Author's Welcome: Welcome and thanks so much for clicking on my story! This here is the first chapter of my ongoing Luigi and Daisy romance series, I aim to create a more realistic setting here with plenty of references music from the 60's, 70's and 80's. As usual, I have included my original author's commentary after this chapter. Give it a read if you want. Otherwise, please enjoy "Rhapsody in Orange and Green!"

Also, I'm aware that a rhapsody in music is supposed to be one continuous movement, but forget that. I just thought it was a cool title.


Chapter 1: Bus Stop

"This is just great." Luigi held out his hand, leaving the door behind him. Turning back around, a flash of bright red suddenly flew towards Luigi's face, popping him in the nose.

"Bro! Don't forget this! Especially on your first day on the job!" called out a boisterous voice coming from the doorway.

The shock of getting hit by an unidentified thrown object caused Luigi to drop whatever was so important. "Thanks, Mario. You really could not have just handed it over like a normal person, could you?" Luigi squatted down and picked up the mysterious item.

"It's an umbrella, Luigi! Mine, in fact! You can tell because it's red!" Clearly, Luigi's sarcastic retort was lost on Mario. "You'll need it! Y'know, because it's raining outside!"

Luigi heated up in frustration. "How long are you gonna keep this act up? You have been talking to me like an idiot for the past few weeks. I am starting to get fed up with it!"

"As soon as you realize you're making a big mistake, bro!" Mario quickly replied. It was almost as if he knew exactly what his younger brother would say next.

"Mario, I have thought this over countless times, and you wanna know what I concluded? My future lies out there, brother, not holed up in a dead-end career like you! I would like to think I am old enough to make my own decisions. So PLEASE respect –" Luigi's rant was cut short by a crash of thunder, causing him to slightly recoil in fear.

"Ok, that tears it! Back to idiot-mode again!" Mario replied loudly to purposefully annoy Luigi further. He now had a huge smile on his face, knowing he was pushing all of his brother's buttons.

"Ugh. I am going and you can't stop me. I'll see you after work."

"As will I, bro! I've got an exciting day ahead of me! Three clogged up toilets and another case of sewer-turtles! And guess what the best part is? TRAITORS are not allowed!" Mario aggressively eyeballed Luigi on the word "traitors," which made Luigi gasp at Mario's sudden temper. The tip-tap of rain grew louder and louder into a tap-tip-tip-tip-TAP until reaching a crescendo upon Luigi exiting his apartment lobby again.

"That Mario… He just doesn't get it. We are in Brooklyn, where opportunities soar like pigeons! But that stubborn bro wants to carry on the family business…" Luigi said to no one in particular, strolling from block to block, grasping Mario's red umbrella in his tight, right hand.

"I do not care what he thinks! I will prove to him that I made the right choice! I do not even need his help!" Luigi's gaze turned toward the umbrella he held. Its red glow mocked him, a constant sign of how he depended on Mario.

"Fuck this!" An audible shout was heard along with the "thk—" sound of plastic hitting asphalt.

Luigi stood aside, watching the umbrella sit abandoned in the road when the scream of an 18-wheeler came into earshot. A wide smile formed underneath Luigi's meticulously trimmed mustache as he heard crunches and snaps. He absolutely reveled in the sight of that umbrella getting crushed. He delighted in it so much, in fact, that he did not even care that the rain was pouring even more ruthlessly.

While his left arm was free, Luigi stretched it out to reveal a chrome-plated wristwatch. "Crap! I gotta hurry! Mr. Theodore will have my head if I'm late for my first day!" His strolling speed transformed into a full-on jogging clip in a moment's time, leaving the poor umbrella to its fate.

"*huff* *huff* *pant* I made it…" Luigi is no slouch, but a long, impromptu jog would tire anyone out. "…and I did it without him." Taking his eyes off the ground, a large, excited face stared back at him. "Good. I still have time." Luigi thought aloud, comparing the time on his watch with the time on the clock in front of him. Perfectly exact, as always.

Luigi reached into his right front pocket. "Huh. This is strange" he thought aloud.. Then he fished into his left. "No. Not there either…" Beads of sweat started to form across Luigi's pale forehead. "Aha! I know!" declared Luigi, grabbing into his jacket pocket. His hand emerged from the pocket empty yet again. Luigi could feel himself getting light-headed. "How will I know which bus to board now?" Little did Luigi know that someone was watching him through this ordeal.

