Chapter Text
When Luigi wakes up a few hours later, he's being shaken by his shoulders.
Kammy is standing over him in a robe and bonnet, "Oh thank stars, you're a heavy sleeper! You have to get up now though, Mario's been spotted a few towns over and will probably get here in a couple of hours, if we're lucky."
Luigi is confused, but stumbles into the closet to throw on some random clothes anyways, "you said Mario's coming? Where are we going, won't he just come find me?"
Kammy is ushering him through the halls, "No, no, His Majesty doesn't want your brother running around all over the castle, so we're going to the throne room." Now that he thinks about it, every time he'd been to rescue the princess they'd only ever gone in the throne room, where Bowser had been conveniently waiting on them with Peach.
"It might seem a little extreme, but His Majesty has an image to protect, as I'm sure you're aware." They round the corner into the throne room, and Luigi grins as he watches Bowser slumped over tiredly on his throne, crown askew from where his head is resting on his hand.
He's wearing his shell, a shield for the inevitable fight, and he's got on a long dark blue cape, clasped across his chest by two bejeweled clusters. Clearly, he'd been given just as much notice as Luigi about their impending guest. Luigi walks across the floor and comes up beside the throne, trading good mornings with the Alpha. "Sorry for all the theatrics, but I can't have people thinking I just let my “hostages” run free in my house.."
He motions over to a large gold cage with a door that's propped open, presumably waiting for Luigi's arrival. "I get that. Nice outfit, by the way," his comment gets him a glare, and a poorly hidden smile, and Luigi leans over to push the crown to sit centered on his head.
"There. can't have that all crooked for your big showdown, huh?" Bowser blushes, mumbling a thank you before Kammy is coming over to show him his cage. He meets Kamek, too, briefly introducing himself before listening intently to the mage's explanation of the warding around the cage.
"It's entirely enchanted, the patterns on the side make it float and the big circular thing in the middle will keep you from falling out once you're up there. It's mostly to keep you off the floor because your brother and His Majesty tend to get into...intense fights."
Everyone's attention is pulled to the large doors at the front of the room when a koopa comes running through, telling Bowser that Mario had been spotted along the outskirts of the town just outside the palace, and that he would be here sooner rather than later, it seemed. That kicks everyone into gear, Bowser straightening up on his throne and Luigi nabbing a croissant to take with him in his cage, the door shut but not locked behind him as he was hoisted into the air. He waves at Bowser around a bite of his breakfast, and the man smiles at him and gives him a small wave back. He feels his anxiety come back tenfold at the arrival of his overbearing brother, who is sure to be upset with Luigi for ‘doing something so stupid’ as getting kidnapped by their enemy. He stews in his anxiety for another 15 minutes before one of the stained glass windows lining the walls shatters, and his brother swings in through the empty space. He can hear Bowser sigh, rolling his eyes as the shorter human makes his way to stand in front of the throne, glowering menacingly.
"Man, I tell you this every time, but you can just use the door." Luigi giggles as he watches the large doors creak open, Princess Peach walking through moments later, beelining for the enchanted chain holding Luigi airborne while the other two throw their first punches.
"You f*cking monster, this is a whole new low," Mario starts, "You and Peach have had this weird back and forth thing for years, and that's fine because I'm gonna show up every time and beat your ass, but taking my brother? That's too f*cking far!"
Mario is putting out some serious damage, but the other Alpha isn't doing anything, dodging most of his shots and blocking the ones he couldn't run from. "What have you been doing to him, huh? You're disgusting, to take advantage of an Omega like I'm sure you did. He's not strong enough to fight back, and you're feral enough to take what you want, I'm sure."
Bowser clips him upside the head, not lethal but definitely enough to hurt, "don't treat your brother like he's completely helpless. He survived the whole weekend here with me, and there's not even a single scratch on him!"
That only makes Mario more upset, "dont talk like you know anything about us, you f*cking animal."
In the corner, Peach has successfully gotten Luigi down with some subtle help from Kamek who lifted the enchantment on the chain with a nod so she could pull it. Now they were kind of just standing here, Peach taking a bite of food off of the plates left earlier by the kitchen as she watches on, clearly annoyed. Luigi chews at his lip, he hadn't meant to get kidnapped, but he didn't think the Princess would be genuinely upset about coming to rescue him.
"I-I'm sorry, Princess. I didn't mean to make you both come all the way out here because of me..." he trails off.
