"Dad, why aren't you dancing with us?" Junior said as Kamek and Bowser watched Junior and Luigi dance with each other.
"I" m not that much of a dancer; besides, I can't dance ballet. I have short legs." Bowser said as he pointed to his feet.
"So does Junior and look at him go." Luigi said as he leaned forward with a leg in the air, "not every move is like this."
"Yet those are the ones you're teaching Junior." Bowser said, eyeing the toy, which got Kamek and Junior to give each other the side eye as they shared a smile.
"I bet you that I can make you dance a bit of ballet," Luigi said as he moved over to Bowser; Junior followed behind as he stood next to Kamek. Bowser has to get up to watch what Luigi is doing.
"This is good right?" Junior whispered to Kamek, who nodded to his question.
"This is very good. At this rate, those two will be more than friends." Kamek said as they watched Luigi put Bowser in a simple pose of one leg straight and the other being dragged behind it; it didn't show that much of a difference.
"Is Dad part of this this time? He seems to just be going with it instead of saying that he still loves Mama." Junior asks, Luigi now making Bowser cross his feet, which wasn't working for him.
"Nah, your father doesn't need to know about it. Bedside, look at how much fun they're having without us butting in." Kamek said as Luigi twisted into a spin, and Bowser followed. Bowser didn't have the balance he needed to do this on one leg, which made him fall on his back. Luig actually got off the ground from the thump that Bowser did, and he almost fell over too. Junior and Kamek giggled while Bowser tried to get up with the poor excess of Luigi's so-called 'help.'
"I told you I can't do it." Bowser told Luigi as he sat up.
"It matters that you try. Besides, I'm not going to give up on you, I think you can do it." Luigi said as he looked over at Junior and Kamek, "now it's your guy's turn."
"Oh no~," Kamek said as he placed his hand on his hit, "I think my hip just popped right now. It hurts so much! Guess I'll have to sit this one out~" Kamek said as he took a seat, Bowser and Luigi rolling their eyes while Junior giggled. They let him sit while Junior went over to his dad and started to dance some more ballet with him, with Luigi joining them until it was time for dinner.
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At this point, it was routine for Luigi to just wake up and wander the Castle or go to his tower after waking up from a nightmare. Still, a new thing he had been doing was drinking the hot cocoa that Bowser had been making for him. Luigi had checked to see if Bowser was in the tower since if he was awake, he would be there already, but he wasn't, so Luigi just wanted to know if he was sleeping. If he was being honest, it wasn't half bad that Bowser knew about him. Sure, it was a bit rocky, but that was about the same back when Bowser did know him as human. Not to mention all the new things he had learned about Bowser that he had never told him back when they were both hanging out in secret; maybe this plan wasn't so bad. Luigi still wouldn't let himself fall in love with Bowser, but with his help and Kamek, maybe there was hope after all.
As he walked down the hall, he enjoyed the quiet for once in a long time as the moonlight was actually coming in. He felt that a lot had changed for him to see the once dark and dangerous Castle that he needed to hide in was now a home that was indeed still dark and dangerous. Still, he could get around that to all the tiny little detail Junior was adding. Little platforms and stairs for him to use and the arch bridge for the large pools of lava that Luigi shouldn't cross by himself, and the best part was that they were next to the wall. That way, they weren't getting in anyone's way. But tonight, he was on the floor walking when he turned down one of the hallways. He felt a slice of coldness that passed him.
This felt odd to him. Maybe it was because fall was about to hit them, and it was getting colder, or Kamek put a spell on the Castle to give it that effort. As he walked deeper into the hallway, he noticed more lava puddles running down it, and the temperature was becoming disagreeable for him as it only got colder. Soon, he felt like the wind was passing him, sending him into a dark place. All of this was wrong. He felt like a ghost had passed him and went into panic mode.
