Not The Plan

by chaosbasket

Summary:

Waking up in Bowser's castle was definitely NOT on your bingo card for the year. Yet here you are trapped in the confines of his halls without a chance of escape.

Or

the one where you babysit eight koopa children all day and their dad falls in love with you

This… wasn’t what you expected would happen when the princess had asked to swap rooms for the night.

Ten sets of eyes were on you. Seven of them wide in complete shock, one held a creased brow from confusion, and the other two you couldn’t see behind large yellow spectacles and red sunglasses respectively. You breathed heavily, staring back with all bits of sleep having been ripped from your body, and found yourself too scared to move or speak. As your sudden small bout of adrenaline started to ease from your tense muscles your hearing returned from an underwater sound to silence where you were sure you could hear a Piranha plant breathe.

One of the koopas spoke up, “You guys didn’t make sure it was the princess before you took them?!” but you weren’t able to tell which one because within a second of the first voice an all out screaming match started amongst the Koopalings.

“Iggy said it was the right room!” “It had her emblem on it, it was her room!” “Ludwig you’re smarter than letting the twins lead!” “It was the middle of the night but I assure you all it was Princess Peach’s room.” “No yell Morton not like!”

It was all jumbled together and you couldn’t really tell who was yelling what. You were still too disoriented to handle much of what was happening. You tried to take in your surroundings, though it was pretty obvious where you were, but it couldn’t hurt. High above the floor of the Koopa King’s throne room the cage you resided in hung by a chain. To your left was Bowser’s rather massive throne and, now scattered across the room from fighting, in front of you were the seven Koopalings. Bowser Junior had slinked away from the group with a dejected look on his face and glared at you before crossing his arms in a huff and turning away.

Suddenly the yelling ceased as a wave of purple washed over them. Your eyes bounced to the source. Kamek, with his wand out, was casting his magic out with a tense look on his face. One by one the Koopalings seemed to realize and their mouths eventually all shut. When Kamek didn’t instantly lift the blanket of purple, Bowser waved a hand at him in dismissal.

Bowser.

Despite being on the opposite side of the room from you he still looked as intimidating as normal. You typically only saw him when you were running to hide in a safe place with Toadsworth and the other elders in the Mushroom Kingdom castle. During his kidnappings and invasion attempts Peach had always put you in charge of assuring everyone in the castle could get to a safe location. Which usually included yourself.

But now you weren’t running and hiding. You were locked in a golden metal cage, so high off the ground that you’d probably break something even if you did escape, and completely at his mercy for who even knew what reason.

The second the magic went away the twins, Iggy and Lemmy if you remembered right, started to yell at each other.

“That’s enough!”

Bowser’s growl left a rumbling in the room that you felt deep in your bones. They went quiet as their dad began to walk forward, his steps making a heavy pound with each stride, and he stopped next to his kids.

“One of you, and I don’t care which one, better explain to me right now.” He grumbled.

There was a beat of silence as the Koopalings glanced at each other before all turning to Junior. The small koopa boy waded between his brothers and sister until he was in front of his dad and dropped his arms to his sides. Bowser moved to kneel down closer to his son but despite that fatherly act his facial expression didn’t change. He clearly wasn’t happy with whatever was going on.

You scooted closer to the edge of the cage, hands gripping the bars, and strained to hear. Seeing as you didn’t even know how you ended up in the current position it seemed important to listen. Peach would always say that picking up any information possible might help in the long run and that included things that were said as much as things you could see.

“It was my idea, papa. We were trying to surprise you with Mama Peach!” Junior was clearly upset. You could hear it in his tone of voice.

The boy looked at the floor and before he could say anything else Lemmy jumped up, his multicolored hair aggressively following his movements, and spoke, “We snuck into the castle and planned to take her from her bed while she slept but that-” he pointed an accusatory finger in your direction and once again all the eyes turned to you, “Is not her!”

You shrunk back under their cold glares. You had ruined their plans, inadvertently of course, so they all seemed pretty cross with you.

Peach had merely asked to swap rooms with you because your guest room window gave her the best view of the stars and, thanks to a threat from a dangerous kingdom, she needed to keep her eye on the alignments. Their letter had been cryptic but it was clear they were planning their attack based on when certain planets and constellations aligned. She wanted to map them and didn’t feel like sitting on the roof all night.

Neither of you could have planned that you'd wind up being kidnapped in the middle of the night.

“All of you off to breakfast.” Bowser reached out and gave a gentle shove to the Koopalings and Junior, “Now. I have to fix this."

Without another sound they all scattered out the throne room door and not long after they disappeared from your sight Bowser stood tall again and headed in your direction. Every muscle in your body screamed at you to move away from him. Push away from the bars and make yourself as small as possible. But you didn’t want to give him that advantage. Growing up as the princess’s friend meant getting a lot of insider training on how to handle these situations.

Bowser stopped directly in front of you and the cage. His hot breath fanned across your face and despite the instinct you stayed put. You were shaking very slightly with uncertainty and a racing heart. You'd never been this close to him before.

He looked so much bigger.

“So you’re Peachy’s little friend,” your grip tightened as Bowser lifted a hand and poked a claw through the bars where he tapped your chest, “I’m sure I can use this situation to my advantage.”

You looked down at where his, scarily sharp, claw dug into your pajama top. Your lip trembled at the idea that if he wanted he could pierce your chest and end you easily. Based on the things Peach and the Mario brothers had shared, you were sure he wouldn't go that far but frankly you didn't want to find out.

When you glanced back up he had a wicked smile on his face.

"L-look uh how about you just let me leave and I'll," His snarl made you shrink back a tad, "I'll walk myself back and we can pretend this didn't happen."

Almost instantly he chuckled and thanks to how close you were to him it radiated through your bones. "Oh no no no, you aren't going anywhere I don't want you to."

With a zip through the air, Kamek appeared over Bowser's shoulder on his broom.

"Your Impulsiveness, shall we converse on this topic in private?" The old magikoopa asked.

Bowser pulled his hand away and you let out a deep sigh at the freeing sensation. He made a sound of contemplation and tapped his chin with his claw. Harsh red eyes bounced from you, still very disheveled, to Kamek. You weren't sure what kind of plan he could be concocting in that evil mind of his but you really hoped it meant you could get home unharmed. And soon.

"You are gonna stay right here, capeesh?" Bowser brushed the cage with the back of his hand causing it to sway, you muscles tensed at the movement and you heaved lightly from vertigo, "Don't even think about escapin' cause I got koopas all over the castle you won't make it around the first corner."

Is that how you wound up in a completely new and unpredictable position?