"Yo, suit guy! Whatcha lookin' for?" a lively voice called out. Luigi ignored it, thinking the question was for someone else.

"Suit guy! I'm talkin' to you!" Luigi's head turned around and around trying to find who was being spoken to.

"You! Yeah, you with the wet hair! Look over here!" Luigi must have had surveyed the bus stop twice for someone in a suit, only to realize the only person to fit this criterion was himself. Luigi sheepishly pointed to himself with a confused look drawn on his face.

"Good, you know who ya are! Now follow the sound of my voice."

Without any other options, Luigi decided to heed the voice's advice which turned out to be across the street from him.

"Lookin' for one of these?" Luigi found himself standing in front of a newsstand, where a pair of slightly tanned arms were waving to him. A small white slip rested in that person's right hand.

"A bus schedule! How did you know I needed one?" Luigi asked the arms excitedly.

"I've got good eyes, always have! These binoculars help too!" The voice revealed herself to be a young woman with shoulder-length auburn hair. The first thing Luigi noticed about her were her eyes, sapphire, a clear contrast from the gray clouds swarming the sky. She was wearing a white button-up blouse with a yellow skirt. Two turquoise earrings adorned her ears while a faux-gold necklace lined her neck. Strangely, a brown strap of leather stretched across her body, but Luigi did not think much of that. The sight of this girl distracted Luigi from the fact she was watching him. She continued, "Name's Sara! Don't think I've seen ya 'round here before."

"Oh! Hello… My name is Luigi." Luigi stated as he eyed the schedule before putting it into his suit jacket pocket.

"Luweegee? That's hard to say. I think I'll just call ya 'Lucky.'"

Luigi thought about his new nickname before replying. "'Lucky' is the last thing I would call myself. I nearly lost my way to my new job and now I do not even have an umbrella." Luigi was so distracted that he already forgot that he destroyed his brother's umbrella.

"Awww… That's too bad, Lucky. But hey! Ya got your schedule now!"

"Right! I forgot to thank you! So, thanks, Sara!"

"No prob at all! Say, what happened to your umbrella anyway?" asked Sara in an inquisitive manner.

"Oh! The wind was so strong that it flew out of my hand. Then it got crushed by a truck." said Luigi, stretching the truth.

"Well, in that case, Lucky, please share my umbrella." Sara offered, reaching behind the stacks of newspapers and magazines until finally pulling out a yellow umbrella with orange polka dots.

"A-are you sure?" Luigi asked shyly before reaching his hand out to grab it.

"Yeah! My folks run this here newsstand, so I don't have much use for an umbrella now anyway. 'Sides, you can just return it tomorrow, right?"

Luigi was about to accept Sara's generosity until suddenly a series of knocks was heard, causing Sara to stop in her tracks.

"Just a mo', Lucky! I gotta take this." Sara turned towards the backdoor of the newsstand, where a gruff, middle-aged man in a navy-blue rain jacket stood with a cardboard box in his hand.

"Daisy! Need ya help here!" the buff fellow shouted.

"Pops! I told ya not to call me that anymore! 'Daisy' is such a kid name!" Sara's cheerful demeanor shifted into a fit of anger. Without grace, she took the box from the man's hands and used a nearby boxcutter to open it.

"Oh right, you're 'Sara' now. Whatever! You'll always be my Daisy!" The man held his arms open as if he was going in for a hug.

"Piss off, pops! Can't ya see I'm with someone!" Sara rejected her father's attempts at a hug, turning back to Luigi.

"So ya are…" the man then looked to Luigi as well. "Say, this guy kinda looks like that David Byrne guy wit' the suit an' all!"

"Hey, be nice to Lucky! He's having a rough start!"

"Oh fine, Dais—Sara." The man caught himself mid-sentence. Suddenly a swollen, hairy arm emerged from the newsstand. "Pleasure to meetcha, Lucky!" The man pulled down his rain jacket hood to reveal a toothy smile covered by five o' clock shadow.

"A-actually sir… My name is Luigi." Luigi reached out to the arm only to notice the hand attached was nearly twice the size of his own.

"Luweegee eh? That's hard to say." The hand grabbed Luigi's hand with great force and began shaking wildly.

"That's what I said, pops! Getcha own ideas next time!" Sara pouted as she watched her father continue to throttle poor Luigi's arm. "Lucky, this is my pops, Richard, but everyone calls him 'Dick.' I'm sure you can understand why."

