A Nutcracker and the Beast

When morning came, Bowser's hand hurt. His main focus wasn't on his well-being when punching King Boo, but he could have soaked it in hot water before falling asleep. He turned his head and spotted Luigi still there, hugging his thumb; his face stained with watermarks from his tears. They should have been dyed by now, but they were still wet as he rubbed Luigi's eyes and wiped whatever tears that were left; he must have been crying again while Bowser was asleep. Bowser got off his stomach and twisted his body to lay on his left side, getting up just a little so he could bend his arm and place his head on his hand while keeping his right arm still to make sure he didn't disturb Luigi. Looking down at Luigi, Bowser's heart broke. How did Luigi cross that madman, and why would King Boo ever hurt such a beautiful soul?

Bowser stops his thoughts for a bit. Did he just think that Luigi had a beautiful soul? It's no lie that Luigi is kind and has been very patient with Bowser since he met him, but he didn't know that his first thought would call him beautiful. Bowser shook his head. Beautiful shouldn't be the first word to use when discrediting a good person like Luigi; maybe good-natured or selfless; even lovely or charming could have been his first thought, but his mind went to beautiful. Bowser returned to Luigi, slowly rubbing his cheek once more before pulling his hand away to see the damage he got last night. Luigi's whole arm was burned, which left it black, with what looked like places where the wood had been chipped off from. Bowser couldn't help but trace every chipped and uneven area that he saw, watching to see if Luigi was in pain from his touch. Luigi's face changes painfully, mostly when Bowser touches his brunet arms, but his chipped area and cut don't bother him before Bowser returns to Luigi's face.

He did the same thing as he traced the little details on his face. Luigi's hair, which he got a better look at last night, reminds him of chocolate. His mustache also had a craving that twisted around itself. The red dots on his cheeks, round and warm, and all the tiny cuts that follow the outline of Luigi's face. Bowser lightly tapped on each one with his nail as he counted how many there were; some had overlapped with each other, and Bowser didn't know if he should count them as one or figure out how many there were. This pissed Bowser off the more he counted, and how he imagined that every last one that he counted was from King Boo that he had to stop counting before he let out a deep breath; what was going on?

"DAD! DAD!" Junior yelled as he came running into the room, "LUIGI GONE! I-"

"Not so loud Junior. He's sleeping right now." Bowser said as he got out of bed. He walked over to Junior and picked him up to try to get him out before he saw how bad in shape Luigi was in. However, when Bowser picked him up, Junior saw Luigi clearly.

"Luigi...W-what happened to Luigi?!" Junior said as he struggled in Bowser's arms, trying to get to Luigi.

"Junior, now is not the time. We have to let him sleep." Bowser said, trying to get Junior out of the room.

"NO! I want to see Luigi! I want to stay with him- I want to stay with Luigi! Let go of me!" Junior yelled, throwing punches and kicks at Bowser's arm as he tried to escape them.

"You're being too loud, Junior! You can see him later!" Bowser scolded him as he started walking into the setting area, and Junior bit down on him to let him go. It worked for the most part since Bowser did let go of him, but Junior wasn't able to get past Bowser.

"Bowser K. Koopa Junior! That's enough!" Bowser yelled at Junior as tears built up in his eyes, "Go to your room right now before I forbid you from visiting Luigi! I won't let you act like this!"

"B-but-"

"No buts! Now go!" Bowser cut him off as he pointed to the door. Junior was about to sob and leave when a weak voice could be heard.