That man that crossed the hallway by her side was certainly nothing special, kind of a simpleton, she thought. But there was something in the boring simplicity of him that peeked her interest.
Many noble men have crossed the hallways of the Sarasaland castle by her side, often walking over her, like some kind of display of power. Others tried to get close to her, take her hand, grab her shoulder, call her their property with a simple gesture.
Many men had tried, but Daisy was set on not giving them too much thought. They were merely a distraction from the mundanity of her life as a royal figure. She was 'just having fun' as she got to call it, leaving fate to decide whether or not the man that stood by her side at the time was the one to claim her heart. For the most part, no one was even remotely close, in one way or another they failed to enchant her no matter how much they tried.
At one point it felt like she was being too picky, that she needed to lower her standards and have more leniency. That was what her best friend did, at least. Poor woman didn't know anything about love and settled for such a simple man. "I don't know what you see in him!" she recalled telling her at one point.
"One day you will understand it, Daisy." she replied that time. Her friend said that, one day, a person like the man she loved would appear in Daisy's life. Then, she would understand it. But that was quite absurd.
"Puh-lease! There's no way I'm falling in love with some nobody as equally boring as you dear Mario!"
Even when she thought about it in retrospective, there was no other resolution. There was nothing to understand, there was just no way she would find love in someone so simple. She was not going to settle for less like her best friend did.
Men have walked the hallways of the Sarasaland castle by her side, that day was no exception. Although that day, it was odd. Daisy did not see him before her, nor beside her. Normally, a man would have tried to walk ahead of her, display her dominance over her as if it mattered. But that man, dressed in green, did not walk ahead of her, in fact he was kind of lagging behind her just a little. Others have tried to take her hand, or grab her shoulder and pretend for a moment she was some kind of trophy to display. But that man with a round nose didn't try to take her hand, or even approach her for less than an arm length. He gave her distance to roam around and about in any way she wanted, there was no string attached to them.
Then again, that man was different in that way as well. He was no 'lover', or 'boyfriend'. "Oi, aren't you having slow feet today? You aren't no servant to follow my shadow! You're my friend!"
The man picked up the pace shortly afterwards, holding a bashful smile that was easily amusing to her. Without warming, Daisy extended her arm to hug his opposite shoulder, embracing him in a half hug. Poor guy was already flustered and staggered, something about his loss for coherent words amused her to no end. Teasing him was quite the treat.
But quickly she let go, she knew what it was to feel oppressed by the embrace of someone. He respected her space and she wanted to respect his own too. Although she couldn't help but wonder if he could, at the very least, have the courage to hold her hand.
"...oh."
It felt weird to have such thought for a second, for him who was nothing more than a friend. Soon enough she forgot about it, her curiosity was just that, mere curiosity.
...
That man that sat by her side in her garden didn't have many incredible things to say, his tales were kind of mundane. Even so, something about them kept her engaged, she wanted him to tell her more.
Many men had tried to take away her breath away with wondrous tales of their feats and achievements, displaying their greatness and might with anecdotes that, for all she cared, could have been fiction. In fact, she was certain that most of the stories she got told were nothing but made up junk. But why would she bother with arguing them when she could just smile awkwardly and say a halfhearted comment like 'that's really cool' or something along those lines. There was no point in engaging with those men's stories, it was not like they cared either, they were just showing off.
Maybe she was not paying enough attention and being prejudiced. She remembered her friend who was always so eager to share the stories her special one would tell, and she seemed pretty engaged in them as well. Seemed wonderful and all, but Daisy couldn't get it, "There's no way someone so simple could have anything interesting to say."
But there she was, sitting on a bench with that man in green that made game with the beautiful garden she was so proud of. He told her the most mundane, daily life stories she had ever heard. There were no such thing as great achievements, or incredible feats, just regular anecdotes. However, for such a simple man, he always had something to say and he would fill the silence with anecdotes of any kind, some sweet, some sad, some scary. And no matter where she looked at it, he wasn't showing off to her, just telling her amusing things.
He was like a talking book, telling her all kinds of stories at any given time that could make her feel many different things. One story that stuck with her was the time his older brother dropped a whole toolbox from several feet above and he, who stood below, grabbed the toolbox and the several tools that trailed behind.
"That's so awesome!" she told him as he was telling her that story, and funnily enough, she meant it. But then she laughed when he told her that a mischievous wrench didn't make it to the box but went straight to his head. Taking off his green cap, he pointed at the scar that it left him and, shamelessly, she inspected it. Of all crazy stories she got told, there was no doubt in her mind that he was telling her the truth, for the scar was right there. She laughed again, thrilled to hear such an amazing story.
Her thrill and excitement could only go so far. And she wanted him to tell her stories every time they met, maybe even do some stories of their own, just the two of them. She could share them with her friend while she shared her own, it sounded like a wonderful idea.
"Oh, no."
It was a really weird thought, for her to crave to be a character in such incredibly mundane anecdotes and have some of her own with him to eagerly share. It was a weird thought, but she couldn't help it, it was nice in its own way.
...
Her garden was her most precious creation, her magnum opus as an enthusiast of flowers and plants. There was no garden as beautiful in the whole four kingdoms of Sarasaland as the one in her castle. It had the perfect environment too for housing more different kinds of plants than she could count. Daisy was always so happy to share its beauty with everyone, the men that walked by her side were no exception. Although, at one point she began to hesitate.
Most men would gloss over her garden and not indulge in the inner beauties of it. They would often focus on the basic things they saw at first glance. She could talk and talk about plants and flowers and they would just nod at her, completely disconnected from the conversation. She could ask her about their favorites and they would give her the most predictable answers under the most dimwitted arguments. Some pick certain flowers because their appearance alone, others because some pretentious metaphors she couldn't begin to humor, others simply made things up about the plants as if she didn't know better herself.