Upon hearing this, Dick stopped shaking Luigi's hand and turned back to his daughter. "Eh, I better get outta here 'fore I touch any other nerves. I'll be back in an hour wit' more magazines, so you better have 'em all sorted!"

"I'll get right on that once ya piss off, pops!" Sara practically screamed at Dick as he exited with a big smile on his face. "Sorry ya had to see that, Lucky. Now where was I?" Sara noticed her umbrella resting on the newsstand floor. "Oh, right. Here ya go, Lucky! No charge!"

Luigi graciously accepted and began to speak without thinking. "Daisy is a beautiful name." A beautiful name for a beautiful lady.

"Whatcha say, Lucky?" Sara's voice went up an octave in surprise.

Luigi jumped. He thought Sara would not be able to hear him. "I-I did not say a word!"

"Oh yeah ya did! Along with good eyes, I got good ears too!" Sara responded as her eyebrows bent towards each other.

Luigi did not have a good way out of this one. "I think 'Daisy' is a beautiful name! I can say it again if you need me to!"

Sara's initial shock cooled down. "That's what I thought ya said, Lucky…" She began to blush, saying under her breath, "Nobody's ever said that to me before…"

"I-I'm sorry, Sara. I did not mean to offend you!" Luigi noticed Sara's blushing expression and found himself drawn to her eyes yet again. How he wanted to get lost in them…

Sara snapped back to reality, "Say, Lucky. Don't ya have a bus to catch?"

"Y-you are absolutely right!" Luigi followed suit in returning from his thoughts. He began racing back towards the bus stop only to be halted by Sara again.

"HEY! Before ya go, Lucky. I have something else for ya." Sara brought her attention to a vase of flowers resting on the newsstand counter. She carefully picked one off before handing it to Luigi. "It's for good luck. Because you're Lucky even if you don't feel it now!"

"Th-thanks Sara… but I really ought to go. Maybe I will see you again tomorrow?" Luigi examined the flower. It had a bright yellow center with six delicate, white petals surrounding it… a daisy. He placed the flower into his front jacket pocket so that its bloom would be sticking out.

"Ya better, Lucky! I'd be so pissed if ya don't give me back my umbrella!" Sara replied playfully, waving goodbye to Luigi.

"Then it's a promise, Sara!" Luigi shouted as he bolted towards the bus stop, also waving goodbye. He finally reached the stop and pulled out the bus schedule and a pair of reading glasses as he began comparing the times on the slip with his wristwatch until a bus pulled up.

Sara reached into her satchel that was slung over her left shoulder and pulled out her binoculars again. "Y'know, maybe that Dick is right. He does look like David Byrne! But I think Lucky pulls off the look fa-fa-fa better…"


Author's Commentary: Chapter 1

Originally Written: Saturday, July 22nd, 2022

Why do I suddenly feel like writing fanfics again? No clue. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that since I'm getting older, I can't help but want to hold onto the things that formed my childhood. To be like Descartes for a moment, I would say that my Luigi and Daisy shipping phase was a foundation of absolutely certain knowledge, upon which I could form future foundations of knowledge. Descartes knows better than anyone that trying to dismantle your foundations of knowledge is difficult, if not impossible, so I think I will give up and return to the days of being a hopeless romantic. Either that or I'm just really lonely. It's probably both.

Anyway, this fanfic is dedicated to my love of music, specifically for the 70's and 80's. And for that exact reason, I decided to base this chapter off of a song from 1966, Bus Stop by The Hollies. Honestly, a perfect pop song. The harmonies are absolutely killer, and the chorus is unforgettable. Anyway, I want this chapter series to take place in 1980's America, but since I wasn't alive then, this is more like "alternate universe 1980's America."

Only REAL Mario gamers will understand why I made Daisy's pseudonym "Sara." If you're not a REAL Mario gamers (hi mom and dad), then I'll be the first to tell you that the kingdom Daisy rules over is called "Sarasaland" as seen in Super Mario Land.

Anyway, my plans going forward with this series, should I choose to continue it, is to expand on Luigi and Daisy's relationship in a more realistic setting. But more important to me is that I get to reference songs that I love in each chapter. Will I post this or keep it to myself? Only time will tell!

Keep in mind that this is just a first draft, and I am willing to make adjustments to the chapter, mainly to add more details like how Luigi is wearing a stiff gray suit with a green necktie because you wouldn't know that if you aren't me!

Someday my name and hers are going to be the same…