A Nutcracker and the Beast

"Mario, it's been a week. When are you going to stop acting like this?" Peach questions him in anger as she watches Mario walk back and forth. Mario has been here for a week, and Bowser wasn't acting normal. First, he was willing to let them stay in his home, and then he was being nice to a toy. He also can't forget how calm Bowser was when he got mad at Waluigi because of that toy, and now he's hosting a game night with just the adults. Event after event, Bowser was being way too nice for Mario's liking.

"He's acting strange, Peach. Why are you letting him fool you?" Mario asks in return, but Peach pitches the bridge of her nose when he asks that.

"For the last time Mario, he's not acting strange! This is how he really is! I should know, I spend more time with him then you have." Peach said as she walked to the door, "so unless you stop acting like a child, I'm going to be with the other!"

Peach soon slammed the door shut to Mario's room. This was a mess, and Mario didn't know how to fix it. It was hurting not just his ego but his own feelings, too, and he didn't know if he was to blame or Bowser. Maybe it was a mix of both; perhaps it was his fault, but he just didn't want to admit it, and it was easier to just blame Bowser. He shouldn't care; he was forced to be here. He'll just sleep and apologize to Peach in the morning. Mario went under the cover and tried to fall asleep, hoping he would wake up feeling better in the morning. As the minutes passed, Mario tossed and turned in bed, still feeling hurt as his anger turned to sadness. He tossed and turned even more as he looked at the clock to see that not even an hour had passed, and he groaned. This was unbearable, and his pride hurt him more than anything else. He got up and decided to join the others, leaving the room to see if he could figure out where he was going.

Mario remembers Peach saying something about pasting the Throne room and going down the right hall in the far left corner. But when he got there, he didn't know which entrance she meant, and he just went to the left corner like she had said and took that hall. It was hushed as Mario didn't know where he was going; he took a flight of stairs and then down a hallway with so many turns that he knew for a fact that he was lost now. He sighed as he came across a hallway with a row of windows: they overlooked different parts of Bowser's Castle till Mario looked out of one that pointed into a tower's window. There, he saw Peach and Daisy talking, and then he saw Bowser joining them. Mario was glad that he found them, but it wasn't the place he wanted to be as he leaned against the window frame. Man, how he felt so lonely right now.

On the other hand, Luigi was returning to Junior's room to get some shut-eye. Planning different events with Bowser was fun, but it was wearing him down with all the interaction with his old friends and planning going on, not to mention that he was getting a bit lonely. Bowser was a great host to his guest, but Luigi wanted some alone time with him that didn't involve some sort of planning for his guest. Luigi shouldn't get so jealous and lonely about this; he had Junior and Kamek to keep him company. That should be enough, right?

Luigi let out a sigh. It would have been enough if he wasn't trying to get Bowser to fall in love with him. It also wasn't helping that Luigi was falling faster and faster each day. He went down one of his favorite hallways, a hallway with a row of windows that let the cold color of grays and blue in. When he walked down it, he wasn't expecting to see Mario looking out of one of the windows, his face sad and lonely. Luigi slowly walked up to him and wondered what he was looking at.

"Rough night?" Luigi asks Mario as he momentarily turns away from the window, then back. Luigi spots Mario, watching the others have fun with Bowser in one of the rooms across from them. The girls seem to be having a blast while the Wario brothers talk with Kamek.

"This is all wrong. Bowser is just putting on a front, and everyone seems to be falling for it." Mario said, just making small talk with Luigi. He didn't know why Luigi was there, but Mario would pretend he wasn't lonely.