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Between the two there were many thresholds and boundaries they had to cross. One step at a time they made way for their relationship to flourish, their feelings develop; time always made them found a way.
“Princess!”
It was a steady pace in which their mutual love grew, and yet, there were many things that they still needed to work on, some of which seemed to her rather inane in hindsight, at least for her. An old habit of sorts stood among those many things and, even though they had passed much bigger milestones before, that simple habit posed as a roadblock of sorts. She held a ceramic vessel in hand, the smile of her beloved immediately perished. But she didn’t care, for she was desperate.
“Pay up!”
A coin slide into the oddly shaped piggy bank, Mario had a price to pay, one he began to question why he agreed to at all. “Hey, princess… can we lay off the piggy bank thingie?” he asked, the plumber had to try and persuade his lady.
“No sir!” Peach immediately replied, another coin slid through right after she rattled it and so another coin got in, followed by a groan. “You’re going to learn to call me by my name one way or another!”
The afternoon of spring was rather chilly and the princess’ bedroom was filled with such an easygoing feeling that soothed Mario’s exasperation. It wasn’t like he could blame her, though; he understood very well the reasoning behind that ridiculous punishment system, he too wanted to kill the old habit. “It’s still embarrassing, y’know? I’m so used to calling you ‘princess’ too.”
He heard the piggy bank rattle once more, almost as if he was banned from saying the word altogether. Another coin he paid, that time he sighed, frustrated.
“What a comedy…” She could tell his frustration, and she couldn’t blame him either. It was not like she was comfortable with robbing him in broad daylight, but then again, she had run out of ideas. She had no option left she could think of. all she could do was sigh her own frustration away. “You’ve claimed me both in body and soul and yet you can’t bring yourself to utter my name.”
“But what if I call you ‘princess’ as a nickname?” Mario asked, although she already knew what he was getting at. “You know, like calling you ‘my princess’?”
The only reply he got was an angry groan and an even angrier glare. He couldn’t cheat the system, not when his beloved was a literal princess.
Another coin for the piggy bank, or so it would, if she didn’t feel too fed up to proceed with taking it, “I’ll let this one slide, this is getting ridiculous…”
“That’s-a good, I ran out of coins anyway…” Mario chuckled while pulling out his empty pockets. She seriously robbed him whole, she couldn’t help but laugh at the fact.
A fair trade, a laugh to pay his felony. They both shared the short amusement quite happily, completely forgetting about their predicament for a second. They both treasured that, in spite of their problems, they could still laugh together; that alone was a blessing worth holding onto. But once their voices fell silent, a mellow feeling made its way between the two.
“Doesn’t’ that tell you something…?”
Peach walked close to Mario, then gently lifted his chin up to face her. Her eyes had gotten gentle, they were as beautiful as the first time he saw them, Mario thought to himself in his mesmerize. Peach as well, the dazzled look in his eyes was enough to soothe her troubled mind, even when he was the very source of her discomfort. They both walked towards the bed and sat down, not looking away from each other.
“It’s not like we are mere strangers or acquaintances anymore, Mario. We are lovers.” They both had gained a sense of closeness that was nowhere near by the time they were friends, they grew fond to one another and slowly they crossed thresholds they could only dream of. So then, for him to be unable to say her name, while funny for a time, it began to concern her, because it acted like a roadblock in their relationship. “I don’t understand, then, why you can’t just call me ‘Peach’?”
By the sound of his silence, it seemed like he didn’t know either.
In her concern, she yearned to remind each other of their closeness, that they were lovers indeed. Peach’s hand reached for the plumber’s face, stealthily caressing his nose with her index until it became painfully obvious that she wanted to just toy with it. A hand tried to brush her off, but Mario could barely push back when her charm was in effect.
The gentle strokes of her finger tingled Mario’s whole body in a way that felt oddly pleasant and yet so wrong at the same time. He felt her love, just ever so slightly, enough for him to crave more. However, he just won’t admit to it, because he knew how those small gestures of her worked.
“You know that I really don’t like that.”
“All the more reasons for me to love it,” she replied playfully, Mario’s nose turned clockwise and the princess giggled.
