A Nutcracker and the Beast

Charter 22: Caught between The Rat King and The Beast

"Dad, why aren't you dancing with us?" Junior said as Kamek and Bowser watched Junior and Luigi dance with each other.

"I" m not that much of a dancer; besides, I can't dance ballet. I have short legs." Bowser said as he pointed to his feet.

"So does Junior and look at him go." Luigi said as he leaned forward with a leg in the air, "not every move is like this."

"Yet those are the ones you're teaching Junior." Bowser said, eyeing the toy, which got Kamek and Junior to give each other the side eye as they shared a smile.

"I bet you that I can make you dance a bit of ballet," Luigi said as he moved over to Bowser; Junior followed behind as he stood next to Kamek. Bowser has to get up to watch what Luigi is doing.

"This is good right?" Junior whispered to Kamek, who nodded to his question.

"This is very good. At this rate, those two will be more than friends." Kamek said as they watched Luigi put Bowser in a simple pose of one leg straight and the other being dragged behind it; it didn't show that much of a difference.

"Is Dad part of this this time? He seems to just be going with it instead of saying that he still loves Mama." Junior asks, Luigi now making Bowser cross his feet, which wasn't working for him.

"Nah, your father doesn't need to know about it. Bedside, look at how much fun they're having without us butting in." Kamek said as Luigi twisted into a spin, and Bowser followed. Bowser didn't have the balance he needed to do this on one leg, which made him fall on his back. Luig actually got off the ground from the thump that Bowser did, and he almost fell over too. Junior and Kamek giggled while Bowser tried to get up with the poor excess of Luigi's so-called 'help.'

"I told you I can't do it." Bowser told Luigi as he sat up.

"It matters that you try. Besides, I'm not going to give up on you, I think you can do it." Luigi said as he looked over at Junior and Kamek, "now it's your guy's turn."

"Oh no~," Kamek said as he placed his hand on his hit, "I think my hip just popped right now. It hurts so much! Guess I'll have to sit this one out~" Kamek said as he took a seat, Bowser and Luigi rolling their eyes while Junior giggled. They let him sit while Junior went over to his dad and started to dance some more ballet with him, with Luigi joining them until it was time for dinner.

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At this point, it was routine for Luigi to just wake up and wander the Castle or go to his tower after waking up from a nightmare. Still, a new thing he had been doing was drinking the hot cocoa that Bowser had been making for him. Luigi had checked to see if Bowser was in the tower since if he was awake, he would be there already, but he wasn't, so Luigi just wanted to know if he was sleeping. If he was being honest, it wasn't half bad that Bowser knew about him. Sure, it was a bit rocky, but that was about the same back when Bowser did know him as human. Not to mention all the new things he had learned about Bowser that he had never told him back when they were both hanging out in secret; maybe this plan wasn't so bad. Luigi still wouldn't let himself fall in love with Bowser, but with his help and Kamek, maybe there was hope after all.

As he walked down the hall, he enjoyed the quiet for once in a long time as the moonlight was actually coming in. He felt that a lot had changed for him to see the once dark and dangerous Castle that he needed to hide in was now a home that was indeed still dark and dangerous. Still, he could get around that to all the tiny little detail Junior was adding. Little platforms and stairs for him to use and the arch bridge for the large pools of lava that Luigi shouldn't cross by himself, and the best part was that they were next to the wall. That way, they weren't getting in anyone's way. But tonight, he was on the floor walking when he turned down one of the hallways. He felt a slice of coldness that passed him.