you are my princess, toad

3

Toad woke up to the sunlight hitting his face. For a second he was confused, as he lived in an underground apartment near the princesses castle. Then he felt a warm body pressed against his, and to his surprise, it was Mario.

The red, apparently abusive plumber.

"Oh no!"Toad exclaimed, looking at Mario's clock, displaying the time 10:27,"I'm late for work!"

"Relax,"Mario murmured, pulling Toad in closer to him. "I can pay you whatever you'd make today. Just stay here."

"I can't! I'll lose my job!"

"I can pay you as much as you'd make your entire life working there. I have more than enough coins to do that,"Mario shrugged.

Toad tried to struggle away from Mario, but found that he couldn't, and eventually gave in to being snuggled against the red plumber.

"I can't depend on you for the rest of my life."

"That's fine. I'll just give you it all at once, and we can go our separate ways,"Mario said tiredly. "I just want you to stay with me now."

"Why?"Toad said, looking at Mario. "I don't understand."

"There's just something I like about you,"Mario said.

"I hate to say it, but you're taken,"said Toad. "By this countries monarch, might I add."

"I'm not,"Mario sighed. "We broke up."

Toad gasped. "Why?!"

"That bitch has been cheating on me for years,"Mario said bitterly. "Happy now?"

Toad would be lying if he had said that he had never heard the rumours of the princess and Bowser hooking up.

Some days, the castle felt a little warmer, and Toad knew for a fact that nobody would ever waste the castle budget on heating the scullery. He had heard some chef's saying that it was Bowser's fire breath, but it had sounded absurd at the time. Now, though...

"You knew, didn't you?"Mario sighed.

"I'd be lying if I said I knew, but I suspected it, yes,"Toad said. "Many scullery staff did. Oh wait. I'm not a member of the scullery staff anymore."

He said the last sentence with sarcasm and a hint of venom in his voice.

"You weren't going to be scullery staff forever, were you?"

"What else would I be, Mario?"Toad sighed. "Not everyone is as rich as you."

"I was just an ordinary plumber before I got with the princess,"said Mario wistfully. "We're not as different as you might think."

"Didn't you date the mayor of New Donk City before you dated Peach?"

Mario raised his eyebrows. "She wasn't the mayor then. Wait. How did you know that?"

Toad blushed. "It doesn't matter!"

Mario pulled Toad closer to him, much to Toad's confusion.

"What is this?"

"What do you mean?"Mario murmured.

"You took me back to your house, and you've attempted to be my sugar daddy multiple times. Forgive me if I seem to be confused!"Toad said.

Mario laughed. "I just offered to lend you some coins. I don't have to."

"No, I'd like the coins."

Mario laughed again. "Seriously though. You must have dreams bigger than being a scullery maid."

"I wanted to move to New Donk City and go to college. But that's unrealistic for somebody like me."

"Why should it be?"

"I don't have the money."

"But if I gave you the money? Put in a good word with Pauline?"

Toad's eyes widened. "You serious?"

"Yes. I can tell you were meant for better things, Toad."

"But what will you do, Mario?"

"I've wanted to move back to New Donk for a while. I was born there after all. But I couldn't, with Peach and all of that. But I might now. With you. If that's ok."

"How could I not agree?"Toad giggled. "You're the one paying for it all."

"True,"Mario laughed.