Work Text:
Mushroom Kingdom
5:31 A.M.
The day had been a grueling one; from helping out Peach with her duties (she had told him that "a princess' work is never done"); to taking a small detour to their home to check on his brother (he was asleep, as usual; Mario was always the late riser in their dynamic, from ever since they were kids); to going out golfing with Daisy (her enthusiasm for it was so big he just couldn't shoot her down; especially after the fact that she told him she wanted to play alongside him only; that had made his heart beat a little faster); all of the activities he had done throughout the day had left Luigi tired.
That was one of the main reasons as to why he was on the community bus right now; he didn't want to bother waking up Mario.
...And besides, he felt like he'd deserved some rest of his own.
Still, even though his day had been full, he couldn't help but feel... numb.
The reason for that feeling, he thought;
(it wasn't as if he had a lot to say; or for that matter, any desire to start up a conversation with his fellow passengers; he was never good at small talk; he always preferred no talk at all when possible), was that everything was feeling kind of... same.
He couldn't lie, he enjoyed the fellow company he was privileged of having every day; still, he was feeling almost as if he was trapped in some kind of cycle.
His days for the past week had close to the same timeline: wake up, eat breakfast, leave the house to either buy something or go meet up with someone; and come back, usually in the middle of the night.
Feeling tired of being tied to the same routine, he'd decided, out of the blue, that he would spend the night at a hotel today.
It would at least break him out of his cycle and provide, even if small, some change, which he was desperate for.
He hated to do so, but if he'd ended up questioning him as to why the hell he didn't return home tonight, he could lie to Mario and say that he'd got hung up on something.
As he was about to leave the bus and walk on to his path to the hotel, his ears suddenly picked up a sound.
A big, booming voice suddenly spoke to him, although it was said in such a small volume he turned over to check if he had heard it right.
"Good morning, Luigi."
The toad bus driver looked at him quizically; that's when he noticed he was staring at him, motionless.
...Was he hearing things?
He figured he must've been; he was tired anyways.
Luigi quickly excused himself, and turned over to walk on to the streets; regardless, his mind was starting to race at a million miles per hour; who did that voice even belong to?
Was it following him?
Did it know who he was?
He ended up dismissing these weird thoughts as a product of how tired he was; he needed some rest.
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When he arrived at the hotel, his first reaction to it was to look up; it was huge.
He deduced it was maybe close to 15 stories tall.
He remembered hearing about it on the news a few weeks ago; Peach had announced the "grand reopening of the Mushroom Kingdom Hotel" as a celebration of the fact that the kingdom's economy was thriving, mostly due to "new business opportunities with their fellow kingdoms", alongside some weird business lingo that he didn't understand that clearly; he'd tuned out about five minutes after the broadcast started.
One thing he did catch on though, was that keyword in the announcement: re-opening. Apparently it was built way long ago, back when the previous monarch (he vaguely recalled it being something about a "Mushroom King", of some sorts) had the idea of doing so; not only to attract potential visitors, but also to boast about how beautiful the landscapes of the kingdom were.
To Luigi, that sounded like he was pretty full of himself, showboating like that, but that was a thought he'd kept to himself; although he knew Peach was very kind, talking like that about the previous ruler could potentially get him exiled if he wasn't careful.
(Or maybe it was just his overall thoughts spinning it into a non-existent threat; he could never surely tell after his adventures in that mansion.)
Stepping foot into the hotel, the first thing he noticed was the carpet; it looked very fancy, with a decorated flower pattern on its field.
Besides that, he'd also noticed that its interior was vast; the hallways seemed to go on and on, for miles.
He approached the counter, slightly nervous, and rang on the small metal bell displayed on its wooden surface; a few moments later, a fashionably-dressed Toad appeared, greeting him.
"'Night, mister Luigi. Or should i say; "early morning", right?"
He showed no immediate reaction to the pun; the neurons in his brain were actively fighting in order to process that he was being spoken to, and his eyelids were similarly trying to keep themselves open and not shut down on the spot; the host noticed, and quickly changed subjects, deciding not to dwell on the fact that his attempt at humoring his guest had gone unappreciated.
