Chapter 14 I'm…Afraid
Mario made his way out of the bathroom with his hands in his pockets. Seriously, he couldn't get the boohemoth out of his head. On some level, this made him feel empathy for his younger brother, as Luigi had to deal with more ghosts than Mario had ever seen in his lifetime. But even with that newfound understanding, Mario's nerves weren't anywhere close to disappearing. He wanted this to not bother him. He really, truly wished that he could tune out the fear, the dread. He wished he could be he brave hero that everyone viewed him as.
"You okay?"
Mario did a double take, just noticing for the first time that he had reached his table. He took a seat, looking into Daisy's concerned eyes as he let out a breath. "I'm fine."
Daisy raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's good." Despite those words, she didn't sound convinced. In fact, she snorted right after saying them. "I almost thought that you needed to see a doctor with how long you were in the loo." She giggled.
Mario, if for no other reason than to ignore his aforementioned dread, laughed right alongside her. "Oh no, I'm not at that point just yet." He lowered his head. "And thank goodness for that; I don't think I could handle a doctor's examination in this body."
"What was that?" Daisy asked.
"Nothing," Mario said at a speed that was almost too immediate. "Nothing, everything is fine."
Daisy raised her eyebrow again. The suspicion she displayed made Mario's stomach squirm a little bit. Was this how Luigi felt? Did his younger brother ever deal with dread this strong, discomfort this palpable?
"Well, okay then," Daisy finally said. She took one last sip from her soda, the straw making the noise that indicated she had gotten to the bottom of the cup. She set it to the side, looking at Mario with an attraction that hadn't really been present before. "Wanna take a walk?"
Hmm. A walk. That might help calm the plumber's nerves a little bit. "Sure."
Daisy beamed. She got up from the table, threw what remained of her lunch in the trash, and went over to Mario. She held her hand out, gesturing for him to take it. And, like on the carousel, this made Mario uncomfortable. Holding hands, or really, any physical contact with his brother's girlfriend (I mean, she was technically his girlfriend; he did officially ask her out) was just too much. He wanted to respect Luigi's…privacy wasn't the right word. Wants? Desires? Sure, let's go with that; he wanted to respect Luigi's desires.
So, he shook his head as he rose from his chair. "Another time maybe."
Daisy blinked before shaking her head. "Well, alright. Whatever you want, your majesty."
"Your majesty?" Mario snorted. "Daisy, you're a princess."
"I know, I know." She giggled, a mischievous tone present. "It's just fun to say."
Without another word, their walk around the mall was underway. Mario noticed two things during this promenade. One (and this wasn't really important, just a minor detail in the grand scheme of things), some of the stores in the Star Mushroom Mall were similar to stores in Coconut Mall. There was a donut shop, a fashion store, a nail salon. Mario didn't really spend a lot of time in malls, so he was admittedly entranced by these sights. Reika's Clothing Store filled him with wonder, Yummy Tummy Donuts made him happy (as well as hungry). Were these stores that were commonplace in malls? Mario didn't know. Again, he wasn't one who spent an inordinate amount of time in malls.
The second thing he noticed was far more important than the shops, however, as it made Mario feel strange and sad. Like with his walk over to Toadette's house, no one paid attention to him. If anybody turned his way, it was because they recognized the Princess by his side instead of him. It was such an odd scenario, and an even odder feeling. Mario never imagined that he would miss recognition this much. Sure, when it was taken to the extreme in paparazzi scenarios, it stressed him out. But not even getting the basics, like a greeting or a glance? It felt…odd.
So, to distract himself from this very bizarre feeling, Mario decided to strike up a conversation with the girl of Luigi's dreams. "So…" he struggled over the words to say. "Have you seen Peach recently?" Might as well discuss the girl of HIS dreams, even though he couldn't see her.
Daisy made a face. "Uh…yeah. I had a meeting with her early in the morning to discuss our kingdoms' infrastructures. Don't you remember? I told you that in our text conversations."
This made Mario sweat. "You…you did?"
"Yeah." Daisy snickered. "What, do you have the memory of a goldfish? Do I have to take you to the doctor both because of bathroom problems and short term memory loss?"
Mario felt like shrinking into the ground, a feeling so foreign to him normally. "Oh, uh…no. I just…um…" Words failed him. They very rarely did, but words failed him in this scenario.
Thankfully, Daisy didn't seem to mind. "I'm just messing with you, Weegee." A smile grew on her face as she elbowed him. "A princess has got to have fun every once in a while, am I right?"
Mario feigned a laughter. Honestly, the fact that he had blundered like this made him feel…cautious. Sure, Daisy didn't figure out about the swap because of what he said, but still. He wanted to keep suspicion to a minimum. That would be the best choice until he and Luigi swapped back tomorrow, as it would allow them to resume with their normal lives without much of an issue.
"I…I guess."
Daisy chuckled. "You're so adorable, Luigi. And I mean that in a very genuine way; you're so cute that I could just eat you up."
Mario sniffed. "That's…good." Honestly, he found those words of hers a little condescending. But still, he wasn't really in the mood to pick a fight with her.
So, they continued on their walk. As they took an escalator down the the first level, Mario kept as quiet as a rock. He got a glance at Daisy every once in a while, which she would acknowledge by smiling at him. This was good, he supposed. But still, he didn't want to make a fool of himself by talking. That action had the potential of causing more trouble than he could reasonably deal with.