She's taking his hands in hers quickly,"No! no, don’t say that. I'm not annoyed with you, Luigi, I'm annoyed with your brother." At his raised eyebrow she continues, "I told him you would be fine. I figured he would believe me since I've been dealing with this longer than the two of you have been down here, but it was a fight enough to get him to wait until today to come get you. How did you enjoy dinner by the way? I’d pay to see his face when he saw you instead of me."
Her knowing smirk reminds Luigi of what Bowser had said, kind of a tradition. "Wait, how did you know that?" but she just laughs, "I've been doing this for a long time, I know what to expect by now. he's really not a bad guy, under all that-" she motions to the fight that is still very much going on,"-tough guy act. he doesn't even like the fighting, he just kind of lets Mario beat the sh*t out of him to make him feel better, I guess."
And sure enough, Bowser is laid out, his brother leaning over him and slamming his fists into already bloody skin. "That actually makes a lot of sense, now that I think about it," Luigi starts to say something else but the sound of his brother taunting the man slumped over on the floor unnecessarily and can't help how he reacts.
"f*cks sake, Mario! He's not even fighting back at this point, you're just beating the sh*t out of him for no reason! I'm not even in any danger, something you would have noticed had you literally even looked in my direction at any point."
Both of the brothers seem surprised at Luigi's outburst, he really hadn't meant to mouth off to his brother like that and by the look on Mario’s face he hadn't been expecting it either, raised brows turning down in anger and confusion in his direction before Peach steps in.
"Yes, I'm sure by this point the King would just allow us to leave?" She looks over to Bowser in question, who just motions to the door and nods once. He can't help but stare at the man as they pass, feeling guilt threaten to swallow him whole at the sight of the blood and bruises covering the Alpha's body. It's like Bowser can sense him, though, and lifts his gaze to throw Luigi a wink, biting back a smirk and disguising it as a grimace when Mario looks back over his shoulder with a glare.
Upon his return, Mario is stuck to his side like glue every second of every day. Even in their house, he won't leave Luigi alone longer than 10 minutes, paranoia over his recent kidnapping clear as day. The only time he finds himself away from his brother is at the castle, where he's been spending the weeks since his rescue catching up with the Princess while Mario locks himself in a room in the library all day doing who knows what. He's been asking questions about the Darklands, and about Bowser, because Peach is the literal only other person to have stepped foot in Bowser's castle in along time. He's sure his interest in the man does notseem purely academic at this point, judging by the amused expression Peach has on her face every time she answers. But, she still answers them and doesn't call Luigi out on anything he clearly isn't telling her about his time there, electing to keep his and the King's closeness out of the rotation for now regardless of how obvious it is that Luigi clearly likes the man.
As weeks turn into months, Luigi spends most of his time not at the castle trying to convince himself that his weird longing feeling he was experiencing was just because he missed the good food and freedom of choice his stay in the Darklands had given him, and not because he was missing the company of a certain Alpha. About a week before Peach's annual ball Luigi is sitting down in Peach's parlor after getting the final alterations done on his dress when she walks in the room with a folder tucked under her arm. She smells anxious, burnt sugar peeking through her normal scent, and Luigi tilts his head in question as she sits across from him.
She takes a deep breath, "Luigi, I need your help with something." He nods slowly, looking between her and the file on the table, "I know you know by now that Bowser isn't the cold-hearted ruler that he's made out to be. I've been trying to help him get his sh*t together, so to speak, for the last few years but I can't ever stay over there for long enough to get anything substantial done."
Luigi stammers slightly at Peach's relaxed language, but she continues anyways, "I've been thinking, and if I can get someone over there for longer than a week or two I should be able to get the information I need to help him. I want everyone to finally live in peace, Luigi, and I think you could help with that..."
He raises his eyebrows, "Princess, how in the world could I help with that?" trying to ignore the way his pulse kicks at the mention of returning to the Darklands. She looks at him through her eyebrows, "Luigi you've literally helped me and Daisy through Kingdom-wide crises without even breaking a sweat. If anyone knows what they're doing for something like this it's you. I just need someone there for a little while to sit in on meetings and help me put together a report I can show my advisors. I swear, you won't be in any danger, and I'll make sure you have your phone with you this time so we can stay in touch."