He knew he was not getting any more than that, she loved to tease him in such way, to leave his desire hanging in stasis. Having enough of being toyed with, Mario finally brushed her off; his pride wouldn’t allow her to continue as much as she clearly loved it. She lowered her hand and sighed, not very satisfied with just a little moment of tease.
“What else can I do for you to be able to say my name?”
Silence stood between the two for a brief moment. They went into deep thought, although Peach could not think of anything else; she was drawing a blank and only his lover’s face on her mind. Her fingers itched with a need. She glanced at Mario, eyes closed in focus, right there she saw a small, devilish opportunity, one she could not waste. Suddenly the princess let her weight fall onto Mario, and she wrapped him between her arms.
“Mario…” Her fingers immediately went back to teasing the plumber’s nose while he barely processed the sudden move. She could not get enough of it, once she had it between her fingers, she couldn’t stop. Her moves became sloppy, her voice sweeter, almost like she was drunken with emotion. “Say my name…”
Part of him enjoyed it, his body tingled with a faint touch of desire, a short-lived one at that. He wanted more, he wanted her to please him further, but he knew that was all he was going to get, just a mere tease. Knowing that, he backed away, he could not give her the satisfaction. “K-knock it off, please! I’m going to make you pay up for every time you touch my nose!”
He covered his nose, the tingle lingered there, tainting his cheeks ever so slightly for Peach to see something in the raise of his voice. His threat sounded compelling, or so he thought, until he saw the small glare in her eyes. She replied, “I make you pay up because it annoys me you can’t say my name; you know that?”
In that moment, Mario had lowered his guard. She gave no warning, no wind up, Peach gripped his shoulders, then pinned him down the bed, pushing herself on top of him. In just a second, the princess had Mario restrained, glaring at him the same way a hungry tigress eyed her prey.
“But you can’t fool me, my dear Mario...”
Still staggered and confused by the situation, Mario was defenseless against her body so close, her eyes so defiant and her hands full of intent. She smiled, vividly, menacingly; his whole face burned red.
"Tell me with a straight face that you don’t love me teasing you like this."
At the mercy of her grip, Peach gave his nose a hard-pressed kiss, the sound her lips made echoed melodically in Mario's ears, sending him on a quick high, piercing through the very little defense he prepared. The imprint of her lipstick laid in Mario's nose like a signature, as if he was the princess’ very property. Peach leaned closer still, grazing his moustache with her lips, reaching his own lips ever so slightly. Mario was completely down, blindsided by her body pressed against his, he could barely focus on anything other than the soft kisses she gave him, never in full commitment, just enough to make him crave.
"...Say it," she whispered. A gentle command, sweet but imposing nonetheless. "Say my name..."
“Ah…” Between his daze he let go his voice, unable to do anything else but comply. "Peachy..."
It was faint, almost a whisper, but it was enough for Peach to wear a beautiful smile on her face. Hearing it was rare as is, that alone excited her, but the way it sounded in his mesmerized voice, it was wonderful. Another giggle she left in her ecstasy, one that immediately drowned after their lips felt each other. She let go shortly afterwards just to look at Mario, awestruck as he was; they crossed that threshold a long time ago, and yet every kiss after a long while felt like it was only the first one. Out of mere impulse, he called her again, and once again she kissed him with ever growing passion.
"Maybe that’s all you need… some incentive," Peach said as she let go, the power she held upon him was much greater than she thought. She lowered her head to reach for his neck, Mario simply lifted his head, opening the way for her lips to lay a kiss to where she wanted to. She needed no words, such was the extent of his submission that she didn’t need to say anything for him to do her will. But Peach didn’t lay a single kiss, instead she let herself rest between his neck and shoulder, leaving a soft purr that made him shudder with excitement.
“Look at you,” she said, her words pecking his neck through her breath so close. "I can melt you, make you do as I please. Your will, completely at my grasp... and all it takes is a kiss or two."
Peach chuckled, gently, triumphant. In her drunken state, she noticed she had her lover, the strong and all-capable knight in shining overalls, completely at her mercy. He who had overcome feats greater and mightier than himself, then trembling, crippled and entranced by her and nothing else. She couldn’t help but laugh, right to his neck, melting him alright.
"You’re mine... and mine alone."
And such was the truth. He was hers and he didn’t want it any other way. However, something about it felt strange, and he had an epiphany.
