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Chapter Text

Luigi was so tired. 

He was the kind of tired that couldn’t be solved with a night of deep sleep and a bit of comfort, no amount of warm tea or hours by a fireplace. Days spent begging on the outskirts of the koopa kingdom blurred into nights, nights blurred back into days and days blurred into weeks. And when the offer came from a koopa soldier to sell his body for a place to stay briefly and a warm meal, who was he to refuse? What could he possibly have left to lose?

Hell, he’d given up hope on going back to Brooklyn. As he lay in the king-size bed- an actual, real bed and not hard concrete- for the first time in god knows how long, he accepted his fate. This was his life now. He counted marks in the ceiling to distract himself from the burning, fiery pain in his core, the shame he felt, the sheer vulnerability of it all. Even if he were to go back home, how would he explain any of this? He could hear Mario calling him a useless whore already. Mario…

Luigi fought to keep from frowning as the koopa soldier collapsed onto his chest, panting and groaning. Tears pricked at his eyes. His brother abandoned him.

He abandoned him. 

Weeks blurred into months as he was passed from soldier to soldier as if he were a toy, nothing more than a couple of holes that needed a place to sleep at night. He wasn’t living. He was just surviving. 

Luigi heard more empty promises and dishonest “I love you”s in the heat of the moment in those few months than he’d ever heard before. Every night it seemed a new koopa would fall in love with him, just to toss him away to the next. He hated it, but what could he do? He wanted to survive. No, he wanted to live . 

“Hey, uh, whatever your name is…” the naked koopa lying next to him in bed said, breathless after yet another empty and loveless night. 

“Luigi,” he answered softly.

“Luigi, right. Damn, you’re good. Maybe I should introduce you to Bowser. He’d have a field day with you.”

“Who?” he wracked his brain trying to remember a koopa he slept with named Bowser. To be honest, he didn’t bother to remember names. They were all the same to him, all horny beasts just looking for someone to get off. 

“Our… king? You seriously don’t know Bowser?”

“No,” Luigi said, getting out of bed to put his boxers back on. He felt eyes boring into the back of his head. “I’ve never heard of him.”

The koopa laughed. “Fuck it, get dressed and I’ll introduce the two of you right now.”

“I don’t-”

“Unless you want a round two?” 

Luigi looked down at his feet. “Give me a minute.”

—--

Luigi suddenly felt himself being led by the hand through the barracks. He struggled to keep up with the excited koopa, stumbling and sweating as other koopas waved, winked, and blew kisses at him. 

He felt used up. Like an old sponge. A dirty, useless, old sponge.

He was finally led to a large door with two guards standing proudly, one on either side. As soon as they spotted Luigi, smiles came across their faces. 

“He’s finally getting a turn with Bowser? Lucky him!” One of the guards patted Luigi on the back and set his spear to the side as the koopa that led him there let go of his hand. 

“Go on in, human,” the other guard said. 

“Have fun!” the koopa called, but Luigi was already struggling with the door. His worn-out shoes ground against the cobblestone as he put his full weight into opening the cool metal door. 

“Who is it?” a gruff voice called from inside the room.

“Uh…”

“Speak up! I can hardly hear you.”

“My name is Luigi, sir!” Luigi yelled. The door suddenly felt a lot lighter as the king opened it from the other side. 

Bowser gazed down at him and snorted. 

“Ah, so you’re the Luigi I’ve heard so much about.”

“Y-yes sir,” he answered meekly. 

“Come in,” Bowser responded, turning away from the human and walking over to his bed. 

Luigi did as he was told, as he had been for the past few months. The door loudly clanked shut behind him, which made him flinch. 

“Good boy,” Bowser growled. In the human world, this would have a positive effect on Luigi. Instead, the hair on the back of his neck stood up straight, and he felt sick, dread pooling in his stomach. 

Luigi glanced anxiously around the room. Much different than a soldier’s room, a chandelier hung in the center, and a giant bed with deep red satin sheets pressed against the concrete back wall. He wrung his hands. 

“Don’t be so shy, come, lay down,” Bowser said.

Luigi dragged his feet over to the bed. He climbed on top and laid down, arms splayed out at either side. 

Another unfamiliar ceiling. 

He flinched at the sensation of large, scaly hands spreading his knees apart, before Bowser leaned over to nibble on his ear. He sucked in a breath. The heat from his breath almost burned, this was not the type of warmth he yearned for. 

A fang scratched his neck, and his back arched involuntarily. He screwed his eyes shut, but still, he felt a tear roll down his cheek. His breath hitched as tears escaped their barrier, and freely flowed. 

He hadn’t noticed that Bowser neglected to go forward. 

“Human?” 

The dam broke, and Luigi was suddenly so small again. So scared, so cold, so alone. He began to openly sob as Bowser got up and sat next to him, bringing him into a surprisingly comforting hug. Without knowing why, Luigi wrapped his arms around him- this stranger - and just cried. 

He hadn’t cried for months. He did at first, when Mario first left him to die, but he quickly became so numb he couldn’t feel. All he could feel was a dull ache, a certain emptiness in his chest. This ache became easy to ignore. It was so effortless and simple to put it away for the time being and fake a moan just so some stupid koopa would maybe let him stay another night if he was lucky. 

But for the time being, Luigi felt safe for the first time in months. The genuine warmth he had so lacked for ages, the love- the real love- was there. Bowser, for whatever reason, cared .

And Luigi was not going to let that go. 

Chapter Text

Luigi didn’t remember passing out in Bowser’s arms, nor did he remember waking up. All that he knew was an infinite present, no past and no future. He still had all his clothes on with the exception of shoes, which he thanked the stars for.