He laughs at her attempt to diffuse the situation, but his hesitance must speak for itself, "just think about it, please. There's not a time frame on this at all, so take whatever time you need and just come talk to me whatever you decide." With that he nods and makes his way out of the castle, through the town and up the path to his and Mario's house. His brother was still at the castle, but he hadn't moved from his spot in the library all day and Luigi was f*cking exhausted, all he wanted to do was hop in the shower and go to sleep, so he really doesn’t care if Mario gets angry with him for leaving without him. He watches the water from the shower circle the drain, deep in thought. He definitely missed the freedom that came with living away from his brother, and his inner Omega was jumping at the chance to be close to the Alpha even after months of not being able to contact him at all. Plus, Peach seemed pretty serious about this, and Luigi does have to admit that he's pretty good at coming up with solutions to people's problems, the main reason why Mario put him on customer service duty when they had their own business in Brooklyn. If she really thought this was something worth doing, then he should probably do it. She wouldn't put him in danger, he knows that much. He towels off and stumbles into a pair of boxers and lays face down in his bed, trying to fight off the swoops in his stomach as he remembers smoldering red eyes and the scent of spice and smoke. He definitely still had a little crush on the man, even after being away from him for so long. He thinks about him constantly – whether or not he's in any pain, if his injuries have healed okay, what he's up to in general- Luigi is down bad for this man, and the thought of being able to see him again fills him with a good kind of anxiety, one that buzzes under his skin in anticipation, not dread. He spends a few days contemplating his decision and trying to calm himself down at the prospect of seeing Bowser again, and by the time lunch rolls around on his fourth day of deliberation he’s in his room getting ready to head to the castle and tell Peach he’d be a part of the plan when he hears Mario slouching his way into the front door, dropping his bags and heading to the kitchen.
He shouts a good morning down the hall and is met with silence, save for the sound of his brother’s steel toed boots clunking down the hallway to stand in front of Luigi’s door. "You know, the princess told me something funny on my way out this morning," at his confused noise, Mario laughs, "she told me..." he cuts himself off with another laugh, "she told me she was trying to send you back to the Darklands, as if you'd ever agree to something like that." Luigi tries to interject but gets cut off, "I mean, 'peace between all kingdoms'? This isn't a beauty pageant, like come on. You can’t seriously think she knows what she’s talking about, right? People like Bowser don't deserve peace, they deserve pain..."
He eyes Mario incredulously, "alright tone it down, Jigsaw. I think it's a great idea." His attitude is clearly not appreciated, judging by the look on his brother's face but he continues anyways, "and I'm actually on my way to agree to her 'stupid idea' right now, if you'll excuse me." He moves to push past Mario, but his brother has always been stronger.
He's pushed back into his seat on the bed with a sneer, "You Omegas are all so f*cking dumb. The man is crazy! He's literally kidnapped her for years and all of a sudden she wants to help him? It doesn't make sense!"
Luigi does interject this time, scent souring into grass and ozone as he glares at his brother, "they've been working on this for years, according to Peach, a lot longer than we’ve even been down here, and apparently my being there will speed things along. You're just pissed because you won't get to be the big strong Alpha if your nemesis stops fighting you."
That seems to hit a nerve, because his brother is growling and moving from the doorframe to get in his face, "don't speak to me like that, Omega." Disdain drips from the last word and Luigi rolls his eyes at his brother’s obvious attempt to get him to submit.
"f*ck off, you idiot. Leave me alone, get out." When he hesitates, Luigi motions to the door and repeats himself, "get. out."
Mario seems to hear him that time, scoffing and turning on his heel to leave the room. He makes it in record time to Peach's castle and climbs the stairs to her office, pushing the door open to find her writing a letter. She goes to cover it up before she realizes it’s just Luigi, and he takes a look at it from across the desk as she continues her writing.
"Whatcha writing?" he asks teasingly, and she huffs a laugh. "This is the only way I can communicate with Bowser on a regular basis, I can't use my phone because it raises questions with my advisors." He hums, reading her swirly script upside down, only being able to make out his own name and a few other small words before Peach catches him looking, "it's just to let him in on the plan, that's all, and so we can actually plan his part in this. Toadette runs them to the border and someone from Bowser's castle comes to get them every week."
"So...what's the plan? Because I'm here to let you know I'm in." Peach gasps at him, smiling behind her hands and going into deep detail about the plan she had come up with so far. "Okay, so since you agreed to do this before the ball this weekend I have an idea on how to get you out of here on the low..." Essentially, everyone in the Kingdom would be at this ball, and all Luigi would need to do is make the rounds and make sure people see him, slip up the stairs unnoticed and make it to the tailor's shop on the opposite side of the castle where an airship would be waiting for him. All the secrecy seems kind of unnecessary to Luigi at first, but Peach reminds him that most of the population here still views Bowser as a threat, and that to avoid people trailing behind to "rescue" him they needed as few people to know about this as possible. Her personal guards would be standing outside that night, just to keep the others from sounding the alarms at the sight of the airship, and Mario had been instructed to stay quiet about what little he knew with the threat of exile from her Kingdom, the same threat she’d given everyone entrusted with information about her plan. One thing they couldn't plan, though, was exactly how long Luigi would be gone. Neither of them knew how long it would take to convince Peach's advisors, but Luigi doesn't even really care anymore. That fight he'd had with Mario only made him miss his momentary freedom even more, and he honestly hopes he can find a reason to make his stay in the Darklands longer than it might need to be. He looks back down at the letter.
