Avatar Peach AU Oneshots

🍐/💔 Taking What's Not Yours (1/2)

Chapter 1: I Still Have Your Lighter

The Mushroom Kingdom was a silent, beautiful place at this time of night. The moon was a perfect pearl-white circle that illuminated the sky and the stars twinkled in all its glory.

Not many were awake during this time of night, many only staying in their homes. One of these few was a tall blonde-haired man, towering over his small computer screen typing away.

This was a common occurrence that not many knew of, not even the princess herself. He was often known by the castle staff to lock himself in his room at night after dinner and no one dared to question it, in fear of his wrath that might lash out. But not many knew what waited inside.

The first time it happened on a substantial scale was around the time he started distancing himself from others and a new maid was polishing the many gold and silver decorations littering the castle. She was a smaller toad than most, sporting a blue-dotted mushroom and circular braids to go with it. She had accidentally opened his door while he was hiding away once, forgetting the warning he had placed in maid training and the many signs on his door.

The humiliation that ensued caused her to immediately put in her notice before even being given the chance of being fired. She even left the country for good measure, no one seeing her after that ever again.

Not that it mattered to him though, the castle staff was constantly being replaced due to Peach's outbursts, quitting due to lack of pay or something else that he didn't have the time to remember what it was.

All he was focused on was his work and nothing could stop him—absolutely nothing. No princess, no new disasters, no lingering thoughts about the past, all that was important was his tiny eye-straining screen and nothing else.

He quietly sipped his mug in one hand while the other hand typed. The mug was filled with an old health hazard of his: One-half whatever energy drink he could find, one-half black coffee and a bunch of white sugar packets. It wasn't particularly nice (or healthy) but it did the job and that is what mattered. It's not like it could kill him or affect his health anyway, he wasn't human (though he often wished he was) so he didn't have to worry about things like that.

The mug the concoction was in was a deep shade of purple with gold trim and a golden... he needed to focus. No distractions. No thoughts. No past regrets. Nothing. Nada.

The grey keyboard in front of him clicked and clacked as he typed, the dust and dirt wedged in the cracks of the keys getting worse by the second due to his neglectful nature. It didn't matter anyway, no one ever dared to enter his room but himself and he made sure to keep it that way. So what if it was a nightmare to find things with the countless cans, papers and other useless crap that littered the floors? It was only his problem and he didn't have an issue with it.

It's not like anyone cared enough anyway to question his behaviour after all this time and the only person who did know...

No thoughts. Stop thinking. Just work.

Connected to the grey keyboard was his dusty, old grey computer that was barely working. As much as he ignored it, he desperately needed a new one as this one was only barely hanging on by a thread. How would he even get a new one without being suspicious? He couldn't just walk into a tech store, he'd get questioned and everything. And he couldn't order one online, Peach would probably get to it first and ask him about it. And there was no way he was asking Mario to fix his current one, as much as he loved how Mario didn't ask questions, it was still a risky move.

He'd have to deal with it for a while longer and hope it doesn't die on him like his...

JUST SHUT UP.

Just stop thinking about it. It was years ago. Grow a fucking pear and suck it up.

He grabbed his mug a bit too hard and chugged the deathly liquid down his throat, feeling the warmth and tingling as he gulped.

As he carried on working, his fingers typing diligently on his keyboard, his eyes quickly glanced over to the right-hand side of his desk. It was an involuntary movement and he didn't even think about doing it, but that one second was enough to send him into a downward spiral.

Next to the hundreds of documents, business papers and a couple hundred dirty plates and cups, lay a green, pear-shaped beret, the one he always wore every day, without fail. That wasn't what he was taking into account though. What did was one of the pins attached carefully to it, a sparkly purple plum, in pristine condition compared to the rest of his room.

No. Please. Not now. God no. Just concentrate. Don't think about it. You were doing so well. I'm fine. Everything's fine. Why can't you be normal for once? It was fucking years ago. Just let it go. Let her go. She never cared about you. You are such a fucking child. You can't even handle one reminder of them. I bet their fucking happier than you right now. I bet she's living the best life ever while you struggle to keep yours intact.

I bet they left because of you. I bet she couldn't stand you anymore. This is why you distance yourself from others as you know everyone who gets close to you eventually hates you. Because everything about you is so disgusting. You are an alien in a human's clothing. You will never be like the others. And they were the only one who understood. But now she's gone. And you are alone.

As his thoughts spiralled, water dripped from his eyes onto the dirty keyboard. But that wasn't enough to clean it, he'd have to put in the effort. But why put in the effort when every time you try, it doesn't matter anyway.

The Mushroom Kingdom was a bustling, beautiful place at the start of the morning. The sun was a bright, joyous mass of fire that shined in even the darkest of places.

Inside a dark lone room, a tall blonde-haired man lay over his keyboard, his eyes red from the tears he spilt from the night prior.

A knock at the door awoke him suddenly as a young Octarian voice told him that breakfast was ready. She then hurried off, hearing rumours of what she would face if she dared to open the door.

The man shut down his lone computer and went into his personal bathroom, locking the door behind him. He searched for a while before finding a pear-themed make-up bag and started his daily routine.

It's nothing a little makeup could do. After all, no one could know what happened behind the closed doors of his bedroom.