#then i'll be in trouble XD

[mrs-luigi-vargas]

WIP Wednesday

I mean to do these more often than I do but Wednesday is usually my busiest day of the week because its the day I actually have to do a work commute longer than the 10 feet from my bed to my desk XD

Anyway, when the year started I wanted to have the angsty aroace!Mario fic written for Valentine's Day/AroSpec Awareness Week but then I looked at what I had left to write for it and how much time I had and there was no way I was finishing it within that deadline, lmao. So I put it down and decided to work on some other WIPs instead; I have some outlines and ideas from late 2020/early 2021 that I can knock out real quick, with how much my writing skills have progressed. And it would be nice to actually put a tangible dent in my WIP pile for once. I already wrote two of them, and luckily I have a different aro!Mario WIP half-outlined that I can definitely write and finish in time for ASAW so I think I'm going to focus on that, now. It's not much to do with Mario being aro itself (aside from Peach being mad about amatonormativity for a bit, ha); it'll probably mostly be, like, platonic cuddling and junk. But it'll be nice to get another entry in the aro!Mario series after so long…It's really hard to get ideas for new fics for it :(

This also means I have to pause the WIP I was actively in the middle of working on, which was a late-2020 idea about Kamek accidentally shrinking himself and Mario deciding to mind him. Because I don't know if I'm looking in the wrong places or something, but its really hard to find fics where people are shrunken that aren't, like, Borrowers fusions or a vore thing. Which, no shade to either of those, but they aren't the vibe I'm after, haha. But I suspect the shared change in perspective and helpless vulnerability and having to trust someone who could just crush you if they wanted etc etc etc is still fueling it all regardless :)

So anyway here's some of the tiny!Kamek fic because I won't be working on it for a hot minute —

“Either that spell I’d cast was more powerful than I’d realized,” Kamek slowly said, “Or I somehow managed to shrink myself, instead.”

“...”

“I’d shrunk myself, didn't I.”

Mario’s mustache curled up in amusement. Kamek ground his teeth and fumed. Of all the stupid mistakes to make...!

Despite his magic reserves being low, Kamek reached into his sleeve for his wand; whether to put himself back to normal or knock the amusement off Mario’s face, he couldn't say. Either way, his hand came out empty. And it did so the second time Kamek rummaged in in his sleeve, and the third, and the fourth, and the — 

Absolutely not panicking, Kamek dove back into the tree hollow to overturn every dead leaf and stick pile and moss clump in search of his wand. He didn't find it, of course, and he spared a moment or two to just stand there, head in hands. With how today was going, he’d probably dropped it just after miscasting that spell. On the very dim bright side, though, at least he knew why his broom wasn't working; those enchantments weren't designed to play nice with these sort of shrinking spells. Kamek sighed. Curse Lord Bowser and his incessant, almost impossible demands...

Kamek lifted his head to find Mario peering through the opening of the tree hollow, watching him with a furrowed brow, considering Kamek’s misfortune. He backed up to allow Kamek to leave, and once Kamek stood upright, he extended a hand to him.

“I don't need your help,” Kamek snapped. Ignoring Mario’s hand, he turned on his heel, marched a few steps, tripped over a protruding bit of exposed bark, and lost his balance. His next step was on empty air, at a height borderline unsurvivable, with little but a broken broom to break his fall.

So he fell. And he hit the ground. Sooner than he’d expected, considering. Kamek unscrewed his eyes and found the surface he’d landed on was whiter than he’d expected, as well. And then it moved, and Kamek lost the little balance he’d been barely holding on to. Mario’s worried face filled Kamek’s vision, and he realized that he wasn't dead because Mario had caught him.

“...I suppose I should thank you,” Kamek eventually said, with no intention of thanking Mario. Mario huffed, but still watched him, lips pursed in thought. He was being quieter than usual, and that combined with the sudden awareness of just how vulnerable he was —  many fractions his size, unable to cast any spells, sitting on his archenemy’s palms high in the air — had Kamek swallowing nervously.

“You can put me down, now,” Kamek hesitantly said, because Mario was a good guy, and he would do that. For sure. Hopefully.

Except Mario didn't. Instead, he transferred Kamek to one hand, opened the front pocket of his overalls with the other, and dumped Kamek in there as if he was some common — 

Kamek struggled to right himself in the small, mostly enclosed space. “Wh — You —!” he sputtered. “How dare you — !”

Mario chuckled at Kamek’s indignation. The vibrations of it rumbled through Kamek's body, and the whole ‘you’re very tiny and powerless and more-or-less at your archenemy’s mercies right now�� dilemma screeched back to the forefront of Kamek’s mind. So he shut his mouth with a clack, thinking better of poking his head out of the pocket to give Mario a piece of his mind. Through the meager opening above him he saw Mario give him one last look before starting to move; with the way the world shifted probably meant he was at a brisk walk, down the forest path to who-knew-where.

Kamek sighed, making himself comfortable the best he could given the circumstances. Well... at least Mario wasn't likely to let Kamek get accosted by wildlife again. And besides, all Kamek had to do was wait until he could scrounge up enough magic to cast spells again; though he was still without his wand, he’d still be free to ditch Mario and make his own way back to the base for his spare wand and broom. And then he could make Mario pay for this indignity ten-fold.