King Boo found himself more intrigued by Peach each day, especially since she'd started coming out of her room and exploring the mansion more. He'd occasionally bump into her, and they'd exchange a few words. She still seemed a little intimidated by him, but at least she'd talk to him, and he liked that. He was in the library once when he turned to ShamBoo and made a remark on how interesting she was to watch. ShamBoo had rolled his eyes, and King Boo swore the Boo had then turned around and giggled about it with some of his friends, but he didn't want to seem paranoid about their opinions on him and Peach.

Although of course, he had a good reason to be annoyed at them - she was to be his Queen eventually, and he found himself feeling more excited about the day she'd be comfortable enough to agree on a wedding date, and gushing about it to anyone he felt close enough to who'd listen.

He'd certainly shared it with Boolossus, albeit during a briefing to search the mansions in Evershade Valley to see if there was anything useful there, but at least the colossus of a Boo didn't seem too bothered. They'd known him for a while. He'd even brought it up to Bootstrap, who asked for him to be a little less distracted by the girl again. Of course, King Boo didn't listen (what had gotten into him?) but Bootstrap was becoming less bothered by it anyway - he'd just rant about it to some of the other Boos later, namely anyone but Booreaucrat as she wouldn't hear of it, siding with her King's whims of doing things when he was ready.

KaBoom was by far the most receptive, as expected of the one who had come to free him and the other Boos of the Last Resort Hotel operation, even seeing his King's distaste for Hellen Gravely for a split second in his face and knowing it was best to leave her behind. Regardless, King Boo also vaguely recalled that KaBoom was a transfer from Bowser's Army, on account of being a Boo that loved playing with explosives too much, and it was a long time ago, he wondered if he had inherited his adoration for Peach from being in that army. In any case, it was reassuring that KaBoom even excitedly offered to be Peach's bodyguard for any reason, political or otherwise, and even offered the suggestion of eventually giving Peach a Boo bell in case she ever needed help from any of her new Boo friends since they all had their duties and Peach didn't have access to Boo magic to simply call for the others unless they happened to be floating by invisible or otherwise. It was certainly an entertaining thought for a gift later down the line.

Right now, however, King Boo was not so visible, but not invisible either. He'd remembered an old trick he'd pulled when he was younger where he'd turn into a portrait and watch people from the wall he'd put himself on, and he was currently using it to watch Peach as she figured out how the oven he'd made worked.

It had been a few days since King Boo revealed the modified kitchen to her, and she'd seemed quite pleasantly surprised when she'd had a quick look inside. She'd actually peeked inside a few times since, but this was the first time she'd been in there for the purpose of actually baking something, especially since King Boo finally revealed that he would be allowing her friends to visit soon. Wanting to test the facilities available to her, she'd decided to change into a lighter, more casual dress, before tying her hair in a ponytail and tying an apron around her waist, and heading back to the kitchen to make a simple Victoria sponge that she was well rehearsed in and a few cookies afterwards. She knew the recipe like the back of her hand, and lightly hummed as she put the oven on to preheat at the right temperature.

King Boo had positioned himself on a wall in between the door and the fridge, and he watched as Peach wandered over to check for ingredients, giving him a funny look when she spotted the painting. She was sure that hadn't been there when she'd first checked out the room. King Boo had filled the fridge and cupboards with as many foodstuffs as he could think of, and hoped it would be enough for her to make something. As well as wanting to see her again, (the moment he saw her with her hair tied up, instead of down around her waist he'd almost blushed hard enough to break his painting illusion) he was also quite interested in what she'd do, and how she'd do it. Not being the eating type, he also wasn't the cooking type.

Peach looked around in one of the cupboards, but found it difficult to see what was in them due to the lack of lighting. She was used to the lower lights in the mansion, but this room seemed a little darker than usual, until she spotted that a nearby window had the curtains drawn. Evershade Valley was, as the name suggested, not very bright, but it was a particularly nice day, so she welcomed the extra light as she found the bowl and scales that she wanted, and began to measure out the flour and sugar. The scale was a little old fashioned, and involved physically matching two silver appendages rather than being an electric one, but she wasn't unfamiliar with such a device, having used one when she was younger.

The light from the window hit King Boo right on his painting, and the man in the portrait he was hidden in squinted. He tried to endure it for a few minutes, but by the time Peach had finished weighing her ingredients it was too much for him to tolerate, and he mentally smacked himself for placing himself where he was. Without making it too obvious, he used a little of his magic to remotely pull the curtain close, and hoped Peach didn't notice it too much.

Unfortunately, she noticed it instantly, and looked around the room to try and find the culprit.

Assuming it was one of her new friends, Peach put her hands on her hips and looked up at the ceiling.

"That better not be you, Boodonkulous." She waited a moment for a reply, but when she got no reaction, she turned back to the window and opened the curtain again.

King Boo took that as a warning, and decided not to try and shut it again unless he really had to.

He watched her cream the butter and sugar until they were well mixed, before she cracked in the egg. The lack of an electric mixer made it a little harder, but not impossible, and she hummed to herself as she mixed it together. The light was starting to hurt him a little, and he couldn't help but shut the curtain again.

Again, she spotted it straight away. It was unlike a Boo to try and pull the same gag unless they really had to, and that made her suspicious. She took a step back and looked at where the light would hit when the curtain was open, eyeing up the painting she noticed earlier. She went over and admired it for a moment, before opening the curtain again, and watching the man in the portrait squint. King Boo was pretty sure he was caught, but she couldn't force him out from his illusion easily, so he stayed as the picture.