"It usually takes a few days to go back and forth like this, but I can't imagine he'd say no to seeing youagain..." the way she says it makes him blush, and her snicker just gets louder the redder his face gets, "he's asked about you a few times, in the letters. You didn't have your phone, I guess, because he's been begging me for your number. But I'll just tell him you'll give it to him in person, when you get there." He sputters, which only serves to make the Princess laugh harder, even her personal maid hiding a smile behind her hand at Luigi's dramatics. He smiles and glares at her before remembering that as good as it was that he'd be leaving soon, he's still stuck in the house with Mario for the next week, and decides to do something about it before he can chicken out.
"Hey Peach..." he starts, and the woman watches him patiently, "do you think... would it be okay if I stayed here until I leave? What little you told Mario of the plan he isn’t taking well, and I don't want to be stuck in the house with someone who's angry with me." Peach pulls him into a hug, "Oh Luigi, of course. Your room is always unlocked for you if you want to stay here. I can go with you to pack your luggage if you don't want to be alone with him right now, you can run in your room and grab whatever you want and I'll distract him by telling him how big his muscles look or something."
She snorts, and Luigi can't help but laugh at the fact that something like that would *absolutely* work on his brother, "You know, I think that just might work. Thank you, Princess." He goes in for another hug, which she gives. For now, Luigi and Toadette make their way to his room, where he breathes in the familiar scent of a room that was definitely his but hadn't been used in forever.
It was really only in case of emergencies anyways, but his emergencies tended to be more on the "too drunk to walk home" or the "my brother is sick and won't stay in bed" side of things. Neither of those happened very often, so the room was more storage for some of the artifacts and artwork he'd collected on his adventures than anything else. Still, he falls into bed with a groan, inhaling the faint scent of himself from months ago, light lavender and the sky when it’s about to rain. He wonders if his crush on the Alpha is that terribly obvious, what with both Peach and her maid giggling at his blush when she teased him about Bowser, but he almost doesn’t care. He wonders offhandedly if the tradition of dinner together is something that will carry on for every night Luigi spends there, and he feels his cheeks get hot at the notion of it. He’s so f*cking excited to be going back.
Bowser huffs into the pages of the book he's reading, trying to distract himself from some paperwork he needed to have done a few days ago. More accurately, he's trying to distract himself from the thoughts of the Omega that had spent a weekend with him months ago by this point. The first few days after he left both Kammy and Kamek were with him a lot, reminding him to eat and drink water and get up from his desk every once in a while and sleep. He was more affected by the Omega than he thought, thinking of him constantly and trying to reassure his inner Alpha that he hadn't been abandoned, that they'd only known each other for two days and the whole situation was accidental. He had sent Kamek off with a letter for the Princess about a week into his Alpha's lamenting asking a few questions about their plans for the alliance work they'd been doing and trying to sneak in a few inconspicuous questions about Luigi. Nothing crazy, just asking how he was doing and what he'd been up to since his return. The princess had replied quickly, an envelope with her insignia on it gracing his desk not even a full two days later. He could almost hear her smirk through the page as she answered questions about her friend; that he was doing fine and they'd been spending a lot of time together because Mario won't let him go anywhere alone but spends all day cooped up in the castle library. He starts glazing over her words when she circles back around to talking about the alliance, but something makes him triple take back up the page.