You were sitting on the floor in the twins bedroom with three of the Koopalings and Junior surrounding you. Your pajamas, once clean and pristine, were now caked with paint as Junior splattered it on paper and, thanks to your vicinity, you. Your hair stuck up in a bunch of different directions with clips that Iggy had taken the time to place individually. And based on the tight feeling he’d also tangled them. At least he hadn't cut it like he said he thought about doing. Lemmy was giggling maniacally while he drew on your face with an eyeliner pencil he’d snagged from Wendy. Larry sat beside you making his little clicking noises that appeared to be his way of communicating to which Lemmy would occasionally pause and explain.

They seemed a lot less angry with you than before. Once you had explained to Junior that you hadn’t purposefully ruined his plans to get Peach, most of his frustration wiped away. For the last hour or so you’d been sitting with them and talking. Well, they did more of the talking considering if you opened your mouth Lemmy would go toward your teeth with the eyeliner, but you nodded along as they spoke.

“I’m surprised Lord Bowser wasn’t more angry with us for going off in the middle of the night like that,” Lemmy said.

Junior nodded and continued to paint, “I really wanted to surprise him but I guess you're okay too.” He glanced at you with a smile.

Larry made a few clicks and chirps. Lemmy nodded.

“I agree. Larry says he likes that you play with us.”

As much as you were enjoying seeing them get to just be kids… you hadn't really chosen to play with them out of the goodness of your heart. You had just picked the exact wrong moment to escape the throne room. When Lemmy caught you he'd been dead set on blabbing until you promised you'd do anything.

Lemmy clearly wasn't the kind of kid you could say 'I'll do anything' to.

You smiled softly, “I’m happy to play with you guys. You seem to be having fun." There was a pause, "And it’s not like I’m going anywhere anytime soon.”

Narrowly escaping the eyeliner pencil you clamped your mouth shut leaving Lemmy to pout playfully. He poked your nose with it before dropping it to the floor and hopping off your lap with a flourish. You silently grabbed it and made sure it was closed. Wendy probably wouldn't like if it was left open.

“I’m gettin’ hungry. Come on Larry, Iggy, let's go get some food.” The boy grabbed Larry by the arm and tugged him to his feet before all three of them dashed out the door.

You weren’t sure how long you’d be in the castle but you doubted it would be long enough to get used to the Koopaling’s energetic personalities.

“Aren’t you gonna go eat lunch?” you asked Junior who was still sitting on the floor working on his art.

“I’m not hungry.” He muttered.

It had been hours since Bowser had sent them off for breakfast that morning and while you weren't very educated on koopas and their eating needs you had worked with toad children before and knew that tone. That was kid speak for 'I'm not going to eat because something is on my mind' whether it was sad or just a distraction was hard to decipher. Most of the time with toad children they were upset.

"Is something bothering you?" You asked softly.

Even if he was Bowser’s kid, you didn't want to see him down, so you'd at least give it a shot. Junior seemed a little surprised that you'd even asked, evidenced by the way his head snapped to you. His hands stilled.

In a slightly cautionary voice he responded, "Why would you care?"

"Well… it's never nice when someone's sad. So if I can help you cheer up I'd like to." You said.

Junior stared at you warily for a few seconds. You weren't really surprised he was being that way and weren't going to force anything he didn't want to express. You folded your hands in your lap and picked at some of the drying paint on the wrinkled pants. Patience was an important virtue, with children more than any.

"I don't want to talk about it." He puffed himself up a little to look intimidating but turned away from you, "I'm just not hungry."

Nodding, you said nothing. If he wanted to disclose his feelings then he would and that was that. You knew he was most likely still hung up on the succeeded but also kind of failed kidnapping. If you were to guess you think he felt like he'd done a bad job and that his dad would think less of him.

He was a six year old so he could also just be mad that you were trying to make him stop playing with messy paint.

You leaned over to him, “You know, you’re still a growing koopa so if you wanna get as big and strong as your papa you gotta make sure you eat properly.”

Before Junior could muster a response Kamek poked around the corner of the doorway in search of you. If he was surprised at what he saw he didn’t say anything or show it on his face. He only pattered into the room and up to your side. Junior turned back at the sound.

“Lord Bowser requests your company.” Kamek expressed, fumbling with his robes a little.

“But we’re still playing!” Junior, shockingly, shouted as he grabbed your wrist in a pudgy little hand.

You looked down at the child to see an expression you didn’t expect but in some way still understood. It seemed like he was scared you wouldn’t come back. Your caring tone had struck an unfamiliar chord with him, one that he only felt when his father gave him little pep talks, and he didn't want you to go away. You didn’t really want to go see Bowser but you knew it wasn’t a good idea to ignore his requests. So you put on a smile and placed your hand over Junior’s.

“After I finish speaking with your father I’ll come to the mess hall for lunch okay? You should go clean up and get something to eat.” You said.

Junior pouted to which you reached your free hand out to ruffle his ponytail.

“I promise Junior. I’ll be down shortly and then we can continue to play.”

It didn’t quite seem like Junior believed you but his stomach chose that moment to growl and he decided to take his leave. Kamek yelled after him to wash his hands before he ate. You highly doubted that was going to actually happen but hey maybe he’d at least wipe his hands off before he touched any food. When Junior’s footsteps stopped echoing in the hallway the room got eerily quiet. You glanced at the elderly koopa who pushed his glasses up on his nose and waved his broom to motion you after him.

“Follow me.”

You quickly stumbled to your feet. Kamek was already halfway down the hallway when you got out the door. For an old man he moved fast. Once you caught up to him you asked him some important questions. Namely, "what does Bowser want to talk to me about" and "can I get cleaned up first" both of which he didn't respond to. You had expected he'd at least ask you something relating to the fact that you were out of your cage and yet he didn't. The Kamek you'd gotten used to during takeovers was usually louder and more boisterous. Maybe he was tired. He just silently walked you through the winding halls and stopped with you outside of a large black door with an emblem on it. Bowser's emblem.

Kamek pushed the door open with his broom and you felt your nerves start to rise again. You were trying to be brave but in all honesty the only reason you'd survived your first meeting with him was because you were as confused as he was. Now you'd have to properly speak with him. Who knew what he was going to do.

The room was bigger than your whole house back in Toad Town. A massive bed sat in the center against the back wall with pillows the size of your body and blankets you'd literally drown in. Off to one side was a wooden wardrobe next to a door that led to a bathroom and on the other a desk with papers strewn across it. Bowser stood next to it staring down at a piece of parchment in his hand while ink from a tipped over glass vial dripped off the edge onto the floor.

