Forbidden Fruit (A Bowigi Fanfic)

A Chance Encounter

Bowser was stunned, to say the least. His troops normally avoided his entire wing in the nighttime. Instead, the guards were posted just outside of it. They knew he liked his privacy, they just didn't know why. The crashing in the hallway hadn't been a guard. Instead, it was the green plumber who should have been locked up in a room halfway across the castle.

At first, he had been angry. How dare this man interrupt the only time he had for himself? But it quickly faded. He didn't have the energy to be angry, and honestly, he was a little bit impressed. Peach's room was pretty far, and to get to Bowser's room undetected was no small feat.

He had so many questions but decided to start with the easiest. Was the man okay? The small green bean looked like a mess. He was in a heap on the floor tangled in a white nightgown. His candle was out and on the floor about a metre and a half away from him. It also looked like he'd been crying.

As Bowser helped the man to his feet, he realized something.  The man's hand didn't feel soft and warm like he'd expected. It felt quite hot, it actually felt like it was burning him.  It was an incredibly strange feeling.  Bowser could quite literally, bathe in lava but this man's hand? Apparently, it was hotter than that. It also seemed to vibrate in his. As soon as the man was on his feet he let go. 

Forever the master of subtlety, Bowser shook his hand and glanced at his palm for a moment, and then another moment.  As he was staring at it he noticed the palm had discoloured slightly.   He also noticed that Luigi was staring at him, confused. He quickly put his hand behind his back.

Did he not know what had just happened? Was he trying to hurt him? 

Bowser leaned down and bared a fang at Luigi.

"What was that about, Greenie?"

The plumber looked shocked and terrified. 

"What was what about?" He looked all around looking for some kind of escape.

"Show me your hands right now!" Bowser reached forward and grabbed both of Luigi's wrists, flipping his hands to be palm up.  Were human hands always this soft?  He didn't have much time to think about it. Luigi's left hand began to turn blue and heat up to the searing temperature that had burned Bowser's palm moments before.

Bowser quickly looked up at Luigi's face, ready to defend and attack from whatever power-up this was.  Luigi was staring down at his hand in horror, he looked like he was about to go into shock if he hadn't already. 

 Did he not know he'd consumed a power-up? How had he even got one here? It was a surprise attack.  There was always the very real possibility that Luigi was sent here as a decoy.  Even still, Kamek would have noticed it during his magic examination, right?

Oh no. This was not good.

The magic examination.  What was it Kamek had said? 

 Luigi seems to have some kind of dormant magic in him. If provoked he could launch some kind of attack. I don't know quite what it is but it could definitely hurt you.

Was he provoking him right now? How could he stop this?

While he is here we try to keep his stay as comfortable as possible. Treat him like a POW block. 

It was a good thing Bowser paid way more attention to Kamek's lectures now than he did as a kid.  He didn't have much time. He needed to calm Luigi down before... well he didn't know what.

Not that he was afraid though.  He was King of the Koopas. He could do anything.  Except stop a war but that issue could wait until later.

Still holding onto Luigi's hand and gritting his teeth through the pain, he dropped down to one knee far less gracefully than he had intended. 

Luigi briefly looked away from his hand to see what the noise was. Bowser tried to catch his eye.

"Wh-Wh-What's happening?" Bowser could feel Luigi trembling even through the scorching pain. He took a deep breath. It was do or maybe die. But probably not. It would take a lot to kill him.

It would have been one-hit kills.

Bowser was about ready to fight the Kamek in his head.  He had to deal with the task at hand. 

"Greenie?" Bowser made an attempt at the softest, most kind voice he could muster.

Luigi continued to stare at his hand, getting bluer and hotter by the second. His breath had picked up and he looked like he might be hyperventilating. 

"Luigi!" Bowser tried a bit louder and a bit more stern. He made sure it was still kind enough that he hoped no guards were in the hallway witnessing this exchange. 

Luigi briefly looked up and his bright, blue, tear-glistened met Bowser.  For a brief moment, everything seemed to freeze.  The pain in his hand temporarily disappeared.  He sucked in a breath.  Time began to resume as the man began to look back toward his hand.

"No!" Bowser panicked. He needed Luigi's attention. He couldn't calm him down if he wouldn't look away from that damn painful hand.  Luigi's attention snapped back to Bowser.

"Luigi." Bowser placed his free hand on the puffed shoulder of the white nightgown. "Only look at me. Do you think you can do that?" It took every bit of his willpower to keep his voice calm. 

Luigi held eye contact and nodded ever so slightly.  If Bowser hadn't been watching him carefully, he might have missed it. 

"I need you to breathe with me, okay?" Bowser was starting to need this just as much. His hand hurt like hell.  He'd also maybe get hurt. This was all for him. Not this man he'd just learned the name of.

Luigi nodded, blinking back tears and squaring his jaw. Bowser had seen this face before.  It was the one he frequently saw when the Mario Brothers fought against him.  Luigi is clearly afraid but trying his hardest to keep it together.  This time felt different.  Bowser wasn't being treated like the villain this time.  He was working on the same side as Luigi.