Luigi started to walk faster; it was just the wind that was blowing tonight that was giving him goosebumps. However, the wind began to hum a tone that sent shivers down Luigi's spine. His speed walk has now turned into a jog as the cold got colder and the tone got louder.
"Hm hm hmm hm-hum~, hm hm hmm hm-hum~" His breathing gets heavier as he tries to calm himself down and not go into an entire run. The humming was loud, clear, and hard to tell where it was coming from, but Luigi didn't want to stay where he was. He needed to just get to a room that was open or to Bowser to clear his mind, but when he turned the corner, he lost his breath. Right in front of him was the monster he was trying to hide from, and it had spotted him as it floated right toward him.
"Oh, my stars...it really is you, Luigi. Oh, my beloved Nutcracker, I've finally found you." King Boo said in sweet whispers, but that disgusted Luigi as he slowly stepped backward. His eyes went wide when he saw the Koopa bodies on the ground as if they were lifeless behind King Boo, and that made his heart pound like crazy as the fears and memories of this man came back rushing in full force, tears coming down. His body started to shake to the point that he felt like his legs were going to fall from underneath him.
"Look at the poor state those beasts put you through..." King Boo said as he took in Luigi's appearance, "Those bright colors on you are just an eyesore. I much prefer when your colors are dull and lifeless, like the rest of the Valley. And that ugly piece of cloth around your neck covers half of your beautiful body and its scars. Don't worry, I'll save you" Luigi's mind was running a hundred miles away as it kept trying to get him to run away, but his fear kept him frozen as he backed into a wall; King Boo reached out and tried to grab him.
"G-G-GET AWAY FROM ME!" Luigi cried out, making King Boo stop, his eyes narrowing.
"Ugh! They also taught you bad manners! What had they done to you my beloved?" King Boo asks as he tries to reach out again, but the way King Boo calls him beloved makes Luigi mad. His fear was very much still in control, but those words brought a bit of reason and courage to him to remind him that King Boo had no power here.
"D-DON'T YOU DARE T-TOUCH ME!" Luigi yelled at him as he stopped once more, but this pissed King Boo off.
"What did you just say?" King Boo hissed, and that made Luigi gulp. Luigi knew that when he hissed, King Boo was going to hurt him. Luig tried to keep that courage, but it was more held back.
"D-d-don't touch me. G-g-get a-away!" Luigi repeated himself while King Boo's eyes got angry. That's when King Boo pins Luigi against the wall, making him yelp as Luigi realizes he messed up.
"HOW DARE YOU! I came to rescue you and this is how you repay me?! By yelling and telling me to leave?! I thought I taught you to stop being an ungrateful little doll." King Boo hissed at Luigi as he cried even more, "I'm taking you home right now!"
"This is my real home!" Luigi shrieked at King Boo.
"Here? You think this is home?" King Boo pointed out into the hall, "I'll show you why this place can never be your home." Without warning, King Boo threw Luigi towards one of the puddles of lava, making him hit the floor hard as one of his arms fell in. Luigi yelled in pain as he pulled out of it, patting himself to put out the fire that was starting. King Boo wasn't down yet as he grabbed a rock and threw it into the lava, splashing it onto Luigi's back. He cried out even more as he lay on the ground, as the pain was too much.
"See? This place isn't safe for a wooden little thing like yourself. Let's just go home and I'll forgive you, I'll even make your cage bigger if you just come willy." King Boo said as he floated closer. Luig felt like he couldn't breathe as he grabbed whatever he could, getting a hold of a little rock that fit in his hand. When he turned to face King Boo, he threw it into his eye, which made him stop and yell. It was enough as Luigi pushed through the pain and ran.
"LUIGI!" King Boo roared, getting big to fit the whole hallway, breaking whatever crossed his path. Luigi only looked back once to see what kind of trouble he was in as he tried to dodge the debris that came flying toward him. He missed a couple of times as he got hit and burned a bit more, but he rather that happened to him than King Boo touching him again. Luigi kept going as King Boo got stuck, yelling Luigi's name to get back there. It was hunting as Luigi ran down the hallway to where Bowser's room was.
