Three Months

Stars

Despite Luigi's protests, Dimentio had refused to leave the house for many many days. The fact that he had lost two days of sleep had made him extra fearful of being caught, so he decided to just spend his time indoors, hidden from the world. Sure, it was a little limited, but at least he felt safe. 

Mario still refused to make eye contact, but Dimentio no longer was afraid of the man in red running off and telling someone about him. If Mario were going to do something, he likely would have already done it long ago.

He actually was finding small ways to enjoy his time. Luigi had a number of books that Dimentio enjoyed reading. (Most were on astronomy, but Dimentio wasn't quite interested in that. The books Dimentio really enjoyed were fantasies or dystopian future novels. He liked relating these works of fiction to the real world and finding connections.)

The brothers also seemed to acknowledge the importance of keeping Dimentio hidden. For example, one day when one of Luigi's friends showed up for an unexpected visit, Mario was very good about shoving Dimentio in a closet and hiding him. Dimentio was honestly unsure if he was insulted by or grateful for the action.

The closet was actually fairly comfortable. There were no lights, but it didn't take Dimentio long to get himself acquainted with his surroundings. There were a few coats hanging up which he was able to take down and make himself a little nest on the ground with as he waited in total silence and darkness.

"So who was that?" Dimentio asked after Luigi's friend had left and Mario so graciously let him out of the coat closet he had been locked in, sighing at the mess Dimentio had made and going to clean it up.

"Just Da-"

"His girlfriend," Mario interrupted with a small smirk, hanging up the coats.

"MARIO!" Luigi exclaimed, his cheeks turning a light pink shade as if he was embarrassed. Dimentio noted that it looked almost as if he had been lightly sunburned but not to the point where it could cause any damage. "She's not-"

"Sure, sure," Mario laughed, hanging up the last of the coats and smiling at his younger brother. "Any why not exactly? You like her. She likes you. Just quit being awkward and ask her out."

"It's not like that! She may not like me! We don't know what she thinks!" Luigi exclaimed.

Mario gave him nothing more than a bored expression in response while Dimentio remained silent, looking back and forth from Mario to Luigi.

".... So you like her?" Dimentio asked, eyes finally settling on Luigi.

Luigi then looked at him, his eyes widening slightly as if he had forgotten Dimentio was even there until just then.

"I mean... I didn't say that," Luigi nervously replied, looking away and scratching the back of his neck.

"You didn't reject it, though," Dimentio stated, shrugging. He wasn't sure why it felt so strange to hear about Luigi harboring romantic feelings for someone. It was weird to imagine him in a relationship. "I didn't even know you liked people."

"I'm bi," Luigi shrugged casually.

Mario nodded, then crossed his arms, for once actually looking Dimentio in the eye as he said, "Yeah, and if you dare judge him, I swear to Grambi, I will-"

"I'm not judging him," Dimentio assured, holding up his hand as if he was signaling for Mario to calm down. He wasn't sure why this information was somewhat of a relief to him, but he almost felt as if a weight had been lifted. But, that was short-lived, as Dimentio remembered what they were talking about in the first place.

He blinked a few times, then looked up at Luigi once again. "You should tell her."

Luigi frowned, seeming almost confused by this statement. He was less confused by the words themselves since Mario said them to him all the time. What was more confusing was the fact that these words were coming from Dimentio.