#also again most of the fic is Mario and Bowser dungeon-crawling

[mrs-luigi-vargas]

WIP Wednesday

So my dumbass saw "Quest for a Cure" and "Magical Remedy" on the Sicktember prompt sheet and went "oh, they go on a journey to an abandoned castle to find a magical artifact to break a deadly curse that first manifests as a persistent fever" and now this fill is 5.5k words and counting send help

But actually though its been fun! Angstier than I usually do things, for sure. I'm experimenting with line breaks and intentional repetition a bit, which is neat. Gotta write Bowser having a meltdown soon; accidentally made that maybe a bit more intense than I was aiming for but its fine. Mario gets to quietly suffer in the background regarding the fate of his brother for most of the fic, because its in Bowser's POV and he's more concerned about Junior. I managed to sneak some humor in here, too, somehow, so at least there's that. I'm really happy with what I've got so far! ^_^

So while Mario and Bowser are busy serving as Junior and Luigi's last hope, here's Luigi suffering under a curse and Peach worrying about him, I guess.

---

Back at the castle, Peach sat by Bowser Junior’s bedside, as she had been doing for the past few days. She’d promised Bowser she’d watch over him while he was gone, and she had no intention of shirking that responsibility in the slightest. It was the least she could do to help.

She was forced to multitask, though, as she had been doing for the past few days, when Luigi entered the room. He’d been swept away earlier that morning for Kamek and Kammy to run some extra tests to double check their calculations. Now he was back, carrying a tray that definitely hadn't come from the Magikoopas by the bowls of fruit sitting on it. 

Luigi’s arms shook with the effort of holding the tray up; the bowls began to slide against the metal, and Peach hurried to swerve around all the medical equipment in the room to take the tray from him before everything fell onto the floor. As she put the tray on a nearby table, Luigi’s arms drifted to curl around himself, as they had been doing for the past few days. He met Peach’s scolding frown with a sheepish tilt of his lips. “Hey,” he whispered, squeezing his arms to keep shivers at bay.

“Luigi,” Peach sighed.

“I know...” Luigi frowned. “I just...” He swayed on his feet. Peach put an arm under his shoulders to steady him. “You missed breakfast,” he said as Peach helped him into a chair. “Wanted to help.”

“You can help by resting like you're supposed to,” Peach scolded him, “So I don't have to worry about you as much.” She tugged Luigi’s hat to cover his hair, as if to punctuate her statement. 

Peach had pulled Luigi’s hat too far forward, so Luigi pushed it up out of his eyes. He fiddled with the brim, twisting and bending it. “It hasn't been that bad today,” he tried to reassure Peach. “I just...ya know...woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, ‘sall.”

Despite the heavy bags under Luigi’s eyes, Peach still looked unconvinced. She put a hand on his face and winced at the heat radiating from it. “Your fever’s gotten worse,” she worried. 

Luigi hummed, leaning into her touch. She moved her hand to the back of his head, and Luigi tipped forward to rest his head against her. She carded her hand through his hair and wished she could send some healing magic over to him, despite Kamek and Kammy’s warnings that it would at best not do anything to help and at worst accelerate the curse’s effects somehow.

The bowl of fruit was within arm’s reach, so Peach helped herself to its contents. “Have you eaten?” she asked Luigi. 

“Wasn't hungry.”

That's what he’d said at dinner last night, and at lunch before then. “You need to eat,” Peach said with a frown.

“Mrgh.” Luigi lifted his head to look at her. He squinted. “You're supposed’ta starve a fever, ain't ya? ’S fine.”

“No, that’s not a real thing. You need to eat,” Peach urged him. She plucked some grapes off the tray and fed them to him, one at a time. He only ate a few before pressing his face into her dress again. Not nearly enough. But she couldn't force it.

"...I hope Mario’s okay."

“He definitely is, I’m sure!” Peach put some cheer into her voice. “Bowser’s with him, after all. I don't think he’d let Mario get taken out by anyone except himself.”

Luigi huffed a laugh. He started to doze off right after, and part of Peach wondered how bad Junior got before he stopped waking up. The forced smile slid off her face.