"HELP! HELP ME PLEASE!" Luigi begged as he banged on Bowser's door, hoping he was awake, turning his head to see if King Boo had caught up to him as he caterwauls Luigi's name in anger. For a moment, it looked grim, but the door opened for him; all the noise had woken Bowser up as he opened the door, and Luigi ran in between his legs.
"Woah there, Greenie. Yawn, What's gotten...." Bowser said, closing the door as he saw the buried marks and his tear-stained face on Luigi. The way he shakes and the fear in his eyes work up Bowser more than the noise now, "What happened to you?!"
"The R-Rat King- H-H-H-He's in the Castle. He-"
"LUIGI! LUIGI, OPEN THIS DOOR! OPEN IT NOW!" King Boo called out, him banging on the door in an attempt to break it open. Bowser knew who that voice belonged to, and Luigi started to squall as he ran toward the other half of Bowser's room to hide, which made Bowser put the two together when he said that the Rat King was here; King Boo was the Rat King. That's when his anger boils since he remembers that night when he found Luigi crying and telling him about this Rat King....
"The Rat King is...a character I have nightmares about from time to time," Luigi told Bowser; he listened to the little toy story, "In most of them... he has me in a cage and torments me...I-" Luigi pauses for a second. "I-In this one...it was the first time he had ever put me in a cage...the first time I have been so helpless...so useless and pathetic...."
Bowser had to put his cup of cocoa down when Luigi started to cry. Watching him begin to shake as he hunched over and tightened his grip on his cup, he was even trying to keep his leg down as it went up a little as if trying to go into a ball. Bowser let him cry till Luigi looked up at him, his eyes looking at him with tears, but Luigi's eyes were small as if he was in horror. It was as if Luigi was seeing someone else as he looked at Bowser. Bowser didn't know what to do, so he moved his hand over Luigi's head. He was a bit hastened to touch him, but Luigi wasn't reacting to his hand yet, so he just placed his finger on Luigi's head and started to rub it. Luigi let out a shaking breath as he slowly came back. Bowser watches the little toy take in the rubs with his eyes closed, trying to find the words to keep going.
"H-he wanted to teach me a lesson...a cruel and u-unreason lesson...." Luigi forces out in a sob.
Now Luigi was crying in fear and pain from the Rat King chasing after him as he ran across the room, still trying to run away from him. Bowser felt a new kind of anger he didn't know was possible. He was calm, but all he could think about was how he was going to beat that wannabe marshmallow piece of shit into the ground. He let Luigi run to where his bed was as he went to his door; he turned his right hand into fits as his left grabbed the door and opened it.
King Boo pulled a cocky smile when the door opened, but his eyes went in shock when he saw Bowser, who had pulled his fit back at this point, and launched it at his face. King Boo hits the wall behind him, making an indenture when Bowser punches him in the face, closing the door behind him in case Luigi comes out. King Boo groaned as he got up, spotting Bowser throwing another punch at him as he disappeared. Bowser hit the wall, getting it stuck as his nostrils let out smoke, his eyes darting to see where King Boo went.
"What do you think you're doing?" King Boo hissed as he appeared on Bowser's left side in the middle of the hallway, his face bruised and red from the hit and anger he was feeling.
"My goddamn job as a ruler." Bowser snarled as he pulled his fist out of the wall, "How dare you hurt Luigi."
"You keep his name out of your mouth!" King Boo yelled at him, "he's mine."
"Yours? You dare call him your?!" Bowser says abruptly as he stomps to him, "YOU LOCK HIM UP IN A CAGE!"