"Uh, not in the mood for jokes today, ey? That's alright, i understand; here are the keys to your room."
The slight clank! of the metal keys hitting the wood brought his attention back to the real world; he grabbed them, thanked the host, and started walking to his room.
...Hold up a second; shouldn't he need to make a reservation? He was a customer on this hotel, after all.
He walked back over to the balcony, questioning why the receptionist had given him the keys, just like that; with no need of a check-up or anything.
The host told him that, since they were pretty much revered heroes nowadays, the princess had made an executive order to give them basically unrestricted access to any kingdom facilities they frequented, no questions asked (unless one of them opted to decline so).
Huh.
Being treated as royalty, pretty much.
He'd finally understood what Daisy meant when she said she could "go wherever i want, whenever i want! It's awesome!"
(She later confessed to him that it got kinda boring, sometimes. ("I get everything handed to me on a silver platter, and i can't even question it! Or, even worse, ask them to treat me in a normal way, because i'm their princess!")
Being in someone else's shoes really changes your perspective, sometimes.
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After turning the key twice and slightly fumbling with the lock, Luigi unlocked the keys to his room.
What he saw inside astounded him.
It was big and spacious: a double master bed, fitted with a fur rug underneath it. Next to its headboard, to his right, was a desk with a phone and a small card attached next to it.
Adjacent to the bed and nailed to the wall, was a horizontal desk, with a retractable drawer and various green colored items atop it; from a highlighter to a wristwatch.
(The wristwatch was from the Polex brand; he whistled to himself upon imagining wearing such rich stuff)
Above the desk was a TV; its size was huge; way bigger than the one he had at his home; he remembered helping his brother bring it up on the stairs to install it in their room;
after he had suddenly heard a beeping outside (it had been from the truck company), and next thing he knew, Mario opened the door looking like he had ran a marathon ("These things are heavy, i tell ya!") when he brought it there one day.
To the right of the room was a bathtub; those big, rectangular ones with three types of customizable jets.
Upon seeing the kinds of facilities he had at his disposal, it suddenly clicked to him:
They had put him on the master suite of the hotel.
Damn.
He was never one to flaunt, but he thought he deserved to do so a little right now.
--------------- ◇ ---------------
After taking a warm, relaxing bath and changing into his ever-so-comfortable pajamas, he took out the card on the desk and checked it out.
"Guest number #1062:
Please feel free to call this number and request the service you want by dialing its respective extension:
#1 for food (we serve breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner from 4 a.m. to 12 p.m.)
#2 for newspapers;
#3 for any other services.
Please enjoy your stay
The Mushroom Kingdom Hotel"
Realizing he had pretty much immediate room service available at his disposal should've shocked him, despite the fact that he was extremely tired right now; nonetheless, he decided that would be something for the Luigi of tomorrow to notice; he needed to sleep.
He turned on the headlamp, and was about to shut the main light off; as he directed himself to it, he heard sudden footsteps on the corridor.
Someone was approaching.
A knock on his door; it startled him and made him yelp.
A chambermaid peeked her head in; upon seeing his state, she quickly apologized.
"Oop, i'm sorry, mister, my sincerest apologies."
He told her there was no need to; he was tired, and that had made him kinda jumpy to sudden noises.
"Oh, okay, i understand. I just came here to tell you you can request anything you want, from housekeeping, to any provisions necessary."
"That's all, have a good morning."
She then closed the door, leaving Luigi alone again in the room.
That weird interaction had been the second of the day, and that sealed the deal to him: he really needed to go to sleep.
He took off the overalls that were over his night clothes, left his cap on the nightstand, shut down the lights, and tucked himself into bed, switching off the mushroom-shaped lamp last.
He closed his eyes, and finally drifted himself off to sleep.
That is, if he could even fall asleep.
His body proved to be restless; he was turning around every minute, tossing and twisting, trying (and failing) to find a comfortable position for him to stay.
Not only that, but his mind was drifting around thoughts; it wasn't exactly a nightmare, but his paranoia and anxiety were spiraling out of control, due to all the events that had transpired ever since the moment he'd gotten inside of that bus.
It had felt like he was in another reality, some place (or somewhere) that wasn't the one that he knew.
