Chapter 9 A Day in Luigi's Life

Once the front door closed behind him, Mario took a deep breath. Every aspect of this day was very promising. Like yesterday, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the temperature was perfect as perfect could be. The colors somehow looked even more lovely than they had the day before, almost like the objects that bore them were glowing. Mario smiled. Today was going to be a good day.

Of course, it wasn't going to be perfect. Last time he checked, the definition of "perfect" didn't involve being stuck in your brother's body. So yeah, that was one very obvious red dot on this white dress.

But Mario wasn't worried. His breathing wasn't troubled in the slightest, nor did his heart pump. Why not, you might ask? Well, Mario was more than a little confident that this day was going to be an absolute breeze. After all, Luigi didn't have that hard of a schedule in place for the Mushroom Kingdom's hero. Every detail of the agenda Luigi had given him (with the exception of having to get the boohemoth out of his mansion) was relatively easy to take care of. In terms of sheer difficulty, tackling these components would be like defeating the World 1 boss. Maybe it would be like defeating the World 2 boss, and the boohemoth extermination was in the World 3 range for sure. But that was the thing; it would be nothing like beating a final boss, or completing a level in World 9. It was nowhere close to the most challenging things he had faced, so why did he have to worry?

Yeah. Mario had this in the bag. With a smile on his borrowed face, he set off on a stroll toward Toadette's house. He continued taking in the calming atmosphere of the Mushroom World, allowing it to fill his brother's lungs and soothe any possible, subconscious worries in his mind. His calm, almost joyous mood only grew more profound when he entered Toad Town.

"Now, look at all of these pleasantly happy people." He waved his hand. "Greetings, Toad Town! It is I, Super Mario…oops, I mean, Super Luigi!" He snickered. "Doesn't exactly have the same ring to it," he said to himself.

To Mario's surprise, no one waved back at him. All of the Toads present in the town just continued on the merry way, as if Mario's words consisted of nothing but empty, passing breezes. This caused Mario's spirits to fall a little bit.

"That's odd." He raised his voice. "HELLO, TOAD TOWN! PLEASANT DAY WE'RE HAVING, YES?"

Still, the Toads didn't respond. Heck, they hardly even reacted; no turns of the head and no twitch of the nose indicated that the stimuli of Mario calling out had even been perceived by them.

Mario sniffed. "Gee, have these guys gone deaf?" He looked down at his body, the green on his shirt sticking out to him the most. 'Oh. Must be because I'm Luigi." He continued walking. "Should have known that Luigi wouldn't get the same reactions and heads turning as I would." Suddenly, he saw an elderly toad woman, struggling to cross from one side of the road to the other. "Oh!" He approached her. "Need help, Ma'am?"

The lady looked up and smiled. "Why, that would be nice!" She extended her arm. "Thank you, young man."

"You're welcome." Mario took her arm. They made their way across the road. Sure, they did so at a snail's pace, but the walk was still pleasant. It wasn't exactly the same as saving Peach from Bowser's clutches, but it still felt good to help this lady out. The smile she gave him once they were safely on the other side of the street only reinforced that fact.

"Thank you…uh…" the lady scratched her head, confusion showing up in her eyes. 'I'm sorry. I know you're one of the Mario brothers, but I can't quite place your name. Is it….Martin?'

Mario sighed. "No, ma'am, it's Luigi."

"Luigi?" the woman said with a blink. 'Huh. That's not even close to Martin." She looked up into his eyes with her gentle shining ones. "Well, have a good rest of the day, Luigi. And if you see your brother, tell him I am a big fan."

Mario beamed. "Thank you." There was a pause, one a little too long in length. "I'l…I'll make sure he knows." With one last wave toward the lady, Mario turned and continued on his way to Toadette's house. "Man," he said out loud. "This lack of recognition is going to take some getting used to."

Sure, going in, he hadn't really expected for the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom to kiss his feet and worship the ground he walked on. But still, there should have been at least someone who recognized Luigi. After all, he did go on rescue missions with Mario; stomping as many goombas and kicking as many koopa shells as he did. So why then did his presence go unregistered? Why was it that his voice fell on deaf ears?

Maybe what Luigi had said the night before held some water; he only got half the credit Mario did. Heck, based on this display, Mario was willing to wager that he got even less! If Mario was still in his body, he would have at least gotten some people turning their heads by now. But no. Nothing had been done by the Toads to tell Mario that they knew he..or, rather, Luigi…existed.

Mario shook his head. He couldn't let all of that get to him. Not only did he have a goal in mind, but he also had the reassurance that he would be switching back soon. There was nothing to worry about. He would be getting a much more satisfiable level of recognition in less than twenty four hours.

This thought put a little extra spring in Mario's step. That little piece of information was enough to help him get through the rest of the day. Heck, because of this, he could consider this day some kind of vacation! It was a break from his life, a little breath of fresh air amidst all the struggles he had trying to save face and be the hero that everyone expected him to be. Yes, this was going to be a pleasant little twenty four hours. Very pleasant indeed.

When Mario finally got to Toadette's house, he had to admit that he was feeling a little extra giddy and giggly. He rap tap tapped on her door, his smile bright enough to classify his face as a star. Toadette immediately noticed this when she opened the door for him.