His head pounded as he felt a weight on the bed. Heavy, but not quite heavy enough to be Bowser. He barely had time to open his eyes before a slightly smaller creature pounced on him, knocking the wind out of him.

“Hi! Who are you? Are you one of papa’s friends?” The kid asked, grabbing his face with both hands. 

Luigi grunted and struggled under the mass, eventually managing to knock him off of his chest. He sat up, rubbing his head.

“Luigi…” he answered softly. “Who…”

“I’m Bowser Jr! My papa’s not here right now,” Junior said smugly.

Luigi smiled. Despite being woken up so rudely, he was cute. Who could say no to those big puppy eyes? “I didn’t know he had a kid.”

“Hey!” Junior pouted. “I’m not a kid!” He folded his arms. “I’m this many,” he held up two fingers.

Luigi chuckled, covering his mouth.

“Junior! Are you in there?” Bowser called from the other side of the door. 

Junior looked at the door, then sheepishly back at Luigi. “Uh-oh.” 

Luigi froze in place. God, seeing bowser again was going to be awkward.

Bowser soon opened the hefty door with a grunt, briefly locking eyes with Luigi before looking away.

“Have you seen Junior in here?” He asked sheepishly.

Before Luigi had time to answer, a giggle came from under the bed. Bowser sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. The large reptilian crouched down and dragged Junior out from under the bed, who was laughing and squealing the whole time.

Bowser held him at eye level. “Junior, he warned, “what did I say about going into papa’s room?”

Junior shook his head. “Noooooo…”

Bowser nodded. “That’s right. Now…” he glanced at Luigi, sat up in the massive bed, satin sheets clutched to his chest. “Go, the adults need to talk, okay?” 

Junior nodded as Bowser planted a kiss on the top of his head and sat him down on the floor, where he toddled away gleefully.

Bowser shut the door behind him. Luigi wondered how he made it look so easy, like it was nothing. That door must be, what, several tons?

Suddenly, he felt much smaller than he did before.

The door shut, bringing Luigi out of his thoughts abruptly. 

Bowser turned and walked over to the bed and sat at the foot; the weight shifting and bouncing Luigi a couple inches briefly.

“Luigi… that is your name, right?”

He nodded, but Bowser faced the wall. “Y-yes sir.”

Bowser held up a hand. “Please, just Bowser is fine.”

He twiddled his fingers nervously. “Luigi, I’d like to formally apologize with how my subordinates have been treating you.”

Luigi froze. “Really?”

Bowser turned to face him, heaving one leg over the side of the bed. 

“Please, tell me everything.” He held out his hand to Luigi, who took it in his.

He did just that; spilling his heart out about his brother, his abandonment issues, his desperation, the soldiers… everything. His family back home. How no one would miss him. How he wasn’t happy there, and he wasn’t happy in the koopa kingdom either. 

He kept it together, though. All the tears he had were released the previous night, and he simply felt a disconnect from his tragic backstory and himself. It was almost as if everything that had happened to him, he was watching happen through a glass window.. 

“Human,” Bowser’s tone softened, not quite as if he was talking to his son, but almost like he was talking to whoever his wife was. That’s right… there must be a mother to his child, right? Luigi would have to pack up and go once she came back into the picture. “Under my rule, I promise you will never go hungry again.”

He perked up at that thought. That’s right… his ribs had started to show under his skin from god knows how long of malnutrition. 

“But-” Luigi began to protest. He had so many questions, and not any answers. He stopped himself from asking what he’d have to do in return. It would be rude, especially to a mighty king such as Bowser. He would do anything to just have a place to sleep and a full stomach every night. Hell, he’d eat dirt and sleep on the floor if he had to. 

Bowser smiled. “Are you hungry now?”

Luigi was taken aback. “Uh, mm… yes, actually.”

He felt a slight squeeze of his hand. “Come on, I’m sure Junior is waiting for us in the kitchen. It is his lunch time, after all.”

—--

It was the first time Luigi had genuine fun in months, possibly years. The stove, too short for him to see, held a delicious smelling soup in a large pot. Mostly, he kept Junior occupied while Bowser stirred the fragrant soup, occasionally adding ingredients. 

“It’s ready!” Bowser called from in front of the stove. Junior and Luigi, previously sat in a corner while Junior told stories about “how great papa is”, perked up. 

“Yay! Thank you, papa! I’m hungry!”

Luigi couldn’t stop himself from drooling when he climbed up onto the chair and saw the meal in front of him. An oversized bowl held a bright mushroom and potato soup, and it almost reminded him of the meals he’d eat back home. Which, of course, was the only good thing about “home”. 

While they ate, Junior bombarded him with questions about humans. Where are they from? Where did you come from? How old are you? You must be super old, right? 

Luigi laughed along with Bowser and answered every question he had. 

“He’s cute,” he told Bowser. “Is there a… Mrs. Bowser in the picture?”

Bowser took this in good faith, laughing. “No, no, nothing like that.”

Luigi felt a weight off his shoulders with that answer.

“How about this, human?” Bowser leaned forwards, putting his elbows on the table. 

“You’ll be my babysitter, and I’ll give you everything you could ever ask for.”

Luigi’s eyes widened. “You’ll do that for me?”

Bowser laughed again. “Of course! I’m Bowser, the great koopa king!”

Luigi graciously accepted, hopping out of his chair to shake his giant reptillian hand. 

Tears brimmed at the bottoms of his eyes. He finally belonged somewhere. 

Nothing could erase the things he had to do to get there, but he finally felt something he never felt at home. 

Peace.