Everything was in the wrong place and slightly off-kilter; his clothes that he'd had tucked into a pile were now in the opposite corner, and the landline phone had its cord pulled over, almost as if someone had just used it; nothing seemed to belong to where it currently was.
Knowing that he wasn't gonna get any kind of meaningful sleep, he stood up, shut off the nightlight, and headed for the bathroom.
On his way to it, he took a quick look at the alarm clock on the nightstand: it was now 6:05, and the window blinds were starting to reflect off the sunlight.
Here comes the sun.
The world was on its way; bustling townspeople walking around on their way to work, normal folk roaming the streets, families returning home.
All so naïve.
------------- ◇ ---------------
He turned on the bathroom light, opened up the faucet (without paying attention to the fact that it was a double one, or that he'd turned it to the left side unconsciously), and splashed some water on his face.
Cold.
He took a step backwards, slightly recoiling from splashing cold water on himself, and took a look in the mirror.
And he almost didn't even recognize himself.
His hair was a mess - it was all tangled and uneven, a far cry from his usual hairstyle; furthermore, there were clear bags under his eyes; a side effect from his lack of sleep.
His moustache wasn't trimmed, and his pajama shirt's buttons were undone; it was almost as if he was staring at a different person - a different Luigi than the one who was in front of the mirror.
That was when he heard it again.
"Good morning, Luigi."
Spoken in that same, weird tone he had heard when he exited the bus - although, this time, it was louder; it felt like it was coming from inside his head.
His head snapped to a 90° so fast he almost popped his neck.
When he looked, there was no one there; just the ambience of the room.
-------------------------------- --------------------------------
The next sequence of events happened so quickly he only got his surroundings back when he was standing at the hotel lobby again; apparently he had packed his luggage, given how he was currently holding his suitcase in his left hand, and had also made a call to the service to announce that he was ending his stay; he'd had brought the service card with him.
There (still) were a lot of thoughts happening inside his head, but they had all been replaced by a singular, alarming one:
He had to get out of here.
His legs started moving him unconsciously; he started walking, which then quickly turned into a jog, which turned into a light run, until he was sprinting at full speed, afraid for his own safety.
In the midst of the way, he turned his head to look at the balcony where the receptionist was just hours ago; and there was no one there, as well.
He forced the glass doors open so hard they almost broke off; his feet then skiddled to a stop at the corner, and he raised his hand, desperately calling for the bus to take him home.
The bus slowed down on its stop, and he quickly got inside; he just wanted to get out of there, as fast as possible.
He only realised he had forgotten his cap when the bus was well on its way to its destination.
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Mushroom Kingdom
8:40 A.M.
As he returned home and opened the door to their house, the first sense that his body took notice and alerted him of was his nose - more specifically, his sense of smell; as well as his ears.
The hum of the coffee machine brewing was noticeable, as well as the sound of a knife cutting something; walking inside, he encountered Mario in the kitchen; he was cooking breakfast for both of them.
Hearing the front door had unlocked perked up his ears; seeing that Luigi had returned, Mario immediately stopped what he was doing and ran to give his brother a hug.
- Fratellino, you're back! I got worried when i woke up and saw you were nowhere; where did you go?
Luigi told him how he had left to, in his own words, "personal matters", as well as telling him that he was just really tired; he started apologizing immediately as well.
Mario quickly eased his worries - "no, no, Luigi, you don't need to say you're sorry for not telling me; i understand."
"Now, come on; i know you're tired, but you need to eat first - remember how Ma always told us not to fall asleep without anything in our stomachs, or we'd end up feeling sick?"
That remark made Luigi chuckle, and it made Mario feel warm inside; it was good to know Luigi was still himself.
After they'd had breakfast, each brother settled into their own comfort - Mario went upstairs to play in their game console, while Luigi opted for relaxing in their sofa.
After everything that had transpired over his night, it felt good to finally wind down and relax; he took off his shoes, then stretched his legs over the pouffe, laying his head back and closing his eyes.
He heard a noise coming from the stairwell; he guessed it was only Mario, coming down to check or to talk to him about something.
"Good morning, Luigi."
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