None of the men she held close ever cared about her garden for a single second, that alone ended many relationships, as it was the thing that annoyed her the most. At one point she believed the man in green to be no different. And so, she tested him, even though he was no more than a friend, she still felt an urge to test him.
"Tell me which one is your favorite and why."
Diligently, the man in green scanned her garden one step at a time. It was not meant to take more than a couple of minutes at most, but Daisy actually felt the need to sit down, for he was taking way too long to decide. "There is so much to choose!" he came to tell her at some point.
There was no need for him to take so long to pick a favorite and yet he did. It was like he was taking it seriously.
Suddenly she heard laughter coming from one of the many divisions of her collection, it was him, laughing his lungs off seemingly out of nowhere. "Daisy, come here! I found it!" He shouted. His laughter continued while she quickly approached. "What is so funny, anyway?" she thought to herself.
Her mind had pictured his pick would have been something beautiful, or at the very least exotic. But for the plant he picked, she really should have seen it coming.
"A cactus...?"
The smallest of her collection of cacti, actually. It was so tiny, in fact, that it could rest freely in her palm, let alone his. Carefully he picked it up and let it rest in his hands. "Look! It's really tiny and cute!"
His laughter continued, he was almost crying out of pure joy. Admittedly, she found it quite adorable for him to be so happy over a cactus of all things. It was nothing special, kind of lame, in fact, and yet he was acting as if it was the best thing he'd ever seen, and judging by his endearing smile, it was a sincere feel. He found beauty in such a simple plant it, Daisy couldn't begin to admit she loved to see him lose himself like that.
"So what, you like it because it's cute and tiny?" Daisy asked with a playful arrogance in her tone.
"Well, apart from that, it kind of reminds me of you, Daisy," he continued. His comparison caught her by surprise, but before she could even be mad or confused, he elaborated. "It's small and cute, but if you approach it carelessly, it can hurt you really badly! So you got to treat it with care."
His thought was rather accurate, many men have tried to carelessly approach her, seeking something from her as a princess and so she ended up hurting them one way or another, often times physically. It was only the man in green who didn't get such treatment, because he treated her with care, so he could see cuteness in her.
The thought came to her and, oddly enough, she flustered, "Did he just call me 'cute'…?!"
The man quickly realized his choice of words at the mere look on Daisy's reddened face and, completely within his character, he returned to his bashful and shy self, uttering words in his own strange language. But his skit was not just amusing to her, it was heartwarming, it was endearing. It signaled that her feelings were honest, which only made it a lot lovelier to think about.
"Oh no..."
"Cacti are really strong and resilient plants too, you know?" Daisy spoke, seeking to relieve the awkwardness of the moment. "It is said that cacti people are friends that stick with you no matter the circumstances, their friendships never wither. It kind of reminds me of you, too."
Slowly, the man came out of his shell of shyness and walked close to her, still holding the tiny cactus. "Even though we don't see each other as often, and even though I have my caveats, I'm happy that we can get along like this, despite everything." Daisy said, opening up to a man for the first time. And then, she smiled, such a simple man couldn't look so gorgeous, and yet he did.
"You are my cactus friend, Luigi!"
He saw his blue eyes shine brightly, overjoyed by her words to no end. His smile was even brighter, even if she could only see it for just a couple of seconds before he retreated back to his shell. There was no doubt about it, it was wonderful.
"You're..." Luigi muttered, that last bit trailed off and Daisy couldn't hear it. She approached him really closely and asked him to speak up. Much to her surprise, he did.
"You're really cute, Daisy."
Men have showered her with more compliments than she could remember. Passionate words of worship and devotion said with upmost confidence filled her ears at any given time. At one point it felt boring, she didn't care about a single one of their compliments. And yet, such a simple comment, said by such a simple man, with no confidence whatsoever, it was the one to truly make her heart skip a beat.
"Oh no!"
...
At the end of that day, she gifted him that little cactus. He loved it, so might as well have it. "Take good care of it or I'm kicking your butt!" She told him, the thought could make her chuckle, even more the shy expression in his surprise. But thinking back, it was sad seeing him depart once again, they wouldn't see each other until a couple of weeks by then. She wanted to see him more, much like her friend could see her beloved one every week. She wanted to see her cactus friend every day.
She wanted her cactus friend to walk the castle halls beside her, arms crossed to each other, taking steps at the same pace. She wanted her cactus friend to tell her all kinds of stories, make her feel all sorts of nice feelings and also make stories of their own to share with everyone, just of him and her. She wanted her cactus friend to enjoy her garden and talk about the beauty of each and every plant until their throats got sore.
She attempted to sleep that night, thinking of all of the simple and mundane moments she wanted to live with his cactus friend by her side. It was then when she realized he was no more than a friend and, while she never thought too much about it before, thinking back, it hurt. Couldn't he be more than just a friend?
"Oh, no..."
She realized. Many men tried, but it was her cactus friend who succeeded, and in comparison, he did absolutely nothing.
"Oh, no!"
She realized. He was a simple man that came to her life, much like her best friend said. Suddenly all of the things she said made perfect sense.
"Oh, no!"
She realized, as she was covering herself in her blankets, that she stood corrected. Even though there was certainly no way she could find love in such a simple man, she found love in the man of green, she found love in her cactus friend. No other thing was in her mind, no other name escaped her voice. It was, right there and then, when she understood the beauty in the simplicity of an earnest person.
Many men she met in her life, yet for the very first time, Daisy fell in love.
