Luigi's POV
I spent the past few days adjusting to my new room. Even though I couldn't watch the troops from my new room, this window had an actual view of the outside which I haven't seen these past weeks.
It reminded me that I've been separated from my brother for a total of 3 weeks now. I could only hope that he made it back to the Mushroom Kingdom safely.
To get my mind off of things, I found myself spending the afternoon relocating my stuff from my old room into my new one.
I was being assisted by the General, along with two other koopa troops. After getting all my boxes onto the push cart, they begin pushing it towards my room.
Ever since Bowser announced me as his adviser, the troops no longer were required to carry their defenses around me.
The position came with its perks. The chef's would often allow me to have custom request breakfasts. My room would be cleaned almost every other day without me even asking. They would handle all of my laundry, and whenever I walked the halls, I was often greeted with friendly smiles from the henchmen. I was considered a highly respected person in the castle.
Of course I still had my responsibilities to take care of. Every week I had to help Bowser sort out his henchmen's work schedule. We wanted to make sure they had a perfect balance of work and free time. Bowser would also have me look over his future plans to get my opinion on them.
But aside from that, I hardly had much work so most of my time went to taking care of Junior. I usually had more free time than Bowser, but whenever Bowser did have free time the three of us would often hang out together.
I watched as the three troops pushed the cart into the room.
"I appreciate the assistance guys." I thanked.
"Anything for the King's adviser." One of the troops saluted.
"Would you like us to help unpack your boxes?" The other troop offered.
"I think I can handle it from here." I stated.
"Very well. Is there anything else we can do for you Sir Luigi?" The general asked.
"I believe that's everything for now."
"Understood. We'll be in the watchtower if you need anything else." He saluted before making his exit with the other troops.
I spent the rest of the afternoon organizing my closet's clothes. By the time evening came around, I flopped down on my bed, too exhausted to change out of the prince-like outfit I was wearing.
I found myself thinking of the day Bowser gave me this room. I couldn't help but think about the way he held my face that day. Or the way his heart was beating so fast next to me.
That was the first time I ever hugged him. Despite his rough exterior, he felt so gentle and soft in my arms.
I think it was safe to say that I've developed feelings for Bowser. He's become so sweet and gentle these past weeks. I found myself getting enjoyment out of the small things.
Whether it was us offering to hold the door for each other. Or us planning out his henchmen's schedules together. It felt like we were just growing closer each passing day.
Even though I enjoyed being close to Bowser, I felt like I was doing myself a disservice by holding onto my feelings for him. I honestly couldn't tell how Bowser felt about me.
He became so flustered whenever I got close to him. Sometimes holding his hand is enough to make him blush. But maybe I was just misreading the signs.
He said he's never had friends here in the Lava Kingdom so maybe my actions just made him flustered. I couldn't be too sure.
Though it was becoming more and more difficult for me to repel my feelings for the guy. While I didn't want to foolishly entertain the idea of him liking me, it felt like he always did something that made me believe there was a chance he might like me too.
When he held my face a few days ago and smiled at me, part of me wanted to believe that he wanted to tell me he had feelings for me. But it could just be wishful thinking on my part.
We haven't hung out too much since then, but he peeked in on me daily. Well, except for today that is but maybe he's busy with his duties.
I was about to change into my pajamas but was stopped in my tracks when I heard a knock. I opened the door to see Junior with a frown on his face.
"Junior?" I blinked, a bit surprised by his unexpected visit.
"Luigi. I'm worried about my dad." He said.
"Why, is he okay?" I asked, kneeling down to his level.
"No. He's been acting off all day. He's been really quiet and when I went to visit him, he didn't let me in. He told me he wanted to be alone." He frowned, eyeing the ground.
"I'll go talk to him. Just leave it to me, okay?" I told him, patting him on his head.
He gave a nod and went on his way. As Junior headed back to his room, I began making my way to Bowser's room. When I arrived at his room doors, the two henchmen guarding his room door glanced at me.
"I need to see Bowser." I said firmly.
"The king wishes to be alone right now." One of them responded
"I'm his adviser." I reminded them with a determined look.
The two henchmen exchanged a look, then looked back at me and nodded. The guard opened the door and held it open.
I thanked him, stepping into the room with the door shutting behind me. I noticed Bowser sitting on the edge of his bed, his hands relaxed on his legs.
I could only assume he was in deep thought judging by the distressed look on his face, and the fact that he didn't notice me enter his room. I took a breath before making my presence known.
"Bowser?" I said
He immediately turned towards me, a startled look appearing on his face.
"L-Luigi?!" He jumped, getting up from his bed."I didn't hear you come in."
