Brother's Loyalty: Endgame

Sweet but Psycho

Strong trigger warning: Non-con!

Blissfully unaware of the drastic turn of events, Peach relaxed in her room, eating the meal she'd ordered from room service. Everything seemed to have a different appearance at night. The balloons now had luminous jack-o-lantern grins on them, and even the gift basket had taken on an ominous appearance. Like her retainers, Peach simply shrugged it off as something special for Halloween.

Moonlight gushed in through the open windows, and Peach turned her attention toward the night sky, where millions of stars shone, fanning out around the moon. And when Peach's eyes fell on the moon, mixed feelings about the adventure two years ago crowded her mind. She remembered the sight of her hero, bursting through the doors of that wedding chapel, dressed to the nines, his baby blues sweeping the scene. He'd not been happy over the stunt his archnemesis had pulled. Mario had given her so much hope when he arrived, fighting his hardest to keep that reptile from making her his wife—and then he'd acted like an entitled brat by automatically assuming that she'd marry him. She hadn't been ready to marry anyone, period—and she still wasn't.

And she loved him. She loved him—she loved him. She didn't need to put a ring on his finger to love him. She didn't need to be rescued periodically to love him, either. She'd grown to love him by spending time with him and seeing who he really was, deep inside.

During their sensual afternoon, Mario had touched her so deeply. He had been gentle yet passionate, looking into her eyes and whispering that he loved her as he moved inside her, his lips breathing her name like a prayer each time he came undone. He was so committed to making things right. But he didn't need to make anything up to her. She'd forgiven him. The two of them had re-examined their relationship, and life had gone on. However, she did appreciate his efforts to become a better hero.

Daintily, she ate another forkful of food before taking a sip of her drink. Mario was a great hero, but first and foremost, he was someone's brother. And when push came to shove, he'd put that someone first. He'd told her of a recurring dream he'd have, of Koopa managing to subdue Luigi during their climactic fights and forcing Mario to choose between him and Peach. Mercifully, the man in red would awaken before the choice was made, but the dream still rattled him. Peach had smiled at him, assuring him that she wouldn't hold it against him if he chose Luigi over her. What was the old saying? Bros before—well, you know.

Peach smiled and leveled yet another forkful of food into her mouth. Mario was an almost-perfect hero, his greatest strength in his desire to look after his nearest and dearest. However, it was Luigi who had done most of the looking out lately, putting himself in harm's way for others so many times—

"He's put others before himself, and yet he barely gets a shred of credit for his efforts," she mused. "How does he do it? And who's gonna look out for him?"

Her answer arrived in the form of a bubbly ghost puppy, phasing through the wall of her room and hopping onto her bed.

"Hey, sport," laughed Peach, setting down her food and running a practiced hand through Polterpup's fur. "How's Luigi doing?"

Polterpup woofed.

"He's sleeping, huh?"

Another woof.

"I can't honestly blame him—we've spent most of the day on the road." Peach sighed. "Luigi has always been a healthy sleeper. No wonder he can open up portals to the dream world." The pads of her fingers glided across Polterpup's sweet spot. "You wanna know what I've been thinking?"