Mario and Luigi go to Brooklyn to help with a town festival and their Uncle Tony's wedding. Both say that they'll be back in a week in a half. After a couple days, Bowser Jr. can't wait any more and goes to find Luigi.
What could go wrong?
Well, Bo...
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"Boys," Louise spoke up, "This is Orlando Valentino. He is Inés' cousin and will be here for the wedding."
Orlando went up to the brothers, holding a polite hand to both of them. He shook Mario's hand before turning to Luigi, adding a smirk and a wink for good measure. Luigi had to turn his head away, clearing his throat as Louise called everyone to the table for dinner. Everyone sat down, settling in and beginning small conversations right away as food was passed around. Mario and Luigi were mostly quiet as the other adults discussed the wedding. It was only really when Inés brought up the topic of dress code that the others turned to the brothers.
"You two did bring outfits, correct?" Inés asked them, leaning her head on her hand. Luigi didn't know if it was his place in that moment to say anything outside of a simple 'yes' or 'no'. He had two different outfits that he was planning on showing his mom later, but now it seemed inconvenient to even mention them. He relaxed a bit when he felt Poppy gently sneak under the table and curl up by his legs, all the while Mario placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Yes, we brought outfits," Mario answered simply.
"That reminds me," Marco spoke up, looking towards his boys, "Mario, the next time you see Peach—" "Marco," Louise cleared her throat, she knew the boys had trouble mentioning the Mushroom world with others, despite what happened with the Brooklyn Incident. "What?" Marco raised an eyebrow, "I just wanted Mario to send my thanks for the coats we got."
"Peach?" Orlando asked, sipping his water slowly, "Seems like an odd name for a bella." Luigi had to grab Mario's hand from under the table, sensing his brother upset at the comment. "It's a nickname," the younger Mario brother tried to cover it up, "Her favorite fruit is peaches."
"Is she from around here? Will we see her at the wedding?"
Luigi paused for a moment, suddenly focused on the food in his mouth and not trying to choke. He looked around the table and watched Orlando's hand from the other end of the table—trying to be subtle as he watched the way the joints and bones moved. Being a co-ruler gave him a lot of time to pick up subtleties; every scrunch of the face, a single eye twitch, the tensing of muscles and joints. It was all useful when dealing with Bowser's temper spikes.
"No," Mario answered, leaning back against his seat, "She's busy with some projects back home. She does send her congratulations." Orlando hummed softly, taking a long bite of the pasta on his plate. "So Peach is your girlfriend?" He pointed his fork at Mario before looking to Luigi. "What about you, Luigi? Got yourself a bella?" Luigi swallowed, his eyes going down to the ring on his finger—the finger twitching on some weird cue. "Not exactly," He answered, suddenly wanting to change the conversation back to all the wedding talk.
"Well I thought you and that Daisy gal were making great progress, son," Marco spoke up, clearly not picking up in the awkwardness looming over the table.
"Dad," Mario warned him, knowing full well his parents knew that Luigi was quite committed to Bowser and that the younger brother and tomboy princess were just friends, "don't." Marco still couldn't see what was going on.
"What? I'm just saying that if I had known a bella like her, I'd have snatched her up by now-!"
Luigi suddenly lost his appetite, moving his hands to his lap as he tried to not let his dad's words effect him. Was it always hot in the room?
"Marco, you stop that right now," Louise tried to get her husband to keep himself from saying anymore, but if Marco Mario was known for anything—it was stubbornness. A trait that both brothers had sadly inherited in their own ways.
"Louise, come on," Marco continued, "You know I mean no ill by it! I just think she would've been a safer option then-!"
SLAM!
The room went quiet as Luigi slammed his fist against the table, digging his fingers into his hand before he roughly pushed his chair back and got up. He looked down at his shoes, not wanting anyone to see his own emotions. He could feel all their eyes on him already, he didn't want to make it worse by having his family and these two strangers see him cry. "Lou..?" Mario asked softly, slowly reaching for his brother's hand before Luigi pulled away from him sharply.
"M.. mi scusi..." Luigi said softly before quickly turning and rushing off to the room where he and Mario were staying. He hurried inside and closed the door behind him, continuing before he caught himself on one of the twin beds. He hadn't even registered if Poppy had followed him or not, but he suddenly didn't have much energy to care. He looked at his hand, gazing upon his wedding ring before pulling his hands close to his chest and turning towards the wall.
If dinner had gone this bad so quickly, how the hell was he supposed to survive a week with a wedding and a festival? Luigi shivered, suddenly missing the harsh heat of the Darklands. He hadn't realized how alienated he'd felt coming back to Brooklyn after so many years away. Home no longer was the solace of his childhood bedroom, or his mom's homecooked pasta. Home was now the heat and sound of lava and the sound of Junior's laughter. Home was now the sound of Kamek's magical enchantments, the snickers of Boos, the smell of Peach's homemade candied sweets, and Daisy's jokes. His home was the safety of Bowser's arms around him.
