Ok, everyone asked for this, so here you go!
Tw: panic attack, mention of trauma
--------------------------------------------------
"I don't understand, he's never done this!" Kamek gave his concerned agreement, saying:
"Indeed, this is very unlike him." He and Bowser were scouring the castle grounds in search of Luigi. The queen had gone missing around midday, with guards swearing that he'd never left. Certainly he wouldn't sneak out? Bowser was rumbling worriedly, looking over and under everything in his room. Then, he perked up.
"If I'm going to find him, I need to get down to his level. Get me one of the human potions." Too worried to argue, Kamek hopped on his broom and raced to his study. As he exited the room, he was met by all eight Koopalings. All of them sensed the fear from their elders, and it unsettled them.
"Where's Mama?" Ludwig asked.
"We, uh, don't know. Hey! Spread out and go help us find him. He's got to be somewhere in the castle…" The last bit was mumbled, but the koopa kits were already scampering off in all directions to find their Mama. Kamek rushed back to Bowser, where the frantic husband was letting out rumbling chirps to call his mate. Kamek smacked him on the head to snap him out of it; one instinct-driven MegaKoopa was one too many. Bowser growled, stopping once he saw Kamek. The wizard handed him the potion, and the eager Koopa King downed it in one gulp.
The changes were quick, and soon a strongly built ginger with dark skin and catlike yellow eyes replaced the gargantuan koopa. Bowser shook his head to clear it, adjusting the cuffs of his dress shirt. He rolled the sleeves up to the elbows, as he hated the feeling of them being all the way down.
"Ok, I'm gonna check the room again; go check on the troops. See if anyone's found him." Bowser ordered. Kamek bowed, racing on his broom to obey. Bowser looked around the room, opening closets and pushing aside a multitude of dresses to peek behind them. Nothing. He huffed.
Where could his beloved queen be?!
—------------------------------------------------
'It's ok, just wait here until Mario comes back.' It was no secret that Luigi had a hard time with solitude. He'd always been with his brother; being alone was dangerous. Being alone was bad. He had to hide. Hide until he wasn't alone.
That led to Luigi eventually tucking himself away in the back of a broom closet. He snuggled into his shawl, sighing deeply. Cleaning supplies surrounded him, and Luigi made sure they obscured his hiding place from view. He rested his head against the wall behind him, playing with his braid.
He had been taking care of some paperwork for the construction of a new set of ships. Rather than warships, these were made for the purpose of exploration. Since the Koopa Kingdom had shed their somewhat barbaric reputation, other worlds were more open to the idea of the kingdom expanding their knowledge.
The bookkeepers were thrilled to have their queen taking care of the paperwork. Not only was he more organized than Bowser, but they also didn't have to print all the papers out to be six times their size so he could read it. The only problem was, he had been alone nearly all morning. After saying a quick "see you later" to his husband, Luigi had been left to his own devices, aside from a servant bringing him lunch at his desk.
It started ok, with him carefully reading through each document before signing them. More and more though, Luigi found his eyes darting around the room nervously. His leg began to bounce, his forehead beaded with sweat, and his hand trembled as he picked up his glass of water. Finally, Luigi let out a whimper and jumped up from his seat. He braced his hands against the mahogany desk, shaking and panting. In moments, he was no longer safe in his home. Suddenly he was on the streets, and all he knew was that Mario was nowhere in sight.
Mind clouded by fear, Luigi snuck out of his study on featherlight feet. He darted about looking for a place to hide. He finally found a broom closet, rushing in and burrowing himself in the furthest corner. Finally he could breathe.
—-----------------------------------------------
"Mama! Mama!" Lemmy called, perched on the head of a paratroopa.
"Mama, where are you?!" Jr. peeked under a table, frowning at Wendy as she scoffed.
"He wouldn't be under the table, silly!" His twin declared. Jr. stuck out his tongue.
"Well I don't see you miraculously finding him, dummy!" He retorted. Iggy stepped between them, growling irritably.
"Shut up, you knuckleheads! This isn't helping! Quit fighting, Mama could be hurt, or trapped somewhere!" The pair sobered, resuming their search of the dining hall more intensely.
Morton, meanwhile, was out in the hall with Ludwig and Roy. Larry scampered in, frantic.
