[Luigi's POV]
I couldn't sleep. No matter how hard I tried to. I just couldn't. I got up from the bed and decided to get myself a glass of warm milk. As strange as it sounds, it always helped me fall asleep easier.
While I was walking through the castle, I noticed a room's door that was slightly opened and had light coming from it. Out of curiosity, I peeked inside and saw that it was Kamek's room.
They were calmfully writing something, but in the room was also... a koopa troopa? Ohh... now I see why Jr. ships them.
I just continued walking over to the kitchen. I grabbed the cup, poured milk in it, and put it in the microwave. I put the timer 10 seconds longer so I wouldn't wake anyone up.
Once the timer was finished, I grabbed the cup again and sat down. The cup burnt my hand slightly, but that's not important. I'm not used to sleeping badly. Also, I'm not really used to this castle being so... quiet...
While I was just calmly sipping the milk. Kamek poofed into the kitchen. They looked around a little and saw me. They seemed to get startled a little by seeing me.
"Oh! Good evening, Luigi. What are you doing up so late?" They asked while coming over to me. "Just thinking about the things that happened. It's a lot to process in one day."
Kamek sat down in front of me. "Understandable, after all, he did lock up your brother. Though I can't really blame him. Mario seemed extremely suspicious. And Bowser and you are perfect together! Mario just can't see it yet."
They giggled a little at the end. "I get that he locked him up... I'm just thinking about if they've done anything. Maybe Bowser hurt Mario." I looked down at my cup of milk again.
"Last time I saw Mario, he wasn't hurt. So there's no need to worry. We're not that cruel." - K
"Wait, you knew he was in that room?" - L
"Well, obviously. I wasn't allowed to tell anyone about it or even speak back to Bowser to try and tell him how dumb of an idea it was." They fiddled with their fingers.
"So it WAS his idea?"
Kamek nodded. "I even tried telling him not to do it for you. I already saw something like this coming, but I still don't know how Mario escaped."
I just sipped my milk again. "Thank you for... at least trying." I looked up at them. They smiled back at me. "Too bad Bowser didn't think about you like that. How'd it go, by the way?"
I sighed. "I let my emotions get the best of me. My anger quickly turned into me crying in front of him. Then he tried calming me down by hugging me and stuff, but that wasn't really the reason I calmed down."
"Well, what was the reason you calmed down?" I sipped the last bit of my milk. "I don't know... maybe it was him, but I don't want it to be him. He locked up my brother." Kamek came over to me and patted my back.
"I understand that. Just think about it a little more. He did it for you without thinking about you. He did have good intentions." They smiled at me, and I looked down at them.
"You're right, but he shouldn't have locked up my brother. Or lied to me. And even after lying to me, he cheered me up even when he knew it was all a lie! I feel so stupid for not realising that he was lying. Mario would never leave without saying goodbye!"
Kamek seemed quite shocked but kept a normal face. "Well, what did he tell you?" They asked. "Tell me when he was cheering me up, or?"
"What did he tell you back then that upsets you even now?"
"He said Mario left without me! At the moment, I was already crying because I couldn't find my brother. Then he tried comforting me, which worked. Just to now find out, the only one who comforted me was the one who did it! It just makes me feel so... betrayed. I don't know... he shouldn't have done this! If he really loved me, he wouldn't have done this!"
Once I was done ranting on and on about how betrayed I feel. Kamek patted my back, "Feel better that that's out?" I nodded. It did feel good to get rid of some of that. "I would feel even better if I could just say it to him without crying."
"Well, you did it now without crying. Even if it's not to him, you still did it." They're right. I did say it without crying.
I looked at them again to see them smiling up at me. "Now you better get back to bed before the sun rises." I looked to the clock and realised it was already 5 AM. "You should go too."
"Oh, I will go. I just want to make sure you go to sleep. And maybe if you're still too scared to talk to him, you could try to visit the therapy koopa. They're much more helpful than you think." (Speaking from experience fr.) I nodded, and Kamek left.
Honestly, I did want to lay back with Bowser. Though I'm too tired to walk all the way back... and the sofa is nearer. Hmm...
I just walked over to the sofa and laid down. Before I knew it, I had already fallen asleep.
[Bowser's POV]
I woke up and immediately realised that something was off. I checked underneath all of the blankets. Where's Luigi?
I got up from the bed and checked if I didn't accidentally squash him. Gladly enough, I didn't. I "got ready" and walked around the castle to see where he could be.
Once I got to the kitchen, I saw an empty glass on the table. I stared at it for a moment when I heard movement on the sofa. I walked over to the sofa, and there he was. Sleeping as if he stayed up all night.
I carefully picked him up, making sure my wristbands wouldn't stab him. And I carried him back to our room. I laid him down into the bed and put the blankets over him.
I walked back out of the room, and Junior ran to me. "Where's Papa?" He asked. "He's in ou- my room. Asleep, so be quiet if you want to see him."
Junior immediately ran inside, and I believe he woke him up because it didn't take long until I heard them talking with each other. I couldn't really hear what they were saying.
[Junior's POV]
"Papa! How late did you even go back to bed? I heard you and Kamek speaking when I went to the bathroom around 3 am."
He seemed confused, yawned, and replied. "I didn't go back.." He looked around. "Huuuhhh?" I couldn't help but giggle at his clueless expression. "How did I get here...? I was on the sofaaa!" He seemed to get more and more confused by the second.
"Doesn't matter how you got here. How late did you fall asleep? You look like a zombie!" He looked up at me, "I remember looking at the clock before I went to the sofa.. I believe it was, ehhmmm.. 5 am?" Oopsies, I shouldn't have woken him up then.
He yawned and stretched. "What's the time now?"
"It's uhm... 8 am..." He looked at me, both shocked and angry. "8 am?" He rubbed his eyes. "Mhm.. I didn't think you slept so little. Else, I wouldn't have woken you up." He patted my head. "Well, too late to do something about it now. Do you have any coffee or energy drinks here?"
I nodded. Obviously, we have those. He got up and walked over to the kitchen. His legs were more shaky than usual. Maybe I shouldn't have woken him up...
(The end of Chapter 36)
Me ow. Meow.
I had fun at Ghost! And I didn't know how to end this chapter, so have this as ending... lol.