Kamek cleared his throat, "Your Distractedness, the prisoner."

"Now what did you think you were doing breaking out of your cage? You didn't get far did you? Ha! Not in my kin-" Bowser turned his head in your direction and as quickly as he saw you he averted his gaze and burst out in a heavy laugh. The paper fell from his hand so that he could hold his gut. You didn't have to ask why he was reacting that way. You'd probably do the same thing if you saw someone covered in paint and eyeliner.

You awkwardly smiled at the sound of his laugh.

"They were playing with the children which is why it took me so long to find them." Kamek expressed.

Through aggressive deep laughs and tail thumps, something you found oddly cute to watch, Bowser cried out, "One of my little monsters did that to you?! Ha!"

You tried to ignore his teasing but his next comment made a blush bloom across your cheeks.

"You look like a little racoon!"

A fire ignited under your skin and you looked away from him in a rather sad attempt to hide. It took him all of three seconds to realize your flustered state.

He stopped laughing.

Bowser stared down at you as if you'd grown a second head. His heart thumped wildly in his chest as he desperately searched for something else to say before you could notice. He'd seen Peach blush before but it had never elicited such a response out of his body. He couldn't be caught gawking. He was the Koopa King for crying out loud!

But perhaps he'd have to remember how to make you blush so he could do it again.

"Lemmy seemed to be having fun… so I didn't tell him to stop," you muttered, without warning you took a step forward and tried to catch your reflection in the doorknob to Bowser's bathroom, "is it really that bad?"

Before another word could be said, Kamek cleared his throat and that seemed to be enough to snap Bowser back into living time. The koopa took a second to catch his breath. Well, it ended up being a little longer than a second given the fact that every time he glanced in your direction his cheeks would puff and he’d forcibly swallow a chortle. Eventually he managed to calm himself enough to turn face to face with you.

"Now," Bowser snatched his piece of paper up, "the business at hand here."

Awkwardly you put your hands in your pants pockets and watched him.

"Not that you need to know, as my prisoner and all, but I've started a letter for the princess. As soon as Kamek proofreads it it's going straight to the Mushroom Kingdom." Bowser explained. "And if Peachy wants her friend back in one piece she'll hand herself over to me without a fight."

You let out a shocked noise that Bowser only smirked at.

"You're using me as a bargaining chip?" You quietly asked.

Bowser sat his letter on his desk, "Of course I'm going to take advantage of this. It's the best plan for getting what I want. I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner." His grin only widened the more upset you seemed to grow.

Standing your ground you glared at him.

"I won't let her agree to something like that." For some reason, your bravery picked that moment to shine, "Why do you try so hard with her when you know she wouldn't be happy?" You didn't notice the way Kamek tensed up in the corner.

"If you care about her the way you say you do then shouldn't you want her happy? She already has so much on her plate running the kingdom and maintaining a social life and it really doesn't help to have you constantly breathing down her neck."

Bowser snarled and you noticed the way his fists clenched. Within an instant your blood ran cold and you started to stumble over your words.

"It's just…"

"I don't need to explain myself to you," Bowser had his fangs bared at you which admittedly was pretty scary, "you wouldn't understand."

Now that was a lie. After spending over an hour at Junior’s side and listening to the way he talked about Peach you understood more than he knew. It was clear and you'd speculated with Luigi and Toadsworth for a few years that he wanted her as a motherly figure for his kids. Due to how angry you'd already made Bowser you opted to remain quiet.

After a few minutes of complete silence Bower ran a hand over his mane to soothe it out and let out a big huff of steam from behind his clenched teeth. Kamek looked between you two before speaking up for the first time in what felt like hours.

"Shall I lock them back in the cage, your Grouchiness?"

Despite Bowser still clearly being irritated at your words he looked your way and spoke, "that's right, how did you get out anyway?"

You tensed. If you told him you'd tried to escape would he get angrier? Bowser was well known for his temper, you knew that, and you'd already ignited that rage. That wouldn't go well. And if he knew you had gotten out on your own he might throw you somewhere dark and cold like a dungeon. But you couldn't really lie either. Anything you came up with on the spot could be proven false.

Bowser didn't seem to like your lack of a response. He walked forward and hovered above you with a scowl on his face, steam escaping his nostrils. Royalty didn't like to be ignored.

"I want an answer."

A nervous chuckle left your lips. Being so close and staring into those wild red eyes had you sweating. The heat naturally radiating off of him coupled with his fiery breath on your face gave you a mild suffocating feeling and the eyeliner started to make your face itch. The orange glow of the lights in the room cast over his tough leathery skin heightened the fear factor. You didn't know what to say. Either route you picked could lead to worse consequences. Nothing seemed like the right answer.

"I-"

The door behind you was knocked on lightly. Despite still being wide open whoever it was deemed a knock necessary to announce their presence. Bowser didn't look away and neither did you. If you turned your attention away he certainly wouldn't like that.

"Lord Bowser, if I may? I let them out."

You shut your mouth immediately. Bowser tilted his head to the side and looked behind you. The voice was unfamiliar to you though you were sure you'd heard it first thing that morning. It was one of the Koopalings but you couldn't decipher which one.

"Did you now?" Bowser asked, seemingly unbelieving.

"I did. They mentioned stretching their legs so I released them and we got separated at some point. Lemmy seems to have found them wandering the halls sometime after."

Whoever it was sounded very convincing. You'd almost believe yourself that it had happened that way. But why was one of his children lying to his face? That didn't seem like them at all and certainly not

"Ludwig, that seems very unlike you." Kamek's voice rose.

"I do apologize if I caused any problems Lord Bowser." Ludwig remained in the doorway with his hands clasped behind his back.

The goodboy look. The innocent look. He knew exactly what he needed to say and do to make things work his way.

Bowser's eyes trailed back to yours where you gave him a sheepish smile. Luckily, he seemed to believe Ludwig's story and he stood up tall again. The king crossed his arms and huffed. If you had to guess he probably wasn't happy that he wouldn't be throwing you in a dungeon for trying to escape. Technically he still could but it seemed unnecessary.

"Were you eavesdropping?" One of Bowser's bushy brows raised in questioning.

Good question.

Ludwig didn't miss a beat, "No Lord Bowser, I was sent to search for the prisoner. After lunch a few of us wish to play badminton and Junior demanded we let them join. I got voted to escort them to the mess hall."

Surprisingly, Bowser took that as a reasonable answer and nodded at his son. Before you could really realize what was happening a clawed hand closed around your wrist and you were tugged out of Bowser's chambers. You stumbled over your own feet. Ludwig's blue mane of hair came into view when you finally turned to walk on your own. He let go of your wrist and clasped his hands behind his back again. The sound of Bowser's door slamming shut echoed in the hallway followed by a muffled yet still loud roar.

