A Nutcracker and the Beast

Chapter 15: Tend to Wounds

"T-t-they're gone, r-right?"

"Who's gone?"

"The g-g-ghosts..." Luigi said as he reached out to grab Bowser's hand, stopping himself from touching him. Luigi pulled away, only noticing that his hands were covered in glass; he didn't want the glass to hurt Bowser. So he pulled his hands to his chest, lowering his head as if he was apologizing.

When Bowser saw Luigi pull back, his anger got worse. Did King Boo and his stupid ghosts come to destroy his home and hurt his subject? Were they the ones who caused this to Luigi? Luigi may be a toy, but he was still a subject as long as he worked with Bowser. He started to crush the bed frame as he scoped Luigi up before dropping the bed. Luigi got scared as the bed hit the floor, making a loud bang noise.

"What happened?" Bowser growled, making Luigi shake even more.

"I-I-I got scared. I don't do w-well with ghosts. Didn't help when Spooky chased me...."

"Spooky?"

"T-the ghost dog...that was what the other ghost called him..." Luigi explained, forgetting that no one knew that he knew the ghosts. He could see Bowser's finger trying to not crawl up into a fist as Luigi lay in his hand before he continued. "They c-chase me till I ended up o-outside. I-I had to run on the ledge as I came in through the w-window. Forgive me, your nastiness, I d-didn't mean to break into your room...I-I just need to escape t-them."

Bowser's anger boiled as he heard Luigi tell his story, only to feel instant guilt and sorrow for him. Luigi was asking for forgiveness for something that wasn't his fault. Bowser looked up to see the broken window he came from. Bowser didn't even notice the window was broken, but when he looked at it, the drop from up there for someone tiny like Luigi would have been like a vase falling and breaking. He could have broken bones or worse if he wasn't made of wood. Bowser couldn't believe that Luigi would care more about a broken window and coming into his room without permission when he was being tormented by ghosts. Bowser looked back down at him, Luigi's hands in his chest as he looked down at the floor, shaking as if he was freezing. He moved over to his desk, softly putting Luigi down as he opened the top drawer and pulled out a first aid kit.

"Your nastiness, I-"

"Quiet," Bowser hissed as he opened the first aid, pulling out tweezers. "Give me your hands."

"I don't need-"

"I said, give me your hands," Bowser demanded more harshly than he would have liked, but his anger was coming back as the fact that that bastard came back and caused fear in someone so helpless. Luigi flinched at his demand, slowly reaching his hand out. Grabbing his hand with his claws, Bowser slowly started to pull out the glass from Luigi's hand in a slow manner to not cause him more pain - if he even felt pain, that is.

"If I ever hear you apologize like that again, I will make sure it really was your fault." Bowser started, "You get chased and you think that breaking a window that saves you is something you need to apologize for?! Do you think I would care more about a stupid window than my own subject?!"

"N-no, your nastiness...but-"

"NO BUTS!" Bowser roared as he let go of Luigi's hand to slam the table. His angry red eyes stared at Luigi as he bared his teeth, but slowly softened into worry and a frown as Luigi rolled into a ball on his desk, eyes shut tight as if trying to hold back tears.

"I-I'm sorry..." Bowser whispers softly as he rubs Luigi's head, "I let my anger get the best of me...I promise I won't raise my voice again."

"A-a-and the slamming?" Luigi asks, slowly moving away out of habit.

"I promise no more." Bowser said as he grabbed Luigi's hand again, pulling out the remaining glass. "But I mean it. I don't care about a window, I'm used to my castle being destroyed by a plumber."

Luigi didn't say anything as he kept shaking. Bowser focuses on pulling out the glass from the block of wood that Luigi calls a hand.

"Your nastiness-"

"Bowser. Just Bowser."

"Bowser... it's pointless. You don't-"

"If you keep trying to tell me what to do, I'm going to lose my temper again," Bowser said, trying not to raise his voice again. Luigi shut his mouth again as Bowser worked with the tweezer to pull out the glass. Luigi watched, trying not to yank his hand away as he really didn't want Bowser to do this. It was pointless as the pain would have gone away at some point, then he would have just wiped the glass off, not like his body healed like it used to. As he watched, he also listened to Bowser's grumpy mumbling; it sounded like nonsense since Luigi didn't know what Bowser was saying, just that he was mad. When he finished both hands, Bowser pulled out two little bandages to wrap Luigi's hands.

"Thank you Bowser." Luigi said as Bowser finished wrapping his hands.

"I understand what it's like to be scared of ghosts. I was once controlled by one, both figurative and literally." As he put the kit away, Bowser said, "I know what it's like to have to fight your way out to escape, getting hurt in the process just to be safe. I don't want anyone to feel that way, even if you're just a toy." Soon he got up, picking up Luigi as he entered the destroyed sitting area. He opened the door to his room, placing Luigi outside so he could make his way to Kamek Tower.

"Bowser-"

"Only in private, Greenie. Off you go now." Bowser said, closing the door. Luigi stared at the door before looking at his hands. He was tempted to rip off the bandages, but he smiled at the fact that they were there. He walked down the hall, just a bit away from Bowser's doors, when he ran into Junior.

"Luigi! Are you okay?!" Junior asked as he saw his hands.

"I'm fine Junior, just cut myself when I was running is all." Luigi told him, "What are you doing over here?"

"I came to check on dad. I heard he was sad, so I wanted to cheer him up." Junior said. This gives Luigi an idea of how he can repay Bowser.

"Then why don't we do that together? We never got to make him any sugar plums, why don't we do that now?" Luigi asks as he grabs Junior's hand. Junior got excited about cooking something with Luigi for his dad. He picks Luigi up and places him on his shoulder.

"Yeah! Let's go work on that now!" He said as he ran down the hallway with Luigi.