"My apologies. I didn't mean to startle you." I told him.
"Did you need me for something?" He asked.
"I came here to check on you. Junior told me something might have been bothering you."
"Oh... I'll be fine. Today is just one of those days. It'll pass." He said, stepping towards me with a shrug.
"You hardly look like you've gotten any rest." I frowned.
"Do I?"
"Yeah. Is there something keeping you up?"
"It's nothing."
"Are you sure? Junior made it sound like something was really bothering you."
"It's not that important." He crossed his arms with an uneasy look forming on his face.
"It must be if it's stopping you from sleeping."
He frowned before walking back over to his bed. I followed behind him, sitting beside him on the edge of the bed.
"Did you want to tell me what's bothering you?" I asked.
"I'd rather not." He sighed, avoiding looking up at me.
"Are you sure? You would probably feel better if you talked about it. Talking usually makes me feel better. Besides, it's better to talk your feelings out instead of bottling them up like this."
He simply shook his head, not bothering to look up at me. I wanted to get him to talk but I wanted it to be his decision to open up to me.
"I'm sorry you're feeling so down tonight, Bowser. I won't make you talk about something you don't want to. I guess I just got a bit worried when Junior told me you haven't been acting like yourself today." I frowned, relaxing my palms on the edges of the bed.
Bowser's ears perked up at my statement.
"You were worried about me?" He asked, looking up at me with a worried look.
"Well, yeah. I'm more than just your adviser, Bowser. I'm your friend."
"You- You mean that?" He asked slowly with a slight astonished look in his eyes.
"Wholeheartedly."
My words managed to bring a brief smile onto his face. His frown then returned to his face as his paws tugged onto the edge of his bed.
"I know you have a hard time expressing your emotions and that it's hard for you to be vulnerable around people. But I want you to know that you can trust me and I'll always be willing to listen to what you have to say. Whatever we talk about here will stay strictly between the two of us." I told him.
He gave a small nod before facing the ground again. Judging by his face, I could only conclude that he wasn't ready to talk tonight. I gave him a small pat on his shoulder.
"I'll give you some time to think it over, alright? Try to get some rest." I suggested to him.
His frown became more pronounced but he gave a nod. It saddens me to see him upset like this. I stood up from the bed and started walking towards the room door.
"Luigi, wait!" Bowser suddenly said, grabbing my hand.
My walking came to a stop and I looked back at him.
"Could you stay? I just- I really don't want to be alone right now." He pleaded with an upset look on his face.
I stared at him before giving him a small nod. The two of us sat back down on his bed. He glanced away from me with an ashamed look on his face.
"I'm sorry for taking up your time like this." He said, relaxing his palms on his legs.
I placed my finger on his chin and gently turned his face towards me. My hand then traced up to his cheek. His troubled face softened as I caressed his face.
"You don't have to apologize for anything. If me staying here with you makes you feel better then I'll stay for as long as you need." I reassured him
"I appreciate you being so understanding." He smiled.
He relaxed his face on the palm of my hand, his eyes softly shutting for a moment. He let out a deep sigh before opening his eyes again, lifting his head off the palm of my hand. I extended my hands out to him.
He placed his hands on top of mine. He thought to himself for a moment before looking back up at me.
"Luigi?"
"Yes?"
"You said whatever we talk about tonight would stay between just the two of us, right?" He asked.
"Just us." I reassured him with a firm nod.
He glanced to his side for a moment before looking back up at me.
"Alright. It's quite a lot to go over." He frowned.
"That's okay." I reassured him."Is this something that's been bothering you for a while?"
"Yeah. It happened when I was still a kid. And every now and then it bothers me." He admitted."I've never talked to anyone about this. Not even Junior."
"Well, I'm honored that you trust me enough to tell me this. You can start whenever you feel like it."
He gave a slow nod before taking a deep breath. His posture tensed up along with his grip on my hands. I gently drifted my thumbs across his hands.
"Take your time." I said, giving him a reassuring look.
He looked at me with a weak expression and gave a slow nod. We sat in silence for a moment until Bowser finally mustered up the courage to begin talking.
"Alright. It all started when I was 14. I was really similar to Junior when I was that age. My parents were usually too busy for me so most of the henchmen in the castle would watch over me. All I ever wanted at that age was my parents' attention. Nothing more, nothing less. When they kept ignoring me, I found that sabotaging, and disrupting the henchmen were enough to get their attention. However, it never ended well for me. They'd usually ground me for a week or two. This cycle went on for a really long time until one day, I pushed it too far. One day, my parents were having an alliance meeting with the people of the Lake Kingdom here. They had been preparing for this for months. Of course, I didn't know any of this and saw this as a perfect opportunity to pull a stunt. I was angry at my parents for never spending any time with me so I decided I was going to take revenge on them tonight."