Luigi's little trip actually reminded me of an idea I've had for a while but never had the resources to try. I think what we need is an ambassador, someone to transfer information between kingdoms without raising the suspicion of my staff. And now, what with how highly Luigi talks about his time there, I'm thinking he could be perfect. Bowser blushes a little at the mention that Luigi had actually enjoyed his time there enough to tell the princess about it. He's got a lot of experience helping me and Daisy keep our sh*t together, and he's smart. He comes up with stuff no one would ever even think to consider, and I think that's what we need for this. He seems more than willing, and I can make sure no one sees you if you send people to 'kidnap' him from the tailor's balcony like you did before. Just let me know you'll be there and I'll get everything else in place. Talk to you soon! -P
His response is written and out the door within the hour, that he thinks that's a f*cking great idea, and he gets into bed that night feeling better than he had in weeks. Luigi might be coming back to him, if he and Peaches can pull this off, and he can't help the small smile that creeps onto his face at the thought of seeing the Omega again. His brain is already supplying him with places he'll be able to take Luigi now that he'll be there for a longer amount of time. He wants to take him into the capital city, outside of the palace, and show him that all the propaganda that painted the Darklands as a deserted wasteland couldn't be further from the truth. They might have been decades ago, but with his leadership and Peach’s small but important contributions his people have become much more prosperous than before. Everyone can afford to live and Peach sent over mountains of books that Bowser gave to the doctors of his Kingdom, so people rarely get sick. Food is abundant, and no one is starving. He stops himself from calling the architects and designers responsible for Peach's rooms because as much as he wants Luigi to be comfortable here, something that involved should probably wait until the man was here to actually make the choices for himself. He's pulled from his thoughts by a soft knock on his bedroom door, and he knows who it is even before he hears the sniffles coming from behind the wood. "Come here, Junior. What's wrong?" The door cracks open, and his son pads across the floor rubbing his eyes with one hand and trailing a blanket behind him with the other, "had a nightmare, papa. Wanna sleep with you." Bowser scoots over wordlessly and the two of them fall asleep quickly after that, even though Junior won't stop f*cking kicking him and moving around in his sleep.
Luigi's next few days are full of trips between his house and the castle, spending half the day working on last minute preparations for the ball and splitting the other half hanging out with Peach and trying to avoid his brother. He hadn't said a word to Mario after their fight, and Mario hadn't said anything to him, which he honestly appreciated having forgotten how judgmental his brother could be after spending even a short amount of time around someone who didn't judge him at all. By the time the night before the ball rolls around, Luigi is ready to leave. It's not that he didn't enjoy being home and seeing Peach and his friends, but staying in the castle with the Princess has reminded him just how *observant* she is. She'd been trying to get him to talk about his little crush on the Alpha, which he doesn't have by the way! She'd just caught him off guard, asked him something casually and his mouth moved faster than his brain, his approval of Bowser's physical features slipping out before he could stop it. She'd teased him about it the entire rest of his stay, good-naturedly of course, and he could take the teasing to a certain extent but it had started making him more anxious to see the man again than anything else. He really shouldn't be feeling like this over a man he's only actually known for the course of a weekend, but something about him makes Luigi feel safe and connected in a way he hadn't felt about any of the random men or women he'd dated over the years.
The night of the ball finally arrives and Luigi spends about an hour walking around and talking to people, making sure they remembered he was here so he could sneak away later and enjoying the attention his dress was bringing him. Peach's tailor had really outdone himself, and his slate blue slip dress brushed around the floor effortlessly, the slouchy neckline and thin straps held up by small gold chains across his back showcasing the soft expanse of his skin. He spends a few minutes admiring himself in a hallway mirror before he slips up an empty staircase and makes his way to the tailor's room. He shuts the door, turning around and meeting the gaze of the three oddly dressed figures he'd gone with last time. Well, he doesn't actually know if they're the exactsame, the whole cloak and mask thing kind of makes it hard to tell. They're just as chatty though, motioning without a sound to the door of the balcony for Luigi to follow. One of them must recognize Luigi, because he does get a small nod as he's helped up the metal stairs into the same airship he'd woken up in last time. He gets to watch, this time, as they ascend up into the clouds. His luggage is sitting by a couch, something that Peach had assured him would happen even if he was sure there was no way to pull it off. He had been confused when she'd asked him what he was planning on packing because he'd planned on bringing...nothing? He'd managed just fine without his stuff the first time, plus how would they get anything on the ship without making it incredibly obvious what they were doing? He's glad for it now, even though it isn't much, just a few outfits and some of his personal items, things he wouldn't want to leave for a long time with his brother, given the man's cleaning habits he imagines the house will be damn near destroyed if he's gone longer than a month. So he just has one suitcase, a duffle bag, and a backpack, carrying all kinds of things from his laptop to his favorite shoes and clothes, some of his skincare and his journal, Peach encouraged him to take as much of his stuff there with him as he wanted to help him get situated a little easier in Bowser's castle. She did throw in a sly comment about how she's sure he'll get settled down-oh, in, sorry- quickly enough before hugging him and sending him off to mingle with the crowd. He watches the hilly green landscape of the Mushroom Kingdom pass by beneath him and takes a sip from the drink he was offered after they took off, sitting it back on the table and leaning back into his seat and closing his eyes.