After they had walked around on the first level for a little bit (and Mario got even less recognition than before, if that was at all possible), Daisy said something that made Mario's heart skip a beat. "Are you okay? You're shaking."
Mario blinked. "Am I?" He looked down at his hands. Sure enough, they trembled like they had been subjected to freezing temperatures. "Oh wow, you're right." He swallowed a lump and put them in his pockets.
Daisy sent a furrowed brow his way. "What's up? Is something wrong?"
Mario hesitated. He reasoned that the reason he was shaking was twofold. One, this whole body swap endeavor was causing him stress. In fact, the fact that he was in his brother's body was causing him more stress than he had ever felt before, since he had to deal with acting like Luigi, going out with his girlfriend, and dealing with his lack of recognition; all without revealing that he wasn't Luigi. And, unfortunately, he couldn't talk to Daisy about that, no matter how concerned she was.
The second reason, however, was something he could talk about it. "There's a boohemoth in my bro…uh, I mean, my mansion."
Daisy gasped. "A boohemoth? As in, one of the biggest boos ever known to man and mushroom? THAT boohemoth?"
"Yep," Mario said, his shoulders drooping.
Daisy did a double take. "Dude. How in the world are you going to deal with that; those things are vicious!"
"I don't know," Mario said. "It…just the thought of going up against it is making me squeamish. And I don't really get squeamish."
Daisy snickered. "Really? You don't get squeamish?" She snickered again, covering her mouth as she did. "Riiiight….
Mario froze up. Again, he couldn't reveal the swap. "Uh…I mean…" he looked back at her. "I am really nervous about doing this. Some might even say I'm…scared."
That statement actually drew sympathy out of Daisy. She put her hand on Mario's shoulder. "Well, for what it's worth, I don't think you need to be scared. You're better at dealing with ghosts than anyone I've ever known."
That statement rung as hollow as hollow could get. After all, it was directed at Luigi. Mario could not claim any of the credit that she was giving him. He sucked at fighting ghosts! They were the worst enemies he had ever faced; bar none! Sure, Bowser was stronger, fiercer, and more annoying, but he wasn't anywhere close to the level that ghosts were on. Mario had dealt with Bowser effortlessly, while he had gotten trapped in a painting by King Boo. And…by the way, being stuck in a painting is a gruesome experience. While frozen in the frame, the only emotions you get to experience are the fear and terror you felt before being trapped. It was a fate worse than death.
So, because those words weren't directed at him, Mario felt even worse than before. His shaking sped up, so much that not only was it noticeable now, it was painful. He tried to get it under control, hoping to save face in front of Daisy. While he couldn't reveal that he wasn't Luigi, he could at least act less fearful than his brother did (he viewed that as a favor he was doing Luigi more than anything else). Unfortunately, that task was proving impossible now. Little whimpers escaped from his throat, sounds that were more involuntary and instinctual than anything else.
"Oh, Weegee…" Daisy patted his shoulder once again, using a gentler touch than before. This helped, but only a little. Nothing could get rid of Mario's nerves at this point.
"I…I apologize," he said. There was no reason for him to be acting this scared around a literal Princess. He always acted brave around Peach, so Daisy deserved the exact same courtesy. At least, that's what Mario told himself.
"Don't be," Daisy said. "It's okay you're a little scared. Emotions like that make you human."
Human. Huh, that was…ironic. No, not because Mario wasn't human (every last aspect of him was very human), but rather because the Mushroom Kingdom viewed him as more than that. To them, he was a hero. He could face any situation without fear, without any reservations. He was awesome to them, a super human. And Mario tried to give them what they expected of him. Whenever he was afraid, he dealt with it inside. He never showed his true emotions; just the great heroic front that every Toad in the kingdom assumed was his default setting.
And you know…he has been pretending to be super human so much now that he expected that of himself too. He needed to be perfect, cause everyone saw him as perfect. He needed to be there when people needed help, when the whole world and especially the Princess depended on him. And as a consequence, he pushed all fear to the side. It wasn't needed, so why should he express it? Heck, why should he feel it? He didn't show fear. He didn't express fear. He didn't feel fear.
Except now. Now, he was scared at the horrors he could subject himself to when going into his brother's mansion. It was embarrassing. It shouldn't be, but Mario was ashamed at the fact that he was experiencing fear like this. This meant that he wasn't "Super" Mario. He was just regular Mario, undeserving of the praise and appreciation that the the Mushroom Kingdom threw at his feet.
"Weegee?"
Mario sighed. "Sorry. Just…lost in thought."
Daisy smiled. "It's alright. And hey…" she turned his face toward hers. "I know you can do it. That boohemoth's got nothing in comparison to your strength, outer or inner."
Mario just stood there, doing nothing except digesting what was said to him as well as contemplating what the right thing to say was. "Uh…thanks."
Daisy, much to Mario's surprise, hugged him. "You've got this, Weegee. I believe in you."
Mario smiled. Even though those words of encouragement weren't meant for him, they still helped. He imagined they would help Luigi too, if he were in this scenario.
"Thanks Daisy." Right at that moment, Luigi's phone chimed. Mario exited Daisy's embrace and pulled it from his pocket.
I'm at your mansion, boyo, said th text from E Gadd. Ready to deal with that Boohemoth?
Mario exchanged a look with Daisy, sighed, and texted back.
I'll be there right away.
