The Taste of Failure Isn't as Bad When I'm Around You

(This story is part of my "Roman Holiday Request Run". My request queue is extremely full, so this is an effort on my part to clear out my queue.

I AM NOT TAKING ANY REQUESTS AT THIS TIME.

Now that that's out of the way, this story was requested by SmashBrosFan96 Jr. on FFnet, who wanted a story on how King Boo sees Hellen after their plan fails. I was unsure if I wanted to take this as a last request before I closed my queue, but after a month of not writing HellBoo and a bit of a block on ideas for them, I decided to pick this up and use it as a warm-up.

*sigh* March was crazy, but I'm glad to write another story with these two. Hope you all enjoy!)

Disclaimer: I do not own Mario, the "Luigi's Mansion" series, or any of its characters. *cracks knuckles* Alright, time to try and be productive...

The Taste of Failure Isn't as Bad When I'm Around You

After the fury had burned itself out, after long hours of lashing his tongue against the glass out of sheer rage and doing everything to try and escape the container yet getting no closer to freeing himself, all that was left was exhaustion.

The royal Boo floated in his container, facing away from the long row of mostly empty containers behind him. His arms fell softly against his sides, and his tail drooped with emotional fatigue.

Even Polterkitty had been released. Even the cat, who had caused more trouble for Luigi and E. Gadd than any other floor manager ghost in the hotel, had been let out for good behavior.

It stung.

Red eyes roamed the sides of the containment capsule, studying the little details and lights dotting the shape of the larger container. Small beeps and chirps from the circuits kept the capsule from being completely silent, and the circuitry was so advanced, the Boo could see the electrical currents running through the machinery.

As much as he didn't want to look at his prison, he didn't have much else to do.

Over the past weeks, everyone had been let out, slowly but surely. Unsurprisingly, Morty was let out first. He was gone almost a day before Luigi and his friends left for their home. Then went Steward, Chambrea, Kruller...

With each new week, another manager was let out. If they were good and kept out of trouble, then they were released early to help out with the new hotel that rose up in the Last Resort's place. One by one, they all left. And now, the cat was freer than he was.

Anger simmered in his form, but a wave of exhaustion blew away the embers.

There wasn't really a point. He had tried to escape the capsule every way possible, each time meeting with more failure. Until E. Gadd decided what to do with him, the Boo was certain he was going to rot inside the container, staring at the inner walls of the capsule until the judgement day.

At this point, he was almost ready to be turned back into a painting.

Little taps sounded behind him, and he could feel the weight of her soft smile without seeing it. "My king...? How are you feeling today?"

The sound of her voice, a lot softer than it had been when they had both been free in the Last Resort, drifted from her containment capsule to his. Even with the little speaker connecting their capsules together, the crisp delivery of her soothing tones met his form, clear and undisturbed.

Comfort touched his form, but he kept silent. He knew without looking that his silence would have her drop her head slightly, a bit of color rising to her face as she thought that his silence was fury directed at her.