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Luigi found himself marveling at the sights and sounds of the sea Shipshape Island continued on course. It was a bemusing, odd feeling, to be on terra firma and yet still feel the sensation of drifting, as if on a boat.
There was something about the sea, too, that was just an inherently adventurous feel—a thrill and yearning that had been in the hearts of humanity since the days of civilization. Why else were there so many stories and songs about voyages across the waters?
Luigi chuckled to himself as he thought of sea shanties—one of the Links during the last Smash tournament had taught them a few sea shanties from his era of Hyrule (or, tried to, at any rate—Kirby simply could not carry a tune no matter how hard he tried).
He glanced over at Mario, who was attempting to survey the waters around them through the cannon’s viewfinder. Luigi didn’t want to break his concentration, and he almost turned back, but paused as he noticed Mario wincing as he used the apparatus to move the large cannon with his right arm.
Had he imagined it? No—Mario winced again as he readjusted the cannon once more.
A feeling of guilt washed over Luigi; Mario must have had a rough landing when they’d gotten separated, and yet, not too long after reuniting, Mario had insisted that Luigi take their only healing mushroom to get rid of the bruises he’d obtained from his own crash-landing.
The younger brother let out a quiet sigh; this was, after all, nothing new. Even in his earliest memories, Mario would always prefer to go without something if he felt that Luigi needed it, as well. Perhaps it was his instinct as the older brother, or perhaps it was something to do with the faded memories of him mobilizing the Yoshis to save him when they were babies, or perhaps a combination of everything, but, regardless of the reasons, Mario never hesitated and never complained.
Luigi now dug through his pockets, finding a few petals from an Ice Flower, which he wrapped up in his green handkerchief.
It wasn’t much, but it would be something—and it would, hopefully, provide Mario some relief until they could find another healing mushroom.
Without saying a word, Luigi walked up to his brother, who was still focused on the viewfinder, and placed the impromptu ice pack on the slightly swollen part of his brother’s arm. Momentarily startled by the cold, Mario’s concentration broke, and he turned away from the viewfinder, giving Luigi a sheepish look as he realized that his younger brother had pieced together everything.
Nice try, Big Bro, Luigi transmitted through their psychic link.
Mario gave him a Can’t blame me for trying shrug before resuming his self-appointed task—and as Luigi continued with his.
Indeed, it was nothing new—and it was most certainly something that would happen again.
And neither of them would have it any other way.