"What did you do?"
"I set up an elaborate trap to spill wine from the ceiling onto my parents."
"Did it work?"
"Yes. A bit too well. The night of the dinner, my parents and the rulers of the Lake Kingdom were discussing their plans. This was when I pulled my stunt. Not only did the wine spill on my parents, it got on the guest too. After that, the people of the Lake Kingdom wanted nothing to do with us. Thanks to me all their hard work was in vain. It didn't take long for my parents to figure out that I was behind all of this. The three of us argued for hours, but they didn't care what I had to say. My words carried no weight to them. Not only did I humiliate them, I ruined their chance of getting any resources from the Lake Kingdom. What infuriated them the most is that I showed no remorse for my actions. They grounded me for 6 months in exchange for their last 6 months of work going to waste. They distance themselves even more from me ever since that incident. It was around this time that I gave up on trying to get their attention. It just didn't seem worth it anymore. It was a pretty lonely time for me. For the most part, the guards in the castle ended up raising me. But as time went on, I started to grow more and more resentment for the two."
"I see. So, are they still here?"
"No. I made sure of that myself on my 21st birthday."
"What happened on your 21st birthday?"
"Well here in the Lava Kingdom it is tradition for the King and Queen's firstborn to inherit the throne. Seeing as I was an only child I was guaranteed to be next in line to rule over the Kingdom. I could hardly enjoy my coronation considering all the responsibilities that were just going to be thrown onto me. It was a very stressful night for me. It's not like my parents made it any better by constantly arguing with me and saying how they want me to follow in their footsteps. We had a huge argument that night. However at this point I didn't want to be bothered with them anymore. I was the King now and I didn't have to abide by their needs or wants from me. For once, I had power over them. My grudge against them led me to permanently banish them from the Kingdom. I figured that I could probably manage things here all by myself. I think we both know how well things went from there." He frowned, his head lowering.
"What do you mean?"
"Luigi, you saw how bad things were when you first got here. I was fatigued, my henchmen had burned out, I never had any time for my son, and I was trying to force one of your best friends into a marriage she never agreed to." He facepalmed with a heavy sigh."The only reason why things got better here is because of you, Luigi. It's been your ideas that have been improving this place. The time off you gave my henchmen, the party, the new schedules. Everything here has been your idea. And if it weren't for you, Junior would've probably still been in his room growing resentment for me like how I was growing up. I've been relying on you a lot Luigi and part of me feels bad for doing so. I hardly feel fit to be king." He said with an ashamed look on his face.
"You're giving me too much credit. I only knew so much since I just happened to be best friends with a princess with a kingdom of her own. You didn't have that kind of luxury. You're putting too much blame onto yourself. Your parents didn't take the time out to prepare you for such a big responsibility."
He glanced up at me before hanging his head low again, his ashamed expression glued on his face. I cupped his cheek, getting him to look me in the eye again.
"Bowser, I'm your adviser. It's only natural for you to depend on me. We're a team, remember?" I said, placing my hands on his shoulders."We rely on each other. There will be times where I look to you for strength and there will be times where you look to me for strength. What's important is that we work together and lift each other up. That is how we make progress. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. You've been working non-stop before I became your advisor. I think it's fair that you accept my help and give yourself credit where it's due. We'll figure all of this out together. You've made a lot of progress these past few weeks. Be proud of that." I told him, letting go of his shoulders.
His face expression softened as he gave a small nod. The two of us sat silently for a moment.
"Hey, Bowser?" I started, breaking the silence."There's been something I've been meaning to ask you."
"What is it?" He asked
"Do you remember the night me and Junior got caught by the general sneaking around the castle? I was just curious, what made you agree to take me on as your adviser that night ?" I asked.
He thought to himself for a moment before speaking.
"I'm not too sure- Hearing you say what Junior wanted most was to have a relationship with me resonated something inside me. Part of me saw so much of myself in that kid. I always wanted better for Junior. Seeing how much he trusted you urged me to do the same. I guess part of me hoped that if we somehow got everything here sorted out, I'd be able to spend time with Junior. I wanted him to have what I didn't have growing up. Does that make sense?" He asked, his eyebrows arching.
"Yeah, it does. That's actually really thoughtful of you." I said, giving him a brief smile.
The two of us sat in silence for a moment. Bowser's posture sank as he rested his arms on his knees. I could tell that he still seemed bothered.
"How are you feeling?" I asked.
