#having made so many posts about odyssey lately this seemed like a good wip to share!

[peaches2217]

I'm slowly but surely easing back into writing now that I'm acclimating to my new job! I can't say for certain when I'll have my next completed piece up, so in the meantime, please have the first page and a half of one of my longer WIPs, because if I don't post something I am going to gnaw my arm off like an understimulated animal. So please accept this gift which I'm presently calling...

Musings on a Motivation (WIP, also still looking for a less cringy title 😅)

~~~

“Did you truly want to marry me? Or did you just want to take Bowser’s victory for your own?”

Peach presented Mario with this question in the Snow Kingdom, huddled across from him in the corner of some Shiverian cafe. Her quiet voice was resolute, yet she couldn’t tear her eyes from the mug of hot chocolate in her hands.

For the first time in two days, Mario felt cold. She had warned him, told him she was going to bring it up again, but he didn’t feel any more prepared in spite of the advance alert.

“There’s no wrong answer,” she assured him, and though her smile was sad, it was equally sincere. “No matter what you tell me, I won’t think any differently of you. I just… I want to know.”

He nodded, though his head felt heavy and disconnected from his shoulders. Right. He supposed he did owe her an answer.

This wasn’t the first time they were discussing the incident on the moon. He knew for a fact it wouldn't be the last, either.

Half an hour after the offending event, Mario had broken the silence of the trip back home with an apology, face flushing redder and redder with shame the more he dwelled on it. His princess, l’amore della sua vita, the one he would travel to the ends of the earth and beyond for, had almost been forced into a marriage with the Koopa King Bowser, the very creature who caused her constant torment.

And what had Mario done after saving her from a marriage she hadn't asked for? Tried cornering her into another one. Proposed to her, a proposal that was quickly challenged by Bowser himself. Gotten into a squabble over her hand with the aforementioned creature like two boys fighting over a plastic toy. All of this minutes after rescuing her.

Peach had tiredly forgiven him, but asked to discuss it further once they were home and rested. Three days later, she reaffirmed her pardon over cake and tea, but held none of her own feelings on the matter back: how childishly he’d painted himself in her eyes, how she felt like nothing more than a trophy, some grand prize that would go to whoever shoved flowers in her face the hardest, how little she worried he valued her affections if he actually thought Bowser, of all people, was competition. The timing was bad, the execution was infinitely worse, and she felt both affronted and humiliated by the last man she ever expected to cause her such distress. 

Mario, for his part, was grateful. If she could feel all of those things — if he could cause her to feel all of those things — but she could still forgive him, then perhaps she still trusted him. 

But it stung no less to hear, and it certainly didn’t soften the blow when she asked for a break. 

“I need a vacation,” she had sighed. “We both… we need space. Some time apart.” Mario had numbly agreed.

In parting, he had taken her hand and pressed a gentle kiss to her knuckles, wishing her safety and happiness on whatever ventures she had planned; she had excused herself quickly, but not quickly enough to hide the first of her tears. That image routinely kept Mario awake into the early hours of the morning.

Glancing at the untouched slice of cake lying before him, he gulped. That had been a month ago. Peach had parted from the kingdom the following afternoon, and after a few lethargic days hiding beneath his blankets, Mario heeded the pleas of his brother and his newest friend and decided a vacation didn’t sound half bad. 

Luigi elected to stay home and tend to some sort of balloon-adjacent business, yet even without his twin, Mario found himself mercifully distracted. It began as a week-long expedition to both the major landmarks and best hidden alcoves of Cappy’s home nation. But somewhere between Big Beanie and Bucket-Hat Palace, their sightseeing stint segued into another hunt for Power Moons, fueled this time by adventure and pure entertainment rather than necessity, and Mario came to discover that an international game of hide-and-seek is an excellent way to distract oneself from heartbreak. 

So that was what he threw himself into, and the less excitable but every bit as goal-oriented Cappy was more than happy to assist. Yesterday was Day 35 of their adventure, and having spent the previous week roughing it in the choking heat of the Forgotten Isle, they’d agreed easily that a cooler change in scenery would do them both good. They arrived in the Snow Kingdom that morning and planned to spend the day acclimating in the (relative) warmth of Shiveria, then soldier on in their quest with no end goal. 

But just barely within the walls of the town, a black beret and a halo of golden hair stopped Mario in his tracks. 

Peach’s face was flush from the cold, but her eyes shined brighter and bluer than the carbonated sea of Bubblaine, and she called his name with all the warmth of a stroll along its sunny shores, and how his legs didn’t give out on the spot he wasn’t entirely sure. Suddenly the month that had flown by without her felt like an eternity. 

~

If y’all have any feedback thus far I would appreciate it most sincerely, I wanna make sure it’s at least somewhat coherent so far!!

#having made so many posts about odyssey lately this seemed like a good wip to share! #'peaches isn't this the—' the one I've been working on since LAST FUCKING MAY? yes. yes it is. #BUT! it's FINALLY almost done! I wanna clear the requests in my inbox first before diving back into it #as you can tell it's still a bit rambly so I'd also like to. well. ORGANIZE it #but we're getting there! slowly but surely! #peaches' fancy fics #peaches’ wips