Love in the Oddest Places (bowuigi story)

Chapter 13: Breaking the Ice

A sharp stab of pain made him hiss.

The King rubbed his temple, trying to soothe the ache; another sting in his chest also occurred. Thinking about that plumber just kept making him feel worse. He just doesn't make any damn sense. When he comes for his routine inspections, sometimes he wanders off to help the soldiers. Help a Goomba lift a box here, secure a wobbly platform here. Bowser doesn't remember Peach telling him to help them; all he was supposed to do was make sure they were working and that's it! Bowser just can't understand why he's trying to be all nice to them, especially considering the circumstances. And no matter from what angle Bowser sees it, the little man just seems more confusing to him.

Why is he being nice?

They didn't deserve any of that...

Even though the king knew Luigi was scared to death of him (and found the fact somewhat funny), the human would still try to make light conversation with him. He'd ask how he was doing, how's Junior, etc. His kindness brought back... memories... Bowser wished he didn't do that, that Luigi kept his distance but no amount of snarling and glaring seemed to be deterring him. And... W-well- The royal didn't have a right to stop him from seeing his son. L appeared to be a good influence on Junior.

Ugh, he doesn't even know what he wants.

King Bowser snorted smoke, his head spinning. He doesn't really know what to do anymore; it's not like he can avoid Luigi. If he tries, then the other one will come here and start shit, which is something Bowser doesn't want to deal with. But with every interaction, his chest got tighter, the headache kept returning-

"H-hello ..."

"AHHH! WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Startled, the confused ruler jumped, dropping his drink in the process, and looked to his side. Luigi shrunk so deep into his parka that only his nose was visible. Bowser was about to bare his teeth but caught himself. He rubbed his eyelids, "Don't- Don't do that. Announce yourself," he said.

Luigi pulled down his hood. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to startle you! You were just so deep in thought andIdidn'twanttointerrupt-"

"Greenie. Breathe."

Luigi stopped his anxious babbling with a tiny yelp. He looked down, nervously fidgeting with his coat zipper. Bowser internally groaned, then rolled his eyes. "It's whatever. But don't do it again! Or else I'm putting a damn bell on ya," he said. That earned a tiny laugh from him. The sound was strangely soothing. After a few awkward seconds of silence, the small man spoke again. "H-how is everything going?"

Oh boy, here we go.

Bowser crossed his arms. "The Gates are almost fully complete. Just gotta finish the top section and coat the damn things with snow,"

"A-ah, that's good. It means you'll be out of this cold soon,"

Bowser grunted in response. The cold wasn't really bad for them; their inner temperature cores protected them, otherwise, they would be freezing their tails off out here. Once again, the human's concern over their wellbeing was confusing him. He watched silently as Luigi wrote something down on his notepad before tucking it back into his pocket. He shivered, "Where's Junior?" he asked.

Bowser scanned around and pointed a claw to the base of the scaffoldings, "Playing with one of those spikey dudes over there,"

The two watched from a distance as Junior and the spiny playfully chased or headbutted each other. Bowser relaxed at the sight, half of him happy that his son was being his rambunctious self and the other proud that he was getting some training done; kid has to learn someday!