"I'm not sure." He said before looking me in the eye." I've been trying to rid my mind of these thoughts for the entire day now. I don't want to keep thinking about this."
"Maybe that's your problem, Bowser." I frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"You said every now and again this stuff comes to your mind, right? It sounds like every time these feelings come back to you, you pin them up and push them aside. You focus so much on trying to force these thoughts out of your head that you don't allow yourself to feel any of them."
His posture seemed to tense up along with his grip on the edge of the bed. I scooted over closer to him.
"You know, it's okay to think about it."
"Luigi, it hurts to think about all of this stuff at once."
"That's okay too. You have to be honest about how bad it feels so that you can move on. Just give yourself a moment to let these feelings pass through you."
A weak frown came upon his face as he held his head down. I placed my hands on his and pressed my forehead against his. His breaths got heavier as he seemed to be struggling holding his emotions in.
We stayed as we were for a moment until I moved my head back, then looked back up at him.
"Tell me what you're feeling."
"I'm feeling a lot of things right now." He said before looking me in the eye."I feel tired, stressed, hurt, but also lonely." He added, straightening his posture.
"You've been ruling over this place with no help, guidance, or emotional support before I came here. You've been through a lot ever since you had to take on this position by yourself. It's only natural you feel this way, Bowser."
His grip on my hands tightened as the white layer around his eyes began to redden. He began blinking in a way to prevent any tears from coming from his eyes.
"Bowser, it's okay. Just let it run its course." I encouraged in a soft tone.
He stared at me silently as tears began welling in his eyes. His lips started to quiver as his upright posture sank. He hiccuped as his tears streamed down his face like a steady rain. His shaking hands matched the rest of his shaking figure.
He lowered his head, seeming embarrassed by his emotionally vulnerable state. I lightly place my hand on his chin, urging him to look up at me.
His teary reddened eyes look into mine, his gaze full of emotional distress. I extended my arms out to him, trying to encourage him to let me comfort him.
He rested his face between my lap and stomach region. He was careful to position himself in a way where his horns wouldn't dig into my side. His paws tugged onto my lower back as his crying resumed.
I rested one of my hands on his head and brushed my hand through his hair at a slow pace. My heart sank watching the large koopa whimper and hiccup in my hold.
However part of me was relieved that he trusted me enough to let himself be this emotionally vulnerable around me. He's been under so much stress and was keeping all of that to himself.
He's been alone like this for as long as he could remember. He's never had someone he could look to for support until now.
While it saddened me to see him in such a state, I knew the best I could do for him is to be here for him in his darkest hour.
I stayed completely silent as the sound of Bowser's muffled sobs filled the room.
I comforted his shaking figure until his crying came to a stop and he became more relaxed. He stayed as he was for a good minute before slowly sitting up. His red eyes were still puffy from all the crying.
"How are you feeling now?" I asked him.
"Better, but also embarrassed." He said, looking to his side.
"Don't be. You needed to get that out of your system."
He gave a small nod. I cupped his face with both of my hands bringing him to look back down at me.
"Bowser, a lot has changed these past 3 weeks. We have a lot to look forward to together here. You'll never have to feel like you're alone. You're surrounded by so much love here. Your henchmen admire and cherish you. Your son talks to me non-stop about you, and I adore you. More than you know. I don't want you to feel like you're alone in this. We're in this together. Through thick and thin" I said, giving him an endearing smile."We've already fixed so much here. We'll figure out where to go from here together."
"You mean that?"
"I'm your adviser, Bowser. Whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me." I playfully teased.
A strong smile formed on his face. He tightly wrapped his arms around me pulling me into the heftiest hug I ever had in my life.
"Thank you, Luigi." He said in a relieved tone."I really needed that. I can't thank you enough for taking out the time to talk to me. This means a lot to me."
His hold on me softened as he let out a relieved breath. I hugged him back feeling relieved that he finally seemed at ease.
"Of course. You're always looking out for the people of the Lava Kingdom. I think it's only fair you have someone that takes care of you too." I smiled.
"You're too sweet."
We pulled back from our hug, Bowser's tired eyes landing on mine.
"You look pretty tired."
"Yeah, I am. Though it's funny, part of me doesn't want to go to sleep. I know I was pretty stressed for most of the night but I liked having you in here with me." He said, a small smile forming on his face.
I eyed the size of the bed then looked back at Bowser.
"I could spend the night here if you wanted?" I offered.
"You would want to do that?"
"If it would make you finally get some rest, then yes."
"That actually sounds really nice. But, are you comfortable with that?" He asked, his face reddening.
"Yeah, as long as you don't mind."
