What They Don't See

CW: Initial violence involving head trauma; concussed character; concussion is not handled properly; one character assists another with bathing; partial nudity but not presented in an inappropriate manner; two characters share a bed platonically with the presence of romantic tension.

O~o~O

Everyone stopped when the glass shattered.

"No!" a clear voice called out. Peach wrenched herself from Luigi and Daisy's grasp and rushed forward. "What have you done?!"

Roy stood over Mario, the broken bottle in his hand. Blinking, he lifted his shades just to see clearly, while the bottle tumbled from his claws and clattered on the pavement. The streetlight behind him flickered once. The shards of glass seemed to glitter all over the ground. Every member of Pi Koopa Alpha was silent as they watched.

Mario wavered. His stare was fixed straight ahead, at nothing. Peach threw her arms around him and glared, her eyes shining under the lights, at Roy. She wouldn't let him get any closer. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself," she seethed, her voice strained.

Luigi met with them, gingerly touching Mario's elbow. "Hey, are you okay?" he tried to ask him. Peach closed her eyes and took in a shaky breath when he didn't respond.

Roy's arm dropped to his side, and he took a step back. The sight before him must have been strange. The Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, with rage in her eyes, shielding her own bodyguard from him. Her bodyguard, who could no longer stand on his own.

"You asshole," Daisy spat from behind her. She approached Mario as well, and the three of them tried to ease him a few steps back away from Roy.

Bowser dropped a forceful hand on Roy's shoulder. "That was unnecessary," he said. "You shouldn't have done that."

"But— but I didn't—" Roy started to say, looking with wide eyes between Mario and Bowser, but Bowser shook his head. "I didn't mean—"

Peach let go of Mario and marched directly up to Roy, until they were practically nose-to-nose. "Look at what you did. Look at him! How am I supposed to see this as anything other than a direct attack on the Mushroom Kingdom?" she demanded, and her voice cracked as she gestured to Mario. "He's bleeding. Just— Just look at him."

She could feel her eyes stinging, her throat closing up. But she kept the tears back as much as she was able. Pi Koopa Alpha didn't need any more fodder to use against her.

What was she supposed to do? They'd never gone so far with violence before. The worst they had done was threaten her or try to provoke Mario. But he had shown admirable restraint that she just wasn't sure she shared at the moment. Her fists balled up, her jaw clenched. Her thoughts buzzed; all at once she was a woman standing there, and a little girl, helpless under the gravity of all the eyes upon her.

Behind her, she heard a struggle. Mario had dropped to one knee, the look in his eyes hazy. Though Daisy and Luigi tried to wrestle him back to his feet, it was clear to everyone that Mario was in no state to stand. Much less defend them.

Peach swallowed hard. When she selected him all those months ago to be her bodyguard, she never imagined anything like this would actually happen. He didn't deserve this. He had been saving her from this stupid fraternity before she even knew his name. And now, how did she repay him? By putting him in direct danger? His job was to protect her from real, dangerous threats, not take the blow for her when she went to confront the fraternity brothers that harassed her.

Her searing gaze fell to Bowser. The deluded notion that she would somehow fall for him if he kept teasing her drove her decision to try and end it tonight. She was sick of the pranks, the notes, the trouble he caused her. Though, she wasn't sure any of them actually expected Roy to follow through with his threats to Mario after all this time. This wasn't what she wanted at all. "You and I are on thin ice," she hissed. "Keep your pathetic minions away from my friends. Your business is with me. Not with them."