a smile grew on his face. "And I've gotta say, you are looking extremely handsome today."

Luigi snickered. "Not as handsome as you."

"HA!" Mario guffawed. "Your ability to view things through an objective lens is flawed at best." His eyes twinkled. "You are obviously the most handsome person in this house."

Luigi's heart sank. "Uh…thanks." He didn't really have the heart to keep going with Mario's jokes. The daunting situation they found themselves in made his stomach churn. How he was going to get through this day as his brother was a challenge that he desperately wanted to run away from, in a manner not too dissimilar to how he ran away from the boohemoth yesterday. He had no idea how he would survive. He had no idea how Mario would survive.

"You okay?" Mario asked.

Luigi, realizing that he had been silent and staring off into the distance for one minute too many, forced on a smile. "I'm fine. Just a little hungry, that's all."

Mario raised an eyebrow. Maybe it was because Luigi was in his body that he was able to see through the fake smile, how he was able to detect hints of unease and fear much more easily than normal. Luigi expected him to ask him follow up questions, for Mario to drill him about his current mood and possible solutions for it.

Instead, Mario just shrugged and directed his eyes toward the stairwell that would take them to the kitchen. "I'm hungry too." He chuckled. "I want to stuff your face so much that you won't be hungry for the rest of the month."

Luigi nodded. "O..okay." He walked toward the stairwell. Mario followed, his steps light and spritely. Luigi noticed this, which made his mind go into a questioning form of overdrive. How in the Mushroom World was Mario able to be so positive in a time like this? Sure, they had an idea that could potentially swap them back, but they needed to live each others lives for a day before they could do that. Did Mario just not realize that? Or was his head so far up his own ass that he thought he could tackle Luigi's life without any problems whatsoever, that he could breeze through this day without any effort exerted? This possibility made Luigi especially mad. It brought the memories of the night before back. He felt like yelling at Mario, reprimanding him for his nonchalant, inappropriate attitude toward this body swap.

He didn't, of course. He wasn't in Mario's head, so he couldn't say for sure that's what he was thinking. Besides, he recognized that starting another fight would be unnecessary, immature, and unhelpful. Perhaps Luigi needed to adopt a positive attitude, one that would allow his footsteps to be just as light and high spirited as his brother's.

When they got to the kitchen, Luigi sat down as Mario picked up the frying pan he dropped. "I think this stuff is still edible." He got two plates out of the cupboard. Luigi watched, his nose felt with the food's aroma and his mouth filled with hunger induced saliva, as Mario put the bacon and eggs on the plates. When Luigi got his, he didn't even hesitate. He crammed the bacon into his mouth, enjoying in the greasy, savory flavor. Bacon was truly God's gift to humanity. If he was stranded on a desert island, and was given the choice to only eat one food for the rest of his life, he would pick bacon. There was so much to love about it, so much to enjoy. He even liked it more than pasta (a fact that he would never admit to Mario).

Mario sat down as well, chewing on the bacon and eggs slowly. The two didn't talk; a true blessing as it allowed Luigi to eat without interruption. He wanted to drown his worries in food, drown them in a way where they would never see the light of day again. While eating, he didn't need to worry about the day. He didn't have to worry about how he was going to probably fail at acting like Mario. He didn't have to worry about any of the gross scenarios that being in another body would put him in. He didn't even need to worry about how all of this was his fault.

Yes. That last fact in particular was one he definitely didn't want to think about at all. The more he thought about it, the more guilt he would feel. And the more guilt he felt, the more depressed he would become. He wanted to avoid that. The last thing he wanted was to become so depressed that he couldn't function. And really, enjoying breakfast was the perfect way to avoid thinking about anything unpleasant.

So, Luigi ate. He ate, and ate, and ate. The eggs turned out to be almost as good as the bacon; the runny yellow yolks were like the nectar of the gods; it paired with the Heavenly bacon perfectly. It only seemed like a second had passed before his plate turned up empty.

"Can I have some more?" Luigi asked his brother.

"Of course," said Mario (he wasn't even close to finishing). He pushed the pan over to Luigi, taking tiny bites of his bacon as he did. When Luigi snarfed down the bacon, Mario kept his eyes glued to him. He didn't blink, didn't redirect his gaze, didn't even even resume with eating as he stared at Luigi.

Noticing this, Luigi sent his brother a furrowed brow. "Why are you staring at me?"