King Boo's eyes went wide when he heard that. No one is supposed to know that except him, his ghost, and Luigi. If Bowser knew about that, something was wrong with the curse, and the worst part is King Boo didn't know how much of it had come undone. In his shocked state, he didn't notice Bowser grabbing a piece of rock and dipping it into the lava; it was only when Bowser towering over him did he see it held up in the sky about to come down on him did he focus on the fight once more. It was quick, but King Boo put up a forcefield from his crown, making another indenture in the floor this time as Bowser brought down the rock persistently to break the magic shield.
"Listen when I say this, Bowser: you don't want to risk your life for what doesn't belong to you. Don't fight a losing war!" King Boo threatened Bowser, but his words fell on deaf ears as Bowser broke through the shield, getting the rock stuck in it. King Boo stared into Bowser's eyes to see what kind of anger he was pulling all this energy from, but he felt cold when he looked into his eyes. Bowser's eyes were calm as if there was no anger in them, but the slit eyes he had showed that he was indeed angry and that this was personal.
King Boo now knew that he wasn't going to win this, so he broke the forcefield himself that pushed Bowser back. He disappears as Bowser tries grabbing him before King Boo leaves. Despite his effort, King Boo got away as Bowser watched to see if he would return. The minutes passed, and he didn't show up, but Bowser didn't want him in his home anymore.
"Kamek," Bowser said; Kamek popped in on the ground in his pajamas, yawning as he scratched his butt.
"It's...2 in the morning, my boy yawns. What do you need?" Kamek asks as he puts on his glass to look at the time.
"King Boo got in, and I think he's still in the Castle. He's after Luigi." Bowser snarled, still coming down from his anger. He wishes King Boo didn't run so he could still be beating his ass, but he needs to focus on other things. Kamek woke up to his word; this was bad for all of them - especially Luigi.
"I'll get right on it." Kamek said as he summoned his broom, but Bowser stopped him.
"You told me that you made him. Why did King Boo say that Luigi belongs to him? And don't try to cover it up, I know that Luigi was torture by him." Bowser said as he looked at Kamek, who was worried.
"Now is not the best time, my boy. It's late, and this is something we need to talk to Luigi as well...w-where is he right now?" Kamek asks, which got Bowser's eyes to unslit.
"In my room...fine. We'll talk about this a different time. Just make sure that that madman is gone" Kamek nodded as he went to look for King Boo, and Bowser returned to his room. He made his way to the second part of his room and carefully slid the door as he heard crying from inside. He didn't see Luigi in the open as he moved next to the bed, where the source of the crying was coming from. Bowser got on his hands and knees to look for Luigi.
"Luigi? Hey, it's ok...." Bowser whispers as he tries to get Luigi out from underneath the bed. But from what he could see, Luigi sobbed in a ball, hunching over, shaking uncontrollably as if he was in pain. Bowser slowly lifted his bed to not scare the poor thing using his free hand to reach him; when Bowser's hand touched him, Luigi screamed louder, which made Bowser pull back a bit. He knew he couldn't leave him like this, so Bowser scooped him up, leading Luigi into fight mode as he tried to kick his way out of Bowser's hand.
"Luigi, it's me, Bowser! He's gone, I swear!" Bowser tells him in a soft voice, but Luigi just keeps his back to him as he tries to get out of his hands. Bowser knew he had to be careful, but he needed to get him to calm down first, and the only thing he could think about was rubbing his head. He was only going to be a bit aggressive, even though he knew that it was a bad idea. Still, he had to do it, so he tossed Luigi in his other hand and held him in his fist as Luigi's arms got trapped. Luigi kept fighting with his eyes closed, but now Bowser can try calming him down. He took off Luigi's hat to show the wood that was supposed to be his hair, two little sticks puking out to resemble hair poking out. Bowser places his free hand behind it and uses his thumb to rub his head, feeling the indents that were in his hair that were carved in to show where the part was. He never noticed those carvings before, but he traced the lines as he slowly watched Luigi stop kicking. His sobbing became softer compared to his breakdown until he slowly opened his eyes.
