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“We need to do something about that.” Bootholomew sighed, shaking his head and adjusting his glasses as he watched Luigi shriek yet again at the surprise of a ghost mouse had sprung up out of a stack of old crates and scurried under foot.
“Ah-about what? The ghost m-mice?”
“No, about you. You’re our Princess. You can’t be scared of every little thing! You’re in control here. You have the ability to direct even the ghost mice. Don’t give them power over you by screaming!”
“I-I can’t help it! You all knew what I was like when you made me ruler of the boos!”
“Yes, we knew you were easily spooked, but we also knew you’re scarier than what King Boo had been because you could defeat him. You have so much potential, Princess, but you simply must stop reacting in fear when it comes to the citizens and animals of your kingdom.”
“I’ve gotten better with my boos! They are all adorable and shy once you get to know them!”
“Yes, most boos are quite shy, and I understand how that makes it easier for you to not react in fear when you see one, even if they jump out at you—”
“It does help that I can also sense any boos in the room.”
Over time you’ll be able to do that even with the smallest of ghosts, like the mice. But until then you need to control your fear, or your fear will control you. That's how things work! King Boo had us maliciously scare visitors to increase their fear so we could manipulate them. The more scared they are of us, the more power we hold over them. It is for that reason our ruler needs to be above even the smallest of haunting jump scares. What happens if someone goes rogue? You need to be in control of the situation as they are brought back down to their place and dealt with properly. That’s part of your role as our ruler.”
“I-I can’t just turn off the part of my brain that reacts in fear. It’s part of my human self preservation! You know. The fight or flight response!”
“The old boo sighed, rubbing his goatee’d chin, “You don’t have to turn it off, per say, but train yourself to stand your ground and not show how scared you are.”
“How do I do that? And why do I feel like I’m not going to like your answer?” Luigi gulped.
The old royal steward gave a spooky grin and rubbed his hands together, “Because it’ll be fun! Just like old times, even! We’ll trap you in a room and send in spook after spook until you learn to not react externally!”
“Ah-hu, and um, how? I can float through walls now, just like the rest of you I could just escape.”
“Not if we get the professor to help out! He’ll figure something out for us. He’s always found ways to make things difficult for us boos in the past, after all!
“Are you sure we want new anti-boo tech being invented?”
Bootholomew paused, “I suppose not. You’re right. That could come back to bite us later. But you do need training for your fear, and you can’t be allowed to just run away!”
“I-I suppose if we absolutely h-have to, then we can post guards to catch me waiting on the other side of the walls, ceiling, and floor of whatever room we use?”
“Or, we can use an entire building. Like when you used to attack mansions and hotels. Only no ghost hunting equipment, just exposure to spooks!”
“I’m not going to enjoy this…”
“No, but it’s necessary. I will make the arrangements.”
“Okie dokie, but I’m inviting Bowser over afterwards to cry it out!”
“Understood. We will also prepare for his arrival.”
Luigi was pacing his room, fiddling with his glove nervously. He was really not looking forward to what was to come. Bootholomew had finished preparations for his fear training, and soon he’d be whisked off to one of the many haunted buildings within his kingdom to have the fear scared out of him.
He’d already gotten ready. Changing from the dress he’d been wearing that morning to a pair of forest green slacks and a white button up top. If he was going to be scared out of his mind and running around, he wanted the security that came with pants.
And he didn’t want to risk ripping one of his dresses. He liked all of the dresses he’d added to his wardrobe since officially becoming a princess.
There was a knock at his door, and he swallowed around a lump of anxiety that instantly built up, “C-come in!”
The door opened, and instead of his trusted steward, his brother and Peach entered with smiles on their faces. He relaxed.
“Oh, it’s just you.” he sighed in relief.
“Just us?” Mario gasped in mock offense.
“You were expecting someone else?” Peach asked.
Luigi hurried over to greet both with a hug, “Bootholomew has decided I need to have the fear scared out of me. He’s set up a training session for it and he’s told me it’s all ready to go. I’m not looking forward to it.”
“I can tell.” Mario said, gently taking the poor glove Luigi was fidgeting with from his hands and examining how it had gotten so wrinkled. He moved over to iron it out for his brother.
“It does make sense.” Peach nodded, taking Luigi’s hand and leading him over to sit on the couch next to the fireplace.
“You agree?”
“Well, princesses can’t show their fear. Have you ever seen Daisy or I openly show fear ever? You’ve seen me when kidnapped, you’ve seen me being kidnapped.”
It was true. She would look slightly surprised, annoyed, angry, worried, but never outright fearful. He shook his head.
“Of course I have felt fear in moments like those, but I’ve been trained since I was little not to show it. You came into being a princess late, so you do have some catching up to do. And you’re so expressive. Always wearing your emotions on your sleeve. And you can still do that in private with the people closest to you, but publicly? It’ll be good to put on your regal mask. Don’t let them know that whatever is going on is getting to you as much as it is. Shove it all into a box to open and cry about later and talk to someone you trust about it. I used to visit my therapist a lot back when I was being kidnapped all the time.”
