Not What I Expected (Bowser x reader)

Chapter 2

It took me two days to walk from the mushroom kingdom to Bowser castle. I was exhausted, dehydrated, and still haven't had the chance to clean myself off after all the garbage that was thrown at me. But I finally made it, and as I walked up to the gates, disheveled as I was, I felt a sense of pride welling up in me. I know plenty of people would have given up at this point, but I continued on. Two koopas stood guarding the front gate. They eyed me suspiciously and slowly raised their weapons. I instinctively took a step back and raised my head to plead my case. "I would like to speak to King Bowser." I said as confidently as I could, but my voice broke anyways from how long its been since I've had a proper drink of water. One of the koopas chuckled to himself, "And what business do you have with the king?" he sneered. I sighed, thinking through my next choice of words very carefully. 'might as well tell them the truth' I said to myself as I prepared to fill them in on everything that's happened to me. I took a deep breath,

"So Princess Peach and I were childhood friends, basically raised as siblings, but once she ascended the throne, she kind of shut me out and became really cold and distant. She also got a really big head and became really selfish and vain, so after that I was kinda done with her, and she was not having it. So I thought the only way to get rid of her was to kill her, right? Right. So I tried that but I failed and I was found guilty of attempted assassination and treason, and I was exiled from the kingdom. And everyone was like, super mad at me and were throwing trash at me as I was being escorted out, which is why I'm so dirty right now. Anyways, I thought that my best bet was to seek asylum here and hope to maybe get on Bowser's good side and hopefully one day form an alliance with him? I also traveled two whole days without breaks to get here so this is like, my only shot at survival."

I exhaled deeply and looked back at the two koopa guards who were staring at me blankly. The one to my left reached down to grab the radio on his hip, "Hey, boss. Yeah, some fugitive from the mushroom kingdom wants to see ya." He said, still not breaking eye contact with me. The gates opened for me and I sighed triumphantly before marching my way into the castle. I walk in and ask where I could find the king. A shy guy points me toward a very large and ornate door, before scurrying off to whatever business he had. I gulped down what little saliva formed in my mouth and only then realized just how unprepared I was. I had only met Bowser once before, when Peach and I were still friends and he had tried, and failed, to kidnap her again. Even though Mario and Luigi did defeat him, I still thought he was intimidating and kind of sexy, I mean scary!

As I entered what I now know is the throne room, I could hear Bowser's deep hearty laugh from the other side of the room. I approach the source of the sound, where I see Bowser sitting on the floor with what looks like a smaller version of himself, and Kamek, Bowser's advisor who's always right by his side. Kamek noticed me first, and tapped Bowser on the shoulder to get his attention. Bowser stood and made eye contact with me. "So you must be the fugitive I heard about. What'd ya do to make Princess prissy so mad?" I faintly smiled at the "nickname" he gave her and walked closer since my voice was still weak and I was worried he wouldn't be able to hear me. "I may or may not have tried to poison her?" I said, smiling sheepishly. His eyes widened and he turned and whispered something to Kamek, who then turned to tiny Bowser and led him out a separate door. 

My smile wavered a little, but I think it's only natural that he'd be cautious of some stranger that now has a reputation for trying to murder royalty. I tried to keep my head high, but it was hard as the affects of exhaustion were starting to take a toll on my ability to function. My eyelids felt heavy and my legs were going to give out any second, but I needed to secure a place here and make a good first impression before I can take care of myself. Bowser looked me up and down, trying to get a read on me, I think, before taking a few large steps toward me, "What's your name?" He bellowed. "y/n" I replied, holding my breath "so y/n, do ya just have a problem with her, or is it all royal folks that tick you off?" he grumbled as he towered over me. I took another deep breath and repeated, verbatim, what I had told the guards to him. He gave me the same blank look the guards did and I had a sinking feeling in my stomach that he wasn't going to let me stay here. Or maybe its just hunger. Either way, I don't feel good.

 He narrowed his eyes at me, "I want details later, just so I can make sure you're not a danger to me or my people. But I can see you're basically dead on your feet, so i'm gonna let you wash up and put on clean clothes and rest for a bit, then you're gonna join me for dinner and tell me everything." He ordered one of his minions to lead me to one of the guest rooms, and I turned around at the last second to see Kamek muttering something to Bowser, "are you sure about this,  your majesty? We don't know anything about them or what they're capable of." The door slammed in my face before I could hear Bowser's response. 

I looked ahead and realized I was falling behind the goomba leading me to my new room. I used what little energy I had left to run and catch up with him. 'Even if he doesn't like me at first, at least I'll have a place to sleep.' I tell myself as I round a corner and come up to a door. The goomba bows, sort of, then leaves me to it. I open the door and my jaw drops to the floor.

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