"Hey Luigi! You look good today; did you do something different with your hair?"

Mario laughed. "I'm a guy, Toadette. The only 'something different' a guy would do with their hair is notice it exists for the first time."

Toadette snorted and shook her head. "You are as funny as ever, I see." She raised her head. "Well, come in! I've been waiting for you to arrive all morning."

Mario nodded and followed after the little Toad girl. The first thing he noticed about the interior of her house was that it smelled nice. She must have fixed up some potpourri or something, cause the whole place was filled with the aroma of cinnamon and orange peel.

"My toilet has been working like a charm."

Mario blinked. "Come again?"

Toadette sent him a smile. "My toilet. That you fixed yesterday. It's more than operational at this point; it's straight up perfect!" Her smile grew stronger. "You, Mr. Luigi, have a real talent for that sort of stuff."

"Hmm," Mario said. "Thanks." Yeah, he always did consider Luigi the more talented of the two of them when it came to plumbing. Back when they lived in Brooklyn, Mario could barely tighten a pipe with how illiterate he was when it came to plumberly duties. Luigi, on the other hand, took right after their father; he could fix sinks and toilets like nobody's business; repairing them with such a fine level of finesse that you couldn't even tell they were broken afterward.

Admittedly, Mario was a little jealous of his brother. Now that they lived in the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario had a bit of an excuse to not take care of plumbing jobs, leaving all the work to the person who really knew what they were doing. But he genuinely wanted to learn, if for no other reason than to not have something that would dampen his pride. It wasn't fair that Luigi was more skilled in a line of work that BOTH of them had been expected to go into, especially when you consider that he was the younger of the two brothers. Mario needed to learn. He NEEDED to!

"Luigi?"

Mario did a double take. Oh dang, he had completely zoned out!

"Oh, uh…" he looked at Toadette. "Sorry, just lost in thought."

Toadette nodded. "That's understandable." Her eyes glittered. "Especially since I know what you're thinking about."

Mario blinked. "You do?"

"Isn't it obvious! You're thinking of Daisy!" Toadette giggled. "You are super excited to go out with her. I can feel it!"

Mario's shoulders slumped a little. "Oh. Yeah, sure, Daisy. I can't wait to see her. Yippee."

"That's the enthusiasm I like to see from you!" She practically danced her way over to the table. "And I for one am really happy that I get a chance to help you!" She gasped. "Hey! This is sort of like payback for helping me out with the toilet!"

"Uh…sure, I guess you could view it like that." He took a seat. "So…you're gonna give me some pointers, right?" That's what Luigi told me.

"Oh, yes! Yes I will!" Toadette looked like she was going to explode in happiness. "It's really great you're going on a first date, and I want to make sure it turns into a relationship that will last for years!" She looked him in the eye. "You and Daisy are perfect together, after all."

Mario nodded. Luigi really did seem to be the yin to Daisy's yang. Every time they were in the same room, the younger Mario brother would become stuttery and red in the face. It was obvious to anyone who had eyes and ears that Luigi loved Daisy, or at the very least had a Goliath sized crush on her. Because of that, he actually didn't feel like he was being intrusive in this situation. Rather, he felt like he was being helpful. He was acting as his brother's wingman, in a sense.

"Yeah. We really are!"

Toadette nodded. "So!" She got up from the table. "Now, come on! We don't want to be late to the Star Mushroom Mall!"

"The Star Mushroom Mall?" That was the same mall Mario had given the speech at the day before. "Why are we going there?"

"Well, mostly because I want to see what it looks like on the inside," Toadette replied. "But another reason is because I want to buy you the perfect outfit for your first date!" She gestured toward him. "I'm sorry, but I can't possibly see a girl being willing to go out with a guy while they're wearing a dirty, stained plumber's uniform."

Mario looked down at his brother's outfit. "I…suppose that's true…"

"Of course it's true! Now come on; we need to get going!"

Two hours later, Mario and Toadette had finished their shopping. As they walked down the second floor hallways, Mario wore a tuxedo that fit Luigi's general aesthetic so poorly that it was honestly kind of cute. Mario didn't think it would make much of a difference with a tomboy like Daisy, who loved to spend every single minute of every single day outdoors. But still, it was a nice to have. Plus, Toadette had insisted that he get it. One of the many tips she had given to him.

"Tip number 42," Toadette said as they walked past a candle store. "Do not ever give a girl candles or perfume as a gift unless they explicitly state what their favorite flavor is. That could tell them that you think they smell, which is the last thing a lady wants to hear."

Mario nodded. "Sounds reasonable enough." At least it made more sense than tip 27. Seriously, what self respecting young woman would take their significant other to the junkyard on a date?

"Yeah." Toadette turned around. "Tip number 43…" she stopped talking, looking past Mario. A smile grew on her face as she did. "Tip number 43 is that, if it's meant to be, the universe will put you in the exact right place at the exact right." She giggled. "Case an point, right now."

Mario blinked. "Right now? What do you mean right now?" Before he could do anything else, a pair of hands covered his eyes from behind.

"Guess who!"