Peach was certain it was King Boo in the painting (she had a feeling that he'd been following her in paintings sometimes anyway) but she wanted to prove it. A little part of her wanted to turn him back, just to see his reaction, and although she didn't have much of a clue how to turn him back.

She thought for a moment, and remembered how KaBoom turned back into his usual self when he couldn't contain his laughter at the surprised shock of her face after he had turned himself into a bomb with an unlit fuse for a game of hide and seek. Peach had no clue how she could make King Boo laugh so much, or if she could, but considering how affectionate he'd been recently, she thought she might be able to make him blush heavily enough to break his illusion.

How to go about that, however, was a different matter. She decided to pull out every trick she could, and began to twirl a piece of her hair around her finger, before glancing back over at the picture.

"Huh," she spoke out loud, "I never noticed how good that picture looked."

That confused King Boo, and he was even more confused when she flicked her ponytail as she walked over to him. He'd made the picture look roughly like his more human form, but not exactly, a skinnier version, so as to not give his game away. Although Peach was not the type to touch fine art, she gently rubbed the frame with her thumb, and King Boo nearly broke his illusion right there.

Peach had her hand on what felt like his cheek in his current form, and he just about kept himself together. Peach looked aside for a moment, her soft, pale pink lips a little puckered as she slightly opened her mouth in thought, before she mused aloud again.

"The man in the picture," she giggled. "He looks a little like someone I've been getting to know recently. Although," She stood back a little, and brought a finger to her chin. "I don't think this picture's quite as handsome as he is." She wasn't sure if all of what she was saying was even acting anymore, but she wanted to see his reaction if she could make him blush hard enough to turn back to his usual self.

It didn't take long for King Boo to do the math. There was only one man she'd been getting to know recently, and that was him. Was she calling him handsome? The beautiful woman before him, her other hand still resting on the picture frame, had just called him handsome in quite a genuine manner. He tried his best, but he felt himself heat up and turn back into his usual form, her hand still on his actual cheek as he poofed back to reality, completely pushed against her due to his size, and blushing furiously.

Peach gave him a shocked expression to play along with her act, although she found his reaction quite cute. "King Boo! I had no idea you were there!"

"I, erm," He couldn't look her in the eye, and instead glanced over at the hand on his cheek, which only made him flush further. "I don't...don't know how I got there either!"

Peach took her hand off of his cheek and giggled at his reaction. "Would you like to help me bake?"

"I'm not quite sure how you do that." He admitted.

"That's alright," she reassured him. "You can pass me things as I need them."

Peach began to mix in the flour and baking powder, King Boo hovering over her shoulder. He subconsciously gave her golden hair a quick stroke, finding it even softer than he expected. The consistency changed, and King Boo watched in awe. It was like magic to him.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Hm?"

"The stuff in the bowl that you're mixing! I thought you were making a cake."

"I am." She explained. "I have to mix a batter first, and then I'll put it in a cake tin and into the oven to cook."

"And then it changes into a cake?"

"Not quite - I have to add the jam and cream. It's quite simple, this one." King Boo actually found it a bit complicated to understand, but he didn't want to ask too many questions.

"Speaking of the cake tin," she continued, "can you pass it to me?"

King Boo picked up the cake tray in his nubby arms and handed it to her. "This thing?"

"Yes, that's the one. Thank you!"

She poured the mixture into the tin, and shook it a little to make sure it was even across. She went to put the bowl she'd used into the sink to be washed later, when she had an idea and turned to King. "Would you like to lick the bowl?" She then remembered that she wasn't sure if he could actually eat. "Can you even eat?"

"I can, I just tend not to." He took the bowl from her hands. "I thought you said this had to be turned into a cake in an oven?"

Peach picked up the cake tin and placed it on the middle shelf of the oven. "It does, but you can lick some of the batter off, or just use a spoon to scrape it."

The end of her explanation went unnoticed, as he used his long boo tongue to lick the bowl before placing it in the sink to be washed.

"What do we do now?"

Peach set a timer she had found for 12 minutes. "We clean up as we wait for the cake to be done."

She handed him a tea towel. "You're on drying up duty."

Once the timer dinged, King Boo was eager to get the cake out. He watched as Peach placed the cake on the side on a cooling rack to cool while she prepared a simple buttercream.

"King Boo? Do you mind finding some jam in the fridge?"

The ghostly king rustled around before producing a jar of raspberry jam and placing it next to her.

Seeing her satisfaction at his work, he felt quite proud of himself and gave her a genuine smile.

Once the cake was cool, she sliced it through the middle and spread a layer of jam and a thicker layer of cream on top, before sandwiching them together. She put the cake on a plate and cut out two slices, handing one to King Boo.

"Want to taste it?"

King Boo took the piece from her and ate about half of it in one bite. Peach tasted some of hers, and found that she was pleased with the result. She watched as he mused over the taste of it.

"Is it good?"

"Hmm…" He threw the rest of the slice into his mouth and swallowed it with a gulp.

King Boo closed his eyes and almost posed before giving his critique. "Yes, it's good, but I think I prefer licking the batter from the bowl."

Peach tried not to laugh too much at his response.

He broke the cool facade. "Hey! What's the laughing for?"

Peach stifled her laughter the best she could.

"That's what I thought the first time I made a cake."