XXXIV

Time Together

The Great Fox was set to cruising speed and strolled lazily through the starfield. The Citadel became a black shadow in the distance, eclipsed by the sun. The Citadel itself was a mass relay but its connection to the Deep Dark had been severed after the koopas were driven out, an event that came to be known as the Banishment. They headed instead for the next nearest relay, the Lotus in the Tranquil Zone. It had rotated to the border of Citadel Space, making the diversion a little less inconvenient.

Luigi and Daisy's quarters were located in the bottom of the freighter near the engine room where it was warm. The quarters were furnished simply with a full bed, kitchenette complete with minifridge, and a chest of drawers that Daisy dominated. That suited him just fine as he had the habit of leaving his clothes on the floor. A lily flower in a small clay pot sat on the bedside table and was starting to wilt. It would be dead by the time they reached the next star. She had taped old photos, little snapshots of their relationship, on the chrome walls to give the sterile room a semblance of home. Whatever help it offered was undone by the large window above the bed that served as a constant reminder that they were in the cold dark of space. But at least the room was warm and that was good enough.

Luigi took the zipper in his teeth and tugged. Daisy bit the bottom of her lip as it curled into a smile. Her suit was snug and she was curvy, a trait her slender sister was eternally jealous for. The zipper snagged over the mound of her large chest. Luigi grunted and gave it a sharp tug. She gasped as her breasts spilled over the collar. It was the first time in what felt like an age that they had the chance to be alone and he was ravenous for her. She threw her arms over her head to allow him access, which pulled her breasts up and into a tight cleavage, barely nestled in the demi bra. It was a risk going with lower coverage as they could pop right out of the cup with even the slightest jostle, but the bra made her boobs look fabulous and she knew he loved it. He pushed them together and jiggled them. They rippled like the ocean. She moaned a little and threaded her fingers through her hair, feeling very relaxed. He tore at her clothes and his own and tossed them on the floor next to the pile. Then, they made love in a desperate passion.

When they finished, she wrapped her arms around him and held him tight. They held each other's gaze before she licked him on the nose. He winced, rubbed the slobber off on his palm, and rolled over. She laughed until her cheeks flushed pink and then rolled onto his shoulder. With the tip of her finger, she traced a circle in the small patch of hair on his chest. They laid that way for a long while.

"If it's a girl, how about Rosa?" she asked in a whisper.

"What about Margherita? After her mom."

"Mmm, maybe." She pushed herself onto her elbows with her chin cradled in her hands. "And what if it's a boy?"

"I always liked Giovanni."

"No. Sounds too much like a rocketman. I want my son to keep his feet on the ground."

"So, you want him to have a nice planetside job?"

"Yeah! Don't you? After everything we've been through, I wouldn't want my son to follow in his parents' footsteps. Planetside is good. That's safe." She nodded to emphasize her point.

"I agree with you, baby. Hell, you're looking at the body of bad decisions right here." He held up the robotic arm. She gave him a sad smile and kissed the metal fingertips.

"You have to say something to him," she said, gliding her bottom lip up the metal finger.

"What can I say? Sorry Mario, Daisy and I are going back to the Citadel. Good luck with the koopa army."

"It has been nonstop for months now," she protested. "We've been shot at, eaten, blown out of the sky."

"I lost an arm," sighed Luigi, acquiescing.

"You lost an arm," said Daisy, emphasizing the word to illustrate her point. "That's what I mean. And for what? Because of some visions through a warp pipe?"

"You think he's lying about what he saw?" He felt his blood race at her accusation.

"You know I don't think that," she said tenderly. "But it can't just keep falling on our heads. He can find other squadmates. Real soldiers. People who are trained for this kind of thing. Not a pilot and a nav specialist. Hell, he doesn't even need me now that he has Peppy."

His blood pressure continued to rise, making him feel tense. She talked quickly when she was agitated and could be relentless. It didn't allow him enough time to think, to process. To breathe. "W-we can't just abandon him," he stammered. "I can't at least."

"Why not?" she said, her voice growing higher and louder. She hated his indecisiveness and that he put everyone else above himself. Everyone except her. "You are scared all the time. I see the toll it takes on you. You don't have to keep punishing yourself for his sake."

It was happening again. Every time they got into an argument, she kept up the attack. It overloaded him and prevented him from processing. His thoughts became a jumbled mess, caught in the brain somewhere between emotion and the language centre. It was all color and noise. He felt the tension headache coming on, the muscles of the cranium tightening like a rubber band. He didn't even have the wherewithal to realize it wasn't her fault. Her points were valid and she deserved to make them. She was fighting like hell for the relationship but in the chaos of his mind, it felt like she was waging war on him alone.

"I made a promise," he said weakly.

"What about your promises to me? What about what we want? We're trying to start a life together, Luigi, and you're going on little boy adventures. And taking me with you."

Finally, he snapped. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! What the hell do you even know? You had parents. You had a family. You had a fucking castle, for God's sake. We didn't have any of that. We grew up in the Citadel sewers. All we had was each other. He didn't abandon me when the rats were nibbling my toes. And I won't do that to him now."

Daisy's cheeks grew hot and she fell quiet. She pushed herself away from him and sat with her back against the wall, her breasts hanging nakedly. He cocked his head at an odd angle to avoid her gaze. Her eyelids drooped halfway as she looked down her nose at him. She took several deep breaths to steady her rage. After an unbearable silence, she said, "Are you done?"

Luigi gave a small, almost imperceptible nod.

She grabbed his chin and angled his face to meet hers. She leaned in but there was no romance in it. Her voice was low and firm as she spoke. "I love you but don't ever tell me to shut up again. We are having a conversation because there's an issue. That's how we handle it, by discussing it openly. Not by shouting each other down."

Luigi tried to speak but his words wouldn't come. He placed his hand on the ridge of his brow to cover his eyes and began to cry. She dropped her head to one shoulder and sighed with pity. She knew it wasn't easy for him. He had a rough upbringing, which left him defenseless in advocating for himself. That's why it was so much easier to just do what Mario told him to do. To make matters worse, he didn't know how to manage his emotions. He had spent so much of his childhood repressing his anger that it left him without the language to express it. She grabbed his hand from his brow, pulled it away from his face and held it.

"What do you want to say?" she asked. She hoped to get through to him and help him process.

"I'm sorry," he choked out through sobs. He looked up at her with tear stained eyes.

"That's a good start." She nodded encouragingly.

"I love you."

"Keep going."

He took a deep breath and sat up to meet her eye level. He held her hands in his. "It was wrong for me to shout at you. That's not how I want to treat you. I want to treat you like the princess you are."

"Ugh," she said with disgust and rolled her eyes. "You were doing so well."

"What?" he said, taken aback.

"Luigi, I don't want to be treated like a princess. I just want there to be time for us."

"Daisy, I promise you that there will be plenty of time for us." And he meant it, too. She rested her head on his shoulder and he kissed her temple.

The hulking freighter drew near its destination while two lovers lay dreaming down where it's warm in the darkness of space.