"He's not in his study, any luck?!" He shouted. Roy shook his head, tail twitching nervously. As they ran through a list of possible places, Morton suddenly perked up. He wasn't very good at talking, Mama was working with him on that, but he had a very good sense of smell. As such, the scent of lilac perfume and old books came to him easily. A smell that was so uniquely Mama. He sniffed the air, tail wagging as he followed the trail.
The rest of the kits had entered the hall, and Iggy frowned at seeing Morton shuffle off.
"Uh. Morton. Buddy. Ma's still missing, dude." He called. Morton shot him a toothy grin, wagging his tail.
"Mama this way!" He exclaimed. Morton didn't wait for them to answer, trotting off. His siblings tailed after, a chorus of trills sounding off as they picked up the scent. The kits rounded the corner, skidding to a halt. At first they didn't recognize the strange human, but the thick smell of apple wood smoke and honey marked him as their Papa.
"Anything, kids?" He asked.
"Morton found Mama's scent! We're following it now!" Laughing with relief, Bowser patted Morton's head.
"Atta boy, Morton! Let's go find your Mama." With that, the group followed Morton. He sniffed the air, pausing beside a closet door. He crouched down, sniffing under the doorway. Yup, Mama was definitely in there!
"Is…is he in there? Why would Mama be in the closet?" Wendy inquired. Morton chirped worriedly. Mama was in there, he was sure of it! Papa came up beside him, and opened the door. The kits all piled up in the doorway. At first, no one saw anything. Well, other than a broom closet. Then, way in the back, something moved.
Morton crawled in, burly body barely fitting. He nudged his Mama's leg, chirping. A soft snore met him, and he trilled. His Mama didn't respond at first, then his pretty eyes opened slowly.
"Mhh? Morton?"
"Hi, Mama!" Morton exclaimed. Mama looked sleepy, humming softly.
Behind him, Bowser sighed with relief. He turned to the paratroopa accompanying the kits.
"Tell the search parties we found him."
"Yes, sire." Bowser nudged Morton, who gave up his place hesitantly. Bowser crouched down, moving buckets and mops aside. Luigi was tucked into the back of the closet, and seemed to be just waking up. Bleary eyes landed on him, and Luigi whined quietly.
"Mh, Bowser? Wha-?"
"Shhh, it's ok." Bowser reassured him, gently scooping him up. It took a bit of wiggling, but Bowser managed to get out. Immediately, Luigi was bombarded by his worried children. All of them were trilling and chirping while rubbing their cheeks against his.
"Mama, why were you in the closet?!"
"We were so worried!"
"Are you hurt, did someone hurt you?!"
Luigi looked between the speakers with a dazed expression.
"Uh…huh? Wha-"
"Ok, I think your Mama is having a rough day, how about you go let all the search parties know he's ok? I'm gonna take him back to the nest." Leaving no room for argument, Bowser gathered Luigi up bridal style and carried him towards their shared room. Luigi went limp against his chest, groaning. As he was laid down, Luigi rubbed his eyes.
"Ugh, what happened?" Bowser sighed, pulling him into his arms as he sat down.
"I was hoping you could tell me. You went missing for a few hours; the whole Capital is in an uproar because no one could find you." He explained. Luigi groaned.
"I'm… I'm sorry. I…I don't know what happened. I just… I was alone for a long time…and I think…" Luigi twiddled his thumbs.
"I think I got really panicked. I started thinking that I was…back on the streets and had to hide." Bowser hummed, kissing his forehead.
"Well, we can't have that now can we, my Queen? How about we arrange for you to have an assistant with you so you're not alone while doing paperwork? Would that help?" Luigi's eyes darted around, he was clearly still disoriented.
"I don't- I don't know, I…" He sniffled, burying his face in Bowser's chest with whimpered apologies.
"Hey, shush, it's ok. I've got you. Let's just relax for a bit, ok? We can make decisions later. Just breathe, Turtledove." He whispered. Luigi nodded, and they did just that. Later the Koopalings would swarm the nest to comfort their still shaking Mama, and Kamek would come in to meticulously look him over to make sure he really was unharmed.
For now? They just sat in the silence and enjoyed the company of the one they loved the most.
260 notes
·
View notes