It reverbed in his mind for long, each time those words echoed, Mario felt his body twitch with a sudden need. He remembered his strength, remembered he could act too. Instinctively, his hands and his body move towards a single goal. Motivated by her submission, he fought back. Mario turned both of them across the bed, then locked both his hands against Peach’s, preventing her from moving. She didn’t have a single second to respond, she was staggered, laying beneath the lover she just had under her control.
"I can do that too, y'know?" Mario said, having seized the princess completely for his own. That is when she realized the situation she instigated, something she perhaps foresaw, right as her beloved kissed her nose. Peach tried to reclaim her dominance, but couldn’t break free from his restrain. Eventually, his own kisses and caresses dwindled her will to fight back, and with a quiet whisper, after she had already given in, Mario let hands go, only for her to wrap her arms around him on her own. Perhaps she even expected things to be as such.
She whispered to him, softly between kisses, “You are all mine, as I am all yours.”
From behind her dress, between her golden hair, a set of strings held the fabric tight. A funny knot tied the interceptions together, it was left there for times like such. Just a simple pull from his fingers and the top of her dress loosened, allowing him to reach for her collarbones for a kiss that sent Peach’s senses flying in ecstasy. She let go a faint moan and embraced that it was only the first of many.
Between their play, Peach heard his name being called, not once, but several times, ‘Peachy’ said with a sweetness and love never heard before, all while they drowned each other in gentle caresses nonstop. She gave out a chuckle; what were they doing, she thought to herself.
“How can you say my name now? How is it doing me like this so natural to you?” Mario didn’t stop, he gave her neck another kiss and the princess couldn’t help but laugh, both at the irony of their situation and also the tickle and embarrassment of the act.
“Maybe, it’s because we’re being intimate right now,” he replied. They spared a moment to talk, their momentum slowed down and he got a tad shyer once his desired moved away. “Saying your name… it has a bit of intimacy to it, I feel…”
In that moment, as her dress laid loose and his hair frizzled, she grasped what stood between them and the old habit. Why they couldn’t cross that one threshold despite being so inane in hindsight, despite the many boundaries they crossed by then; despite being just a few touches away from heaven.
It turned out it was more than just a habit, it meant something else, something that could only be grasped in their intimacy. When she saw it the same way Mario did, it all made sense.
Suddenly then, she wondered if wearing out that name into becoming a natural thing to say, loss of all its rarity and intimacy, was even the right call.
“Just, give me some time, Peachy. I promise I will try.”
Her reply did not come in words, but a soft kiss instead. Shortly, they went back to where they left off, as it was their natural state. “It’s okay, I’ll won’t push you,” she reassured while her head turned for another kiss to her neck, she loved them quite a lot.
Much like the strings of her dress, Peach had her way to get Mario’s overalls out of the way easily, heaven was just a few kisses away. Habit gave them experience, and by habits they let their love nurture to the extent intimacy became so natural, their thresholds would be crossed with time, only when that was the natural thing to do.
Her name would become a habit of his, it would lose its charm, but it’d be a treat in its own, mundane way. Or perhaps not and she’d still be his princess, but even then her name as it was called would be one of the many blessings she’d receive in their intimacy. Whichever the outcome was, she was fine with it.
“Just call my name when we’re like this; it’s all I ask,” she said, smiling brightly. “I love the way you make it sound.”
He could very well do that, her eyes showed how much she adored that little gesture. When they held each other in such a way, he was more than happy to indulge her; he knew, in fact, how to make the most of it as well. Peach turned her head to the side, letting her neck all for him to kiss as he pleased, but he had a much better idea.
Perhaps it was not the same as her teases, those games were beyond him, but he knew very well how to drive his beloved princess to cloud nine. He reached for her ear and whispered.
“Qualsiasi cosa per te, mia cara principessa.”
That would have been another coin to the piggy bank, but she couldn’t be bothered with it, not when that lovely whisper brought to her pure joy, as well her desire to the very peak. Peach bluntly pulled his head towards her, planting in his face as many kisses as she physically could, each wilder than the last. She craved for more, and he was more than happy to oblige. In those small details, that moment of beautiful intimacy, their uneventful afternoon of spring became yet another secret in their balcony meetings.
Even when the old habit remained merely swept under the bed they occupied to love each other in, their relationship once again took a step in their right direction.