"I…" Mario shook his head. "I'm sorry, this is just so weird. I mean…Weegee, you're in my body!"

Luigi felt his face grow warm as he put his last strip of bacon down on his plate. "Yeah. I'm reminded of that fact whenever I open my mouth." He sunk a little into his chair. "And look at you."

"Oh." Mario directed his gaze back down to his plate. "I'm sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable, bro."

"No no, it's…fine." Luigi took a bite. "Nothing we can do about it at the moment, so…" he swallowed. "No reason to get all up in a tizzy about it."

Mario nodded. The two of them ate the rest of their breakfast in silence. By the time they were done, and Luigi had had his fill with all the eggs and bacon he could eat, Mario took their plates and put them in the sink. As he ran the water required to wash the plates, Mario addressed his brother once again.

"So Luigi," he said as he got the soap and squirted it on the plates. "Is there anything in particular I need to know about being you for the day?"

Luigi thought about this. As he did, his heart sunk a little bit. There were somethings he had put on his agenda for the day yesterday. While there were some parts he was glad he wouldn't have to deal with (goodbye, massive, scary boohemoth), there were also some parts he had looked forward to immensely. Like the date with Daisy. Now, that possibly wonderful and beautiful experience was going to be experienced by Mario. Luigi would have no chance to eat with Daisy, no chance to enjoy in the sound of her laughter and appreciate all that she could bring to the table. This fact actually stung a little bit. He loved Daisy. He wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. But now….

"Weegee?"

Luigi sighed. "Well…I was going to go on a date with Daisy today."

Mario's eyes grew wide; he nearly dropped the plate he was washing. "Woah woah wait, hold the phone!" He turned toward his brother. "You asked Daisy out? When did that happen?"

Luigi's face grew warm for the second time that day. "It..it just sort of happened."

Mario broke out into a massive smile. "Bro! That's incredible! You finally conquered that fear, stepped out of your comfort zone, and did the one thing you have been wanting to do for years!" He patted Luigi on the back. "Nice going, bro!"

"Th…thanks." He lowered his head. "It's just too bad I won't be able to reap the rewards of that decision."

"Oh." Mario pulled his hand away. "That…that is true." He put on a small smile. "But don't worry; I promise I won't fall in love with Daisy or sweep her off her feet."

Luigi smiled. "Thanks Mario."

"Anytime." Mario chuckled as a mischievous sparkle appeared in his eyes. "Her smooching my lips off will be as romance-less and celibate as possible; you have my word."

Luigi cast him a glare. "Thanks. You are sooo reassuring."

"I try." Mario turned back toward the sink. "Anything else I need to know."

"Uh, yeah." Luigi scratched the back of his head. "You need to go over to Toadette's house so she can give you…or me, I guess…some pointers on how to approach the date."

Mario raised an eyebrow. "Pointers?"

"It was her idea, not mine." Luigi let out a breath. "Then, after all of that, you need to go down to my mansion in order to deal with a boohemoth."

Mario blinked. "There's a boohemoth in your mansion?"

"Oh yeah!" Luigi said as he nodded. "And a big one too." He cracked a smile. "Good luck trying to deal with it."

"Thanks. I'm sure I'll need it." Mario shuddered. "Seriously, a boohemoth of all things…"

"Yeah." He took one step closer to his brother. "So, that's pretty much the extent of my day. What about you?"

"Me?" Mario straightened his posture. "Well…I don't really have any specific agenda." He set the newly-cleaned plate to the side. "However, that doesn't mean I'll not be busy. I would suggest going down to Peach's Castle and see if she has anything worth doing."

"Sounds good." Luigi chuckled. "Do you want me to ask her out on a date while I'm there?"

Mario seized up. "HEAVENS, NO!"

"Okay!" Luigi said with a laugh. "I just figured, since I've already asked out Daisy, you could use my expert help in that department."

Mario shook his head. "Well, thanks I guess, but I don't. I want to be the one to ask out Peach. It's…it's kind of a step that I need to take on my own."

"I know, I know. I get that easily." Luigi let out a breath. "So…I guess, we're really doing this. We're really going to be each other."

"Yes we are." Mario put the second plate to the side and extended his hand toward his brother. "Good luck to you, Mario."

Luigi smiled and took Mario's hand. "Same goes for you, Luigi."