You jumped. Ludwig didn't react much apart from muttering something about Bowser needing to get new curtains now.

When the two of you got to the end of the twisting hallways and met the top of the stairs to leave the royal wing you stopped.

"What was that all about? Why did you lie to him?" You asked.

Ludwig didn't look at you as he stopped a few steps down, "While in the mess hall eating our lunch my brothers would not stop talking about you. I have not seen Larry so excited for something in a while. Junior too."

Your heart warmed.

The koopa boy continued walking and you had no choice but to follow.

"When Lemmy said you had been called to Lord Bowser's chambers I assumed you may need a rescue. He has been irritable as of late, which is why we wanted to surprise him, and it would be a shame if the one making my brother's smile were to be locked away again." Ludwig explained.

It was highly surprising to listen to him. The younger koopas were obviously more keen to express their feelings but the older ones had better control. Ludwig clearly cared about his siblings and their happiness. He'd gone out of his way to help you even though he barely knew you.

"That was very sweet of you Ludwig. Thank you." You said.

The boy paused for a second, long enough for a hum and a nod, before glancing at you when you sidled up beside him. He sucked a breath between his teeth at your appearance. You took a look down at yourself and the way the paint was splattered on made you really grateful you couldn't see your face.

"Do you want me to fix that for you?" Ludwig asked.

Confused, you looked at him, "fix what?"

With an extremely judgmental up and down and his finger motioning to you he winced, "All… that."

You shouldn't have felt embarrassed from the words of a child but something about the extent to which his judgment cut pained you.

"Yeah I guess I am a bit of a mess huh?" You chuckled awkwardly with a hand rubbing the back of your neck.

Ludwig whipped his wand out of thin air, "More than a mess I'd say and if you think I'm bad you don't want to see what happens if Wendy sees this."

He didn't wait for you to consent to anything before he waved it and magic sparkles erupted. They circled you quickly and stuck to your clothing leaving a warm tickling sensation. Sparkles showered over the entirety of your form and before you knew it your hair was free from tension, the oily and itchy feeling left your face, and your familiar pajamas were replaced. There was a bright flash and when everything dissipated Ludwig gave you a nod of approval before sending his wand away.

You felt freshly washed, your hands went to your face in relief, and instead of pajamas you'd been put in a black and red jumpsuit and, finally, some shoes.

Bowser's colors of course.

You thanked Ludwig and praised his magical ability which earned a small smile from the boy. He led you down winding staircases and to the first floor of the castle. You passed by the throne room, taking a look inside would show your cage with the door still swung open, and went down a long hall. Two big doors at the end were an entrance to the mess hall and when Ludwig pushed them open you were met with scents that put your stomach into instant hunger mode.

Fresh hot food.

The last you'd eaten was the previous night when you'd joined Peach for a dinner with Daisy before she headed home to Sarasaland. No one in Bowser's castle had brought you breakfast so that meal had been skipped entirely.

Your mouth watered at the simple idea of eating. Ludwig explained quickly how the mess hall worked, you'd go down the line and collect what food you wanted then you'd pick a table, before he parted ways with you and left out a side door to an open courtyard. It was certainly polite of him to explain because the Mushroom Kingdom didn't have a mess hall this active. Most of the soldiers Peach had would eat outside of the castle but you figured the Koopa Kingdom didn't have many options in the city. The room wasn't uncomfortably packed but there seemed to be quite a bit of soldiers finishing up their lunch breaks and at one table a few of the Koopalings sat scarfing down their own meals.

Quickly you picked food and a drink, one of the wraps that seemed to go fast and water, and the second you got out of line you could hear Junior yelling for you. You looked over to see him standing on the bench to his table and jumping up and down vigorously to wave you down. If the soldiers weren't eyeing you warily before they definitely were now. You plopped down next to Junior, a seat he'd saved strictly for you, and Iggy. Wendy and Roy sat on the opposite corner staring at you. Well it at least looked like Roy was looking your way.

You instantly dug into your plate of food not caring much for manners seeing as you were running on empty. Within only a few minutes you'd finished most of your own food only to notice that Junior hadn't even taken a single bite of his. All he’d done was unwrapped it and was stabbing at the vegetables with his fork while glaring at it like he hoped it’d catch on fire. Did all children stare their onions down that way?

“Are you gonna eat your food Junior?” He huffed and gave a forceful stab into a piece of lettuce which you took as a no, “What’s the matter little guy?”

Wendy glanced up from her phone at you. You being nice to them had her a bit suspicious of your intentions. You were a prisoner after all.

“I don’t want it. It’s awful,” Junior made a ‘bleh’ noise and stuck his tongue out at his plate.

You took a sip of your water and motioned to the vegetables, “Have you ever tried them?” he shook his head, “well then how do you know you don’t like it?” Based on the look he shot you it seemed he’d heard that same rhetoric more than once before. He sat his fork down and crossed his arms defiantly.

“You sound like Kammy.”

Iggy chuckled on your other side, “Hehe ‘you can’t not like them if you never tasted them’” he quoted making his voice high and shrill like an old lady.

“She sounds like a very smart woman.” Somewhere in the castle the koopa rubbed her nose before complaining to herself about someone running their mouth about her. “But I’m serious it may not look like you’ll like it but you won’t really know if you don’t try.”

Junior didn’t enjoy that response.

“You’re supposed to be on my side! Can’t I just have pudding or something?” He whined.

A small koopa arm poked around the front of you with a cookie in its hand. Before Junior could snatch it up you grabbed it and looked over your shoulder where Iggy was smirking but just shrugged when you gave him a betrayed look. You held the cookie away from Junior and thought. How did you get the children back home to eat? Sometimes it was a texture thing which was understandable but you had to at least get the kid to try his food before going for the sugary confection his brother offered.

“How about this-” Wendy who had opened her mouth prepared to tell you to give Junior the cookie waited as you motioned toward Junior’s plate. He nodded and you pulled it across the table in front of you. You sat the cookie on the side away from him and picked up his fork. With a few movements you cut off two small bits of onion and lettuce. You put one of each in the palm of your hand and pushed his plate back. He eyed the other two tiny chunks confused. “You try these pieces, and if you don’t like it, then we can find something you will eat. And I’ll try it with you okay?”

“Do I have to?” Junior pouted.

You gave him a soft and reassuring smile, “I promise if you don’t like it I won’t make you eat any more.”