When Luigi opened his eyes, he feared that it would be those glowing purple eyes that tricked him into thinking that it was someone else. Still, instead, he was staring into big red eyes full of worry in them. Luigi tried calming his crying as Bowser opened his palm, still rubbing his head as Luigi grabbed Bowser's other thumb. He hugs it and rubs his cheek against it, just needing to hold onto something to stop the shaking and calm his breathing.
"It's ok..." Bowser said, sitting on his bed; Luigi was still crying but was calming down. Bowser had so many questions that Kamek needed to answer, but some of those questions Luigi needed to answer too. "He's gone, no need to be scared now...."
"I'm sorry. So so sorry..." Luigi sobbed as he hid his face, feeling ashamed that this happened.
"Don't apologize, don't ever apologize for that madman." Bowser said.
"B-but now that he knows... he's not going to stop till he has me...."
"He can sure as hell try," Bowser said, wiping the tears away from Luigi's eyes, "you're safe here, ok?" Luigi nodded, afraid that if he agreed aloud, the monster would return and destroy it in seconds. Bowser's face is saddened as Luigi still holds onto his thumb, not saying anything else.
"Do you want to talk about it?" but Luigi nodded no, "then how about you stay in my room tonight?"
"I-I can't... I'm only going to stay up the rest of the night...I need to be alone for a bit." Luigi said, his eyes widening as he realized he had overstayed his welcome. He started to pull away from Bowser's thump and push away the other one, and he was about to ask that Bowser put him on the floor, but instead, Bowser dropped him on his bed. He was shocked as he got stuck in the mattress and all the comfortable bed sheets, only getting unstuck when Bowser lay beside him.
"You already have me awake; I'm not going back to sleep at this point. Besides, I don't think you should be alone right now..." Bowser said as he pulled Luigi closer to his head, this was a really embarrassing situation that Luigi had gotten into. Luigi turned away to get up and leave when Bowser pushed him back onto the bed, keeping his hand on top of Luigi this time. He turned his head to see those red eyes again, watching him and making him feel safe, but he felt them burn the more they stared at him. The red bot on his cheeks heated from just Bowser's gaze, and his heart began racing. Was this the same aching that he's been feeling or something new? Either way, Luigi was still as he read his eyes to see what emotions were there. They were tired and worried, but there was also comprehension in them as his thumb started to rub against Luigi's cheek.
"No more crying now..." Bowser whispered, making Luigi avert his eyes. He wiped them away with his own hand before getting comfortable under Bowser's. He knew there was no fighting it anymore, so he hugged Bowser's thumb and closed his eyes, letting Bowser rub his cheek as Luigi listened to Bowser's breathing. Hoping that by faking being asleep, Bowser could fall asleep faster and give Luigi a chance to calm his panic attack by himself. But as the minutes passed, Bowser was still rubbing his cheek, and the aching in Luigi's chest was getting worse as this wasn't pity or jealousy causing it. Maybe it was from embarrassment or part of an anxiety attack, but Luigi felt his heart race, and he hoped that Bowser didn't feel it. That's when he heard humming that made him sit up, not realizing it wasn't the same tone King Boo hummed.
"Do you not like it?" Bowser said as Luigi faced him.
"N-no...I thought that it w-was the Rat King humming...he likes to hum too much," Luigi told him as he lay back down.
"I'll stop then, I thought humming a lullaby would help calm you down."
"Do you do it a lot with Junior?" Luigi asked as he went back to hugging Bowser's thumb.
"All the time." Bowser said as he adjusted his hand to rub Luigi's face again.
"C-can you keep going? I like it better than staying in silence..." Luigi asks as Bowser does as told. He hummed softly while Luigi imagined he was dancing again on stage. He closed his eyes, listening to Bowser's lullaby and heartbeat, until he heard nothing, and the rubbing stopped.
Bowser had fallen asleep, but Luigi stayed awake under his hand, waiting for him to wake up.