“And,” Mario spoke up, returning with the de-wrinkled glove and slipping it onto his brother’s hand, “You are the Principessa of all things spooky. I imagine it can’t be good for your public image if you’re jumping all the time. But I know you can do this. You’re the bravest guy I know. You always manage to stand up to face your fears, no matter how scared you are. You just need to learn to hide how scared you are. I’m sure you can do it, bro!”
Luigi smiled and finally felt some of the tension that had been building in him since Bootholomew had told him he’d need to have this training ease. Mario was always the best at calming his nerves.
“Really?”
“Of course! Besides, if you can fearlessly date Bowser of all people, what’s a little principessa fear training? You're dating the scariest monster to ever exist!”
Luigi’s cheeks went red, “Bowser’s sweet, not scary!”
“See? Just think like that when it comes to other scary things!” Mario grinned, ruffling Luigi's hair.
“Also, when in doubt, think to yourself ‘this is boring and stupid, and I’m unamused’ and let that show on your face. It’s a great default expression to hide your fear.” Peach advised. “Like this!” Her face went from her animated, cheerful self to her all business, not taking any bullshit expression he’d seen her use countless times.
Then she smiled and nudged him, “Okay, now you give it a try. I’ll help you practice until Bootholomew comes to get you.”
“But what about the reason you two actually visited?” Luigi asked.
“We were just dropping by for a visit because we had some free time.” Mario reassured, “There was nothing actually planned. We just wanted to see you if you weren’t busy dealing with official stuff.”
“Exactly. So show me your unamused face.” Peach commanded, and Luigi chuckled before giving it his best shot.
“Yup, he needs some work on that.” Mario hummed as Peach launched into some more in depth advice on how to get the look just right.
Three days. It had been three days on non-stop scares being thrown at him by ghosts, ghouls, illusions, and boos alike. Even his sleep wasn’t safe. They would let him get just enough sleep to keep him healthy, but they would awaken him with more scares. Chase him around the haunted mansion, and interrupt his meals.
And Luigi was just so…tired of it. He felt something in him snap into place, and he understood what Peach had been trying to teach him. So when yet another spooky assault appeared before him, he leveled an unamused look at the ghost responsible.
The ghost was clearly proud, but it wasn’t over yet. To unsure it wasn’t a one time reaction, the scares continued for a few hours before Bootholomew was satisfied and they finally left to travel back to the castle where Bowser was waiting for him, as promised.
“Luigi.” he smiled, holding out a hand to the exhausted princess.
“Bowser!” Luigi pulled his giant boyfriend into a hug and wiggled until the dragon turtle gave in and picked him up. So what if he was feeling clingy? He’s been through a lot.
Bowser chuckled, and held him gently, “Come on, let's get some food in you and then settle in for a cuddle-nap. You seem exhausted.”
“Sounds good.” Luigi agreed, kissing Bowser’s cheek. “But also I need a quick shower and a change of clothes. I didn’t want to risk some ghost interrupting me while I was naked!” he squeaked.
Bowser’s cheeks flushed at the mental image of Luigi running around some haunted house naked and screaming. Clearing his throat, he nodded, “You go get cleaned up and I’ll get us some food.” he said, setting Luigi back down on his feet.
“Okie-dokie!” Luigi lingered a moment long by his boyfriend before hurrying back to his rooms to grab a quick shower and pull on a simple, comfortable sundress that wouldn’t get too wrinkled during their cuddle-nap.
By the time he was walking out of his dressing room, Bowser was setting their food on the little table in his personal lounge. Luigi smiled and slid his chair around closer to Bowser’s extra large chair. The koopa chuckled and sat down, “Need to talk about it?”
Luigi shook his head, “Not right now. I just want to feel safe with my big strong boyfriend so close.” He placed his hand over on Bowser’s arm, “It helps, I think, that I know that everything was to help me and not to hurt me. So this is enough for now.”
“Whatever you need, Greenie.” he gently caressed Luigi’s cheek with his claw. Ruffling his mustache slightly. “I was a very young koopaling when I went through my emotions training. I remember crying a lot after.”
“You did?” Luigi asked, surprised.
“Of course. It was a lot of work to become the great, fearsome king to see before you now! Though I admit I have relied too heavily on using anger to cover the emotions I needed to hide in public. Been trying to be better about that, but my annoyed look still comes across as too angry.” he chuckled.
“Now, get eating, Greenie. Don’t think I can’t hear your stomach grumble.”
Luigi blushed and pulled his plate closer before grabbing his fork.
He was glad to know he wasn’t alone in everything. That he was still surrounded by people who loved and knew how to support him as his life continued to change so drastically from that of a simple plumber.
-End-