"I don't mind at all." He said a flustered smile forming on his face.
"Great. I want to make sure you get a good night's rest." I smiled at him.
I got changed in my room, and before I knew it I was back in Bowser's room lying in his large bed beside him.
"Do you have enough cover?" Bowser asked me.
"Yeah. I'm warm enough." I told him.
We silently stared at each other. Never in a million years did I expect to be lying beside Bowser. Anyone sane would probably be afraid to lie down with a guy who could literally breathe fire. Yet for some reason I wasn't.
In fact, I was finding comfort in his flustered smile. He was so gentle and charming even if he wasn't trying to be.
"I really appreciate you taking out the time to do this for me Luigi." Bowser said.
"Of course. Anything for you, your highness." I playfully teased as he gave a sweet grin.
The moment we both became silent was when I took notice of the sound of heavy rain. I felt my body jolt when I heard the sharp crackle of lightning come from outside. I tightly clutched the covers, flinching when another lightning strike took place.
"You okay?" Bowser asked.
"I'm fine." I nodded, still holding onto the covers.
"Are you sure? You're trembling."
"Really. I'm fine."
He stared out the window before looking back down at me.
"Are you afraid of lightning?" He asked."It's okay if you are. I won't judge."
"A little. I guess I just get startled easily."
"I get that. It can be a bit alarming at times."
Right as he said that, lightning struck once again catching me off guard. I instinctively clung onto Bowser's arm, tightly shutting my eyes until the sound passed.
I noticed Bowser's red face, who looked caught off guard by my sudden reaction.
"Sorry." I said immediately taking my arm off him, sliding back from him.
"It's okay. Are you okay though?" He asked, looking down at me.
"Yeah. Just a bit shaken."
"You could lie closer to me if that would make you feel more at ease." Bowser offered.
I nodded and wiggled my way over to him. We were merely inches apart. Just as I started to relax, lightning had struck once again causing me to flinch.
"Still tense, huh?" He asked.
"Yeah" I gave a small nod."Sorry for keeping you up with this silly phobia of mine."
"You're fine." He said.
I stared at Bowser, who looked to be thinking of something.
"Something on your mind?" I asked him.
"Yeah. I wanna try something. If you didn't mind, that is?" He asked.
"Okay." I nodded, uncertain what he had in mind.
He extended out one of his arms, doing a hand gesture signaling me to move closer to him. I stared up at him, taken aback by his sudden gesture.
"Just trust me." He said.
The sweet smile on his face was enough to convince me to move closer to him. He enfolded me in his chest as he gently wrapped his arms around me.
"Does this help?" He asked.
"Yes. It actually does." I answered, leaning my head on his warm chest.
All the tension that was in my body swiftly faded away in Bowser's hold. I felt so safe in his arms. It was crazy to think that three weeks ago, this was the guy I probably feared most. But now he had become the guy I felt safest around.
"You won't crush me in my sleep, right?" I asked him.
"I'll try not to." He teased, which caused me to jump a bit."Relax, I'm just kidding. Despite my large size, I make little to no movements in my sleep."
"Well, I'll take your word for it. Goodnight Bowser."
"Goodnight Luigi."
We lied down silently, the only sounds being the rain and thunder from outside. I felt Bowser's hand rest on my head. I felt his claws gently make their way through my hair.
It was so soothing and I wanted to try and stay awake to make this moment last as long as possible. But, alas my mind eventually gave in to its tiredness and I soon found myself fast asleep.
AN: Okay guys, I'm gonna be honest with you. At the time of writing this, I only played like three Mario games(the three being Mario Odyssey, Super Mario 3D World, and new super Mario bros Wii {I was in elementary when I last played that}.
This being said, I didn't realize that Kamek is basically Bowser's parent figure until I was LITERALLY writing chapter 17 and I was WAAYYY too deep into the story to change this.(That and I'm too obssed with the idea of Luigi comforting bowser so uh, yeah👨🏽💻-)
My bad guys🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️. I tried to foreshadow this chapter but I'm not sure if my hints were that good. I'm kind of still new to the Mario hole so don't drag me too hard for this.(Though if you do, I honestly can't blame you🫣) I'll do better next time I swear 🛐🛐. I added fluff at the end to try and balance it out.
Also sorry this update is kind of late. I try to prioritize quality over quantity I literally revised the chapter cause I didn't want it to be too emo 🙈. I swear this book will have more fluff in it I promise
So yeah, enjoy this au I guess.(My google doc said it was 20 pages long help🙊) Now if you excuse me, I'm gonna go hide under my bed sheets for 12 hours🏃🏽♀️-