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“You got your coat on yet?”
“I’m workin’ on it.”
Luigi couldn’t help but take another look out the window. “Honestly, you could probably get away with whatever you’ve got on.”
“Hard to believe you can see anything with those shades on.” Mario had finally stepped into the kitchen, zipping up a jacket as he, too, took a peek outside. “Seriously, it’s startin’ to pour. You sure you can’t show me whatever it is in here?”
“We’ve gotta go outside.”
Mario couldn’t help but shrug. “Whatever you say, Lu. Lead the way.”
Luigi got the door while his brother grabbed the umbrella; one behind the other, they stepped out into the rain. Not a single bit of sunshine shone through the cloud cover overhead, but the day before had been clear enough to sustain his energy.
“Jeez, you’re gonna get soaked.” Luigi had been too focused on the choral tones of the grass beneath their feet to notice his brother stretching out to shield his head. “C’mon, get under here.”
“I’m all right.” Luigi moved to step back out from underneath.
“All right?” Mario stepped forward, making sure the both of them were covered. “You hate it when your hair gets wet.”
“I’m trying to get over it.”
“What for?”
Luigi couldn’t help but wince at the worry creeping into Mario’s words.
“Does this have to do with whatever you had to show me?” Mario asked.
“Well…”
“Luigi, whatever you think I’m gonna do…” Mario put his free hand up. “I won’t.”
Even under his sunglasses, Luigi couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. “You promise?”
“I swear.”
“You won’t freak out?”
“I solemnly swear—”
“Fine, fine.” Luigi waved off the rest of his brother’s borrowed oath. “Guess now’s a better time than never. Here it goes.”
He shut his eyes as he reached for his glasses, taking them off and folding them stem by stem. He tried to tuck them into his overalls, only for them to slide right into the grass. As he knelt down to grab them, his hat toppled over his forehead, revealing the sprouts that had taken root all over his scalp.
“So, uh, I might’ve gotten into something I shouldn’t have over at E. Gadd’s,” Luigi stammered, standing back up to face his brother. “There was this box I had to move, a-and I kinda tripped over something and spilled it all. On myself.”
Mario said nothing.
“I-I didn’t think anything was gonna happen. E. Gadd did a quick check-up, and everything looked fine, so I went home.” He stuffed the glasses, slicked with rain, into one pocket; his cap, soaked on the crown, into another. “Turns out I had to let it sit overnight before I…before I became this.”
The rain pattered down on the nylon above them, creating streams that ran down the surface as gravity pulled it all back to earth. Luigi couldn't help but hold his breath as he waited for Mario to say something, anything—even if it turned into a full-blown freakout.
“Honestly,” Mario finally said, “it explains a lot.”
“Waitwaitwait.” Luigi had expected any number of reactions, but not this one. “You knew?”
“I had a hunch,” Mario answered, shrugging and waving his free hand out toward Luigi. “I mean, the coverup, the leaves you were sheddin’ everywhere, the fact that you’re a bit green around the gills—”
Luigi removed his gloves, tucking them in his front pocket before finally rolling up his sleeves to reveal verdant fingers and clusters of leaves.
“Fins as well?”
“Fins as well,” Luigi echoed.
“I see.” Mario glanced away for a moment, the better to put his thoughts together.” Luigi couldn’t help but rock from foot to foot, at least until some tendrils began to root themselves around his boots. “I don’t have to go out and buy fertilizer, do I?”
“What?” Luigi wrinkled his nose. “Of course not! I’m just like any other plant out here.” He lifted his hand out to the yard around them. “Sunlight and water should keep me afloat.”
“And last night's arrabiata?”
“I'm still human enough to enjoy a good meal,” Luigi retorted.
“Hey, I'm not complainin’. All the less I've gotta stick in the fridge.”
“So you're not upset or anything?”
Mario looked up, confusion clouding his face. “Why would I be?”
“I dunno,” Luigi said with a shrug. “Because the Professor put me in danger again? Because I couldn't keep my balance and turned myself into some sort of plant-hybrid freak? You tell me.”
“When you put it like that...” Mario set the umbrella down, drawing it closed as the rain splashed against their heads. “I do have somethin’ to say.”
“Yeah?” Luigi gulped. “What?”
Of all the reactions to expect, a strong hug had not been one of them.
“You're not a freak, Luigi.”
Had his feet not been tied to the ground, Luigi would've kicked for a bit of air.
“Just tell me what I've gotta do,” Mario said, letting him go, “to keep you thrivin’. Like, do we always have to go stand in the rain?”
“Nah, we don't.” Luigi lifted his head toward the sky, opening his mouth to catch a drop or two. “I just thought it'd feel nice after yesterday.”
“I mean, you're not wrong.” Mario lifted the hood of his raincoat over his curls. “I can't believe you were wearing a sweater in that sun.”
“I mean, I still got plenty of it. It was just hot, that's all.”
“What about when we have thunderstorms? What about winter?” Mario's brow was beginning to furrow. “Do we need to get you a sunlamp?”
“It probably wouldn't hurt.”
“Anything else I should know about?”
Luigi knelt down, brushing his fingers against the leafy vines growing around his feet. One by one, they unfurled themselves, climbing upward to meet his touch.
“I can do this,” Luigi said softly, trying to smile despite Mario’s wide-eyed astonishment. “I can speak with them, too. Not these, though.” Luigi let the little plants fall back down to the ground. “This kind of stuff just hums.”
“It’s not too loud, is it?”
“Oh no. It's like crickets, really.” Luigi turned his gaze back to the grass. “Fire flowers, though? They always have something to say.”
“Anything else you've heard through the grapevine?”
Luigi frowned. “Don't you start with the jokes.”
“Okay, okay.” Mario smirked. “I'll ‘leaf’ it be.”
“One more pun, and I'll tell the Piranha Plants to fire at will.”
“Fine. I'm done.” Mario put his hands up in mock surrender. “We got to the root of the problem, and that's good enough for—wait, Lu, I forgot that counted!”
One of the reasons Luigi had opted to go outside was to run around in the rain. Perhaps it was childish, especially when he gave chase to Mario and his jests, but it didn't stop him from having a good time.
Especially when he finally tripped Mario up for his horrible, horrible plant jokes.