It was a complete mystery where your parental energy had come from but you wanted him to be healthy and happy. What would Bowser say if he saw you doing this?

Wendy bore holes into the side of your face that she could see. Usually by now someone was yelling at him to eat but you were compromising with you. She was even more surprised when he reached his little hand up and picked the piece of onion up between his claws. That was the fastest she’d ever seen someone get Junior to eat something after he refused.

Junior brought the onion up to his snout and gave you a side glance to make sure you were doing it too. The two of you ate the onion in sync and when the koopa didn’t pull a face or spit it out you knew you had him. His eyes widened and he reached for the lettuce piece. Once again you followed his lead and ate. Wendy patted Roy on the shoulder to get his attention and pointed at you. There were a few beats of silence.

Suddenly, Junior turned sideways on the bench and grabbed the plate shoving it into your chest with a wide smile on his face.

“It…it is good! Can you fix it so I can eat?”

You took the plate. Was he asking you to fix the wrap? He had torn it open but surely you could salvage what was left of the bread and get everything nice and secure for him. Sitting it down on the space between you and Junior, your hands worked. He hopped up onto his feet and was rocking a little as he watched. Somewhat expertly you got all of the food back into the tortilla and the second you opened your mouth to tell him you were done he snatched it off the plate and plopped back down onto his butt. He took a big bite and hummed as he kicked his feet.

That had gone much smoother than you thought.

You sat the plate back on the table and dropped the cookie onto the edge of it.

Wendy finally spoke up, directing her voice at you, “I’ve never seen someone succeed at getting him to eat onions.”

Roy nodded in agreement.

“There’s a lot of food I don’t like so I understand but there’s also a lot kids find they enjoy if they just try it.” You looked over to them.

At some point Iggy had disappeared but his plate was still next to yours on the table. You stacked them nonchalantly so you could take it up when you tossed your trash. Leaning away from Junior and towards the other’s you dropped your voice low “I also noticed the sauce was unevenly distributed so I mixed it up better. That helps mask the flavor.”

Roy smiled and gave you a thumbs up that you returned. Wendy glanced back at Junior who was already almost finished with his food and then back to you. She tapped her nails on the table in thought. There was a tap on your back, well, more like a smack for a little koopa claw. Turning to Junior he was giving you a big smile and holding half of his cookie up to you. His half had already been gobbled up.

“Why thank you,” You said, gently taking it from his hand.

Junior didn’t even give you a second to eat it before he was off the bench and tugging on your wrist, “Let’s go play! Kammy should have set badminton up by now!”

Wendy and Roy both got up to take their plates to be cleaned before heading out the side door Ludwig had gone through. You shoved the cookie in your mouth and murmured ‘I’m coming’ about three times before quickly taking the extra plates back and falling victim to Junior’s lead.

When you were finally outside you noticed the courtyard was no longer empty but a white net had been put up in the middle leaving ample room for each team on both sides. Some rackets were laying on the ground off to one side as well as Larry who was upside down on a bench next to a scoreboard.

“Come on, come one!” Junior yelled.

“Is now a bad time to tell you I don’t know how to play?” You asked.

Lemmy bounced up to you two, “Well that’s okay. You just take a racket and you whack the birdie as hard as you can!”

You looked to the older koopas and got a shrug from Roy, a ‘so so’ hand shake from Wendy, and “There’s more to it than that but yes technically that is what you do’ from Ludwig. And with that as your only training advice you all split into teams. Ludwig, Wendy and Lemmy were one team while you, Roy, and Junior were another. Larry was score keeper, no one knew where Iggy had gone, and Morton was on the side perfectly content with throwing a tennis ball against the wall. It took you a few minutes to get into the groove of playing but once you figured it out everything was good. According to Ludwig you would play two rounds and if those ended in a tie then you’d play a third for a breaker. The first round your team lost quickly thanks to your unskilled playing and it didn’t help that Lemmy ran around his side of the court like a wild animal and it distracted you. The second round was taken by your team but just barely.

For the third round you tossed your racket aside and crouched down next to Junior with an idea. It hadn’t gone unnoticed that the Koopalings all struggled a bit with the game thanks to their height relative to the net.

“Climb up on my shoulders,” you whispered.

That had been a bad idea. Fun but awful on your back. You hadn’t realized how heavy Junior was with his shell until he was halfway up. You held his ankles to keep him steady and he declared the start of the game.

“Hey that’s not fair you can’t do that!” Lemmy yelled.

You smiled and looked at Ludwig and asked, “Is it against the rules?” with a raised brow.

He paused to think for a second before responding.

“I don’t think there’s technically a rule against it.”

Lemmy pouted and very aggressively tossed the birdie before hitting it as hard as possible across the net. Roy opted to cover the front of your court since Junior’s new height would help in the back. You figured the other way around might be more useful but followed along nonetheless. After a few back and forths, Morton seemed to finally notice what you’d done and, wanting to help his siblings, he rushed onto the other team’s court and lifted Lemmy up onto his shoulders. Round three was a nightmare that had you constantly rushing back and forth across the courtyard and Junior violently swinging his racket and almost smacking you in the face multiple times. You didn’t really mind though because each Koopaling you looked at was smiling.

That was what mattered.

After having his tantrum up in his room, which was both from your call out and his realization that when he sat the letter on his desk he’d set it right in a puddle of ink and he’d have to rewrite it, Bowser wandered into the mess hall for something to eat. He’d been so busy concocting his plan that food had nearly escaped his thoughts. Luckily Kammy had traveled up to his room to let him know that most of the soldiers had finished their meals and were heading back out for duty which meant he could eat in peace.

The hall was quiet with only a few stragglers here and there letting their stomachs settle. When Bowser walked down towards the line they each greeted as he passed their tables. No matter what kind of mood he was in he almost always made an effort to give them acknowledgment even if it was just a nod. He stomped down the line with a plate, grabbing whatever smelled the most enticing to his sensitive koopa nose, and eventually plopped down at a table. He tore into his food a bit rougher than was probably acceptable for a king but he honestly wasn’t thinking about that. He couldn’t get his thoughts off you and the things that you said.

Who were you to just show up in his castle and grill him for an explanation? Peach? Not happy with him? He would make her the happiest in the world if she gave him a chance. He knew he could. She was just stubborn and needed to realize that. But of course it had been years since he started chasing after her so why was it taking so long? Would she really not be happy with him?

No. He couldn’t let your words get the best of him. You didn’t know what you were talking about.

Although… that wasn’t the first time he’d heard something like that. Peach had spent a good amount of time when he began kidnapping her telling him that she wasn’t ready for marriage and that she didn’t see him that way. Over time she’d stopped saying it and Bowser had taken that as her starting to give in.

A deep frown grazed Bowser's muzzle. He didn't like this at all.

Loud yelling and laughing poured into the hall as Iggy pulled the door to the courtyard open and slid through. He didn't bother shutting it behind him. Curious, and having forgotten what Ludwig said during his tantrum, Bowser picked up his plate and moved to a table closer to the courtyard. Luckily there was one nearby that would give him a relatively good view if he sat in the right spot.

His eyes tracked over everybody in the courtyard.

The net along with the white lines drawn on the ground told him that the ones out there were playing a game. Wendy, Ludwig, and Morton with Lemmy on his shoulders were all in his line of sight. The rackets in their hands helped jog his memory. Badminton.

The Koopalings that Bowser could see were all showing off bright happy smiles. But if those four were on one team who was on the other side? Bowser leaned back a little on the bench and glanced out the window. With how high up they were he couldn't see the kids but after a second your figure bounded into his field of vision. You had Junior on your shoulders and he took a big swing to hit the birdie and Bowser watched you jerk your head to the side in time to avoid the racket.

Your voice echoed through the door, "Nice try Junior! You'll get it next time!" He'd knocked the birdie out of bounds, "And good hit Wendy that was awesome!" You disappeared when you ran forward.

Quickly switching back to the door he saw you crouching down next to the net with your hand out to Wendy. She seemed wary at first but a wobbly smile made its way to her face and she gave you an awkward high five. There was a tiny blush on her cheeks from embarrassment but she shook it off and called for Ludwig's serve.

Bowser watched the back and forth for a few minutes in interest. Anytime someone did good or bad you cheered them on to keep going and just the sound of your praises made his heart race. He couldn't tear his eyes away from you as you ran around your side of the court. You were sweating, he could see it rolling down your nose, and clearly getting tired out but you refused to give up on the kids. Your smile never wavered.

You looked so pretty smiling like that.

The Koopa King snapped himself back to reality the second that thought crossed his mind. For a few paces he didn't move and avoided looking out the window at you again. He only let his eyes wander back to the courtyard when your opposing team let out screams of joy. Junior threw his racket down and let out a loud groan.

"No way we lost!"

You were quick to lift his spirits by grabbing him under his arms and moving him up and over your head to set him on the ground and saying, "That's okay though. If you never lose you'll never get any better you know. I'd say that was pretty good for my first game."

Every Koopaling in the courtyard looked at you a bit confused by the 'losing is okay sometimes' rhetoric. You patted Junior's head and walked over to the net again where you knelt down and offered both hands up for the other team.

"You guys did so well, that was awesome to watch." Individually each one came up and double high fived you, "thanks for inviting me to play I had fun."

You'd quieted down which made it difficult for Bowser to hear as well as moments before. He knew you had to be congratulating them because they all watched you closely and smiled.

Junior ran up behind you and launched himself up onto your arched back, "I want a rematch! This time I know we-ah!" You'd lost your balance and toppled forward onto the dirt. You were laying flat on your stomach and Junior was luckily cushioned from a fall by landing on his knees on top of you.

Bowser winced. For him or any other koopa that would have been fine but humans were fragile.

"Maybe we can play another game?" You wheezed.

Checking her phone, Wendy sat her racket down and said, "Roy, we're gonna be late." And before Bowser knew it the two of them were pushing through the door and running from the mess hall yelling about how if they missed the episode they'd lose their minds.

Lemmy flipped off of Morton's shoulders and dropped his racket as well. He offered a hand to Junior and pulled him up from your back. You slowly got to your feet, still a little out of breath. Lemmy would never know but you were grateful to that little chaos child. Larry let out clicks that made his brother nod vigorously.

"We're gonna go set some bob-ombs off for fun you wanna join?" Lemmy askedson's.

Junior bounced up and down, "Ooh ooh I want to!"

Bowser chuckled at his sons. They were little miscreants.

"I think I'll pass," you responded.

Surprisingly understanding, yet still muttering that you were boring, Lemmy nodded. He, Larry, and Junior all ran out of the courtyard and out of the hall. That left you, Iggy, Morton, and Ludwig.

Ludwig cleared his throat, "I need to head off to study for my recital."

"Oh what do you play?" You asked.

A little taken back at your interest, Ludwig said, "cello."

You clapped your hands together, "Oh I'd love to hear you play sometime."

Ludwig felt a twinge of selfishness in his chest. Usually people outside of his family didn't care about his music but the smile on your face proved honest intention. He blushed a little, which was extremely unlike him, and he glanced away awkwardly.

"Feel free to join me if you'd like." He muttered.

Morton stomped up beside you, “Morton join too.”

Iggy bounded over from his spot as well and decided it was better than sitting alone and doing nothing. Both he and Morton grabbed your hands and all but dragged out through the door into the mess hall. For whatever reason, Bowser hadn’t taken note of the fact that your clothes had been changed until you were directly in front of him. He knitted his eyebrows together in confusion. Where had you gotten that outfit? Surely none of his soldiers or servants had given it to you. It wasn’t like they had much human sized clothing just laying around and anything they did have was Peach’s signature pink dresses in her room in the royal wing. But your outfit was… his colors.

And you looked enticing in them.

You glanced over your shoulder in search of Ludwig, who was following a few steps behind you and his brothers, but got the surprise of Bowser’s eyes locked onto you. You flushed at the slightly dumbstruck look on his face. His brows were high and his mouth was very slightly open. How long had he been there? Before you had the chance to give him any acknowledgement, the boys gave your arms a rough tug that you were sure could have dislocated something if you weren’t careful. Bowser watched your face slightly contort, “Be careful you two that hurts,” you expressed as your legs finally started to move properly. With your back to him you ran from the mess hall.

The Koopa King nearly choked on his saliva when he saw the backside of your jumpsuit. Whoever had made it for you must not have informed you of the fact that his emblem was spread across the middle of your back. His hand smacked down on the table and he stood up from the shock. Maybe it was time to check up on Ludwig’s playing…

The kids led you up some stairs and into a room you hadn’t yet seen. It was big, as were most rooms thus far, and different instruments were packed up along the back wall. You didn’t expect Bowser’s castle to have a music room and especially not with so many options.

“The king had this room renovated a few years ago when Ludwig started performing in recitals for the people,” Iggy explained, finally releasing your hand and dropping down to sit on the floor despite the chairs stacked off in the corner.

You, and Morton, followed after the boy and looked to Ludwig for confirmation. He walked by the three of you towards a case and clicked the locks open. After removing his cello he wandered back over onto a small stand where he climbed into a chair and started adjusting himself into a comfy position.

“Did Bowser actually do that just for you?” you asked.

He paused and a small smile creeped onto his face, “He’s much more of a soft hearted koopa than people give him credit for.”

Your breath hitched. So he had done as Iggy said. Before you could stop yourself you sighed a heavy, “that’s really sweet,” that had Bowser’s heart clenching as he stood outside the door to the room. The idea that he would go out of his way to have a whole room set up for his son’s passion was something incredible. Despite all of the problems he constantly caused for the Mushroom Kingdom it was evident Bowser wasn’t all bad. He was a pretty good father.

Bowser waited until the moment Ludwig began to play to slip into the room. He wanted to ensure the door didn’t make any noise to alert any of you to his presence. Ludwig of course noticed but that was because he already knew his father had been following the four of you up the stairs. He pretended he didn’t though. Intricate and beautiful music flowed from the boy note after note that had you sitting up tall and watching him with amazed eyes. He played so well for a kid his age. It seemed like he was on the level with adult orchestrators back in your home. He’d surely give them a run for their money. Ludwig played three songs for his small audience, all of which were a part of his program, before finally accepting that it was enough practice for the day. He could go back and correct his errors when he was alone.

You clapped cheerfully for him when he gave you all a little bow.

“That was amazing Ludwig. You’re really a master at your art. I can’t imagine how good it’ll be in concert,” You praised, barely able to contain your excitement.

Ludwig, finally starting to get used to your compliments, smiled and said, “Why thank you.”

Bowser drank in the way your energy affected his children. Despite being his prisoner at the moment you were taking time to play with all of them and that seemed to make them happy. He often didn’t have time to spend with each Koopaling or Junior thanks to how much work he had weighing on his shoulders.

“What about you Lord Bowser, did you enjoy it?” Ludwig asked, looking at his father next to the door.

You visibly tensed up where you sat. Iggy and Morton both turned to look at him and called out greetings to their father. You however couldn’t bring yourself to greet him. Was he following you around? Had you overstepped by not going back to your cage after badminton? Bowser almost chuckled at your fear, it sent a primal feeling to his gut, but he managed to hold it in with his children present.

“You’re doing great kiddo you’ll knock their shells off,” Bowser commented.

Ludwig moved to put his things away while Iggy cocked his head to the side and asked, “Do you need something papa Bowser?”

“Yes, you normally don’t visit while I’m rehearsing, is there something you need?” Ludwig added.

With a scoff, Bowser crossed his arms.

“What? I have to have some reason to come in here? I can’t just wanna watch my son practice his awesome cello skills?” he was feigning upset, you could hear it in his voice. Iggy giggled at your side. You were sure Ludwig did as well though it was a muffled sound that he tried to hide. “I do need to talk to the prisoner if you kids are done dragging them around for now.”

“Well of course you may take them anytime you wish Lord Bowser,” Ludwig responded.

Within a few minutes after that the three Koopalings left the room which meant it was just you and Bowser. You pushed off the ground to get to your feet. What could Bowser want with you now?

“Walk with me,” he muttered.

Nervously, you pattered across the floor to meet where he was already disappearing around the corner. You passed through the doorway quickly, worried you’d lose him if you were too slow, only to trip over his tail. Apparently he’d stopped right outside to wait for you. You let out a small shriek as your body plummeted towards the hard floor but luckily Bowser was kind enough to reach a hand out. Although he didn’t really catch you it was more like he grabbed around your waist and lifted you up. He held you in the air, careful not to squeeze you too tight, and you pressed your hands against his.

You blushed madly at the predicament.

Bowser hand was warm and you could feel where his claws rested against you. He could end you then and there if he wanted. A little squeeze or simple shift of his fingers and you’d be done for. But he didn’t do that. He stared at you a little surprised at himself for his actions. You were staring down at his hand, your own grazing over the spiked band around his wrist, and didn’t say anything at first.

“You should watch where you’re walking,” Bowser grumbled.

When you finally let your gaze travel to his face you let out a little ‘eep’. He was holding you so close to him. His eyes, typically harsh, were gentle with the glow of torches on the walls reflected off them. Your heart was racing in your chest and your throat was tight. What in the world were you feeling? You should have been trembling but all you could do was admire the way he looked in the light. The blush on your face spread up your ears and you apologized in embarrassment. Bowser’s tail smacked the ground as he felt his own blush creeping up his neck.

Bowser didn't speak at first. He was too busy thinking about how small you looked in his hand. How easily he'd scooped you up. He was a predatory creature and having you completely immobile and in his grasp made his tail swish back and forth excitedly.

"Y-you can put me down now," your voice cracked.

Reluctantly, Bowser did as you said.

Clearing your throat you reminded him, "You uh wanted to talk to me?"

"Right, let's go," he turned away from you and stalked down the hall with you eventually popping up beside him. "Kamek suggested I familiarize myself with you since we don't know how long you'll be here. And personally I'd like to know what you've been doing all day with my children."

Wait…

"I thought you were sending the letter as soon as you finished it," you said.

A snarl escaped Bowser, why were you always questioning him? And why was he inclined to answer you?

"It's unknown how long it will take for someone to come for you. The trip from the Mushroom Kingdom to mine is almost a full day unless you have a fast mode of transportation like me and the Koopalings." He responded.

"Oh."

You'd never taken that trip yourself so you weren't too knowing of the time it could take. You knew that when Mario would go after Peach he was usually gone for a few days. So what Bowser was telling you seemed reasonable.

You stuck your hands in your jumpsuit pockets, feeling Wendy's eyeliner pencil that must have moved over from your pajama bottoms when your clothes changed, and asked, "May I ask something first? Then I'll answer anything you ask, within reason of course."

Bowser grunted which you took as a yes.

"Did you really have that whole room decked out just for Ludwig?"

For a second, Bowser didn't respond. Ludwig had already answered this question for you so why were you asking him? You knew it was yes. When the Koopa King glanced down and saw your wide, expectant eyes he blubbered out a little ‘yes’ and looked away thinking it would help his racing pulse.

Bowser closed his eyes with a little smile as he recalled the memory.

“Ludwig had been playing a lot, you can hear it echo down the royal wing if he does it with his door open, and Lemmy, being the loudmouth he is, exposed during dinner that his brother had signed up to play in town for some commoners. I hadn’t really thought that much about how passionate Ludwig was but it opened my eyes.” A hand went up to Bowser’s neck awkwardly when he noticed your eyes hadn’t left him once, “His room’s huge and all but I figured it might be better to have a separate place for all that so I had that old room remade into a place where he could escape to. He’s not big on showing his emotions but seein’ his little eyes light up when I showed him was really nice.” he explained before falling into a comfortable silence.

You chuckled, “You’re a big softie.”

Bowser growled and looked down at you but you just gave him a teasing look. He rounded the corner sharply and ran a hand over his mane. At first, you didn’t say much else. You thought how it could have gone when he revealed the surprise to Ludwig. Bowser seemed like the kind of guy that would get too excited and tell someone ahead of time by accident but from the sound of it he’d kept the secret. You could imagine the kind of smile Bowser must have had. Something wide and filled with pride over his son’s happiness.

“That was very kind of you to do for him. You adopted the Koopalings right? It was probably very important for him to know you love him.” The softness in your voice nearly made Bowser into a puddle on the spot.

No more was there a teasing tone or grin but instead a gentle quirk of your lips.

He had to change the subject. He wouldn’t survive if you kept that up.

“I thought it was my turn to question you now,” Bowser said.

“Right right. Sorry,” You paused. “You’re sweet though. It’s nice.”

Finally seeming to get the hint that you staring up at him with your soft eyes was too much to handle you turned your attention back forward.

“I played with Iggy, Larry, Lemmy, and Junior this morning,” you started, remembering that he’d asked about them, and you counted things off on your fingers, “Junior was showing me how he paints and you saw my hair and face. That was Iggy and Lemmy. And then I had that visit with you. Uh, Ludwig fixed my outfit for me and then took me to the mess hall where Junior and I ate lunch. We played badminton and, well, you know the rest.”

“I saw you playing in the courtyard. They seem to like you,” Bowser said.

You smiled, “I’m glad, I can’t imagine what it’s like if they don’t like you.”

“Not good.”

His response made you giggle a little.

“Why did you play with them? You’re a prisoner aren’t you supposed to cower and not befriend the enemy’s kids?” He asked.

The answer to that was a simple, “They asked.”

Though at first that wasn’t technically true everything after the first time was of your own volition. You enjoyed it. The smiles on their little faces made it worth it.

Bowser didn’t entirely understand. You were most likely calm because of Peach sharing her experiences with him which made things more predictable but you didn’t need to go out of your way to spend time with his children. You could have just sat alone somewhere and waited to be saved.

“Did Junior actually eat real food or something filled with sugar and no nutrients?”

The inquiry made you chuckle. So the Koopalings hadn’t been joking when they said Junior was tough with that type of thing. “He had the same thing as you. Just the chicken and veggie wrap- oh! And half a cookie thanks to Iggy betraying me.”

“That’s preposterous Junior doesn’t eat onions- wait what do you mean half a cookie?” Bowser proudly proclaimed, seeming to think he’d caught you in a lie.

You ignored the first half of his sentence and said, “Yeah he gave me the other half.”

Bowser felt like he was going to reboot. Junior never shared his sweets with basically anyone. The last time he’d seen his son do that was to protect himself from blackmail by Lemmy for staying up past bedtime playing video games. And yet he’d given you, someone he didn’t know, half his cookie. It was unbelievable. He’d have to ask the Koopalings about it later when you weren’t around.

After walking around for a few more minutes, the two of you were coming up to the end of a hallway with a big window on the wall. Bowser unhooked the clasp locking it and pushed it open. You were greeted with a view of the Koopa Kingdom that you didn’t know even existed.

“Why were you asleep in Peach’s room last night?” Bowser moved on to his second important question. Though when Kamek had said ‘familiarize yourself with the prisoner’ that’s not what he’d meant.

It wasn’t that you meant to ignore him. You were simply mesmerized by what you were looking at. Large rolling volcanic hills were visible in the distance that got gradually smaller the closer toward the town and castle they got. Lava rivers flowed somewhat calmly and intricately around the entirety of the kingdom. The sun seemed to set a little earlier than in the Mushroom Kingdom as it was already starting to hide behind the tallest mountains. You were sure it couldn’t be any later than five in the evening and yet the last rays of sun just brushed the highest points of the castle. Bits of ash flew in the air when a hot breeze wafted through the window. It rustled your hair. Even with all the lava around, the temperature of the outdoors wasn’t even remotely uncomfortable like you would assume.

When you didn’t answer Bowser’s question he looked down at you. It really grated on his nerves that you had a habit of not answering him. He was about to repeat his question but the moment his eyes caught your face all words escaped him. Your lips were slightly parted in an exasperated sigh. He could see your eyes, shiny and wide with amazement, passing over the entirety of his kingdom’s land. The king had never in his life seen someone look at his home that way.

“So beautiful.” You finally breathed.

Bowser’s throat tightened. He didn’t expect that to come out of your mouth. Your brow creased and you placed both hands on the edge of the window to lean out for a better view. Lifting yourself a little caused you to rise to your tippy toes and even come completely off of the ground eventually. One of Bowser’s hands instinctively went out, his thumb and forefinger pressing lightly against your hips, to ensure that you didn’t topple over.

“You tryna have a face to face with my pavement?” he asked teasingly.

Right, you thought, he probably didn’t want to lose his pawn on the chess board by having you swan dive into the soldiers below.

He just didn’t want you to get hurt. You. Not his pawn.

You didn’t move from your position but you did readjust your weight distribution so that you were sitting more into his hand, “I never realized just how pretty your kingdom is. I mean, I never got to see it in person before now but it’s not what I expected.”

“Let me guess you expected some dark and unruly land with the people fighting in the street over scraps or something?” Bowser huffed.

“Why would you think that?”

“Because that’s what everyone thinks.”

There was a beat of silence.

“No just…” You struggled to find the right words, “this is incredible.”

Crack!

You yelped at the sudden explosion of sound from a loose lighting strike in the distance and lept backwards into Bowser’s hand. He laughed loudly at your reaction earning an angry glare. It wasn’t fair for him to make fun of you when you… you didn’t know that was going to happen!

“That’s normal here,” he leaned his free arm on the sill and sniffed the air, “Lightning storm, from all the volcanic activity. It’s really the only weather we get.”

When you didn’t move back to your previous spot he gave you a side glance, “What’s wrong? Scared of some lightning? Don’t worry I won’t let ya get hurt.” his voice was low, almost like a growl.

You flushed.

“T-thanks.”

It felt oddly reassuring.

You remained sitting back in Bowser’s hand until your heart rate was able to return to normal. He didn’t seem to mind. You knew well enough that if he did mind he’d say something. He just let you sit there while somewhat panicking inside. Slowly the blood pounding in your ears eased and your muscles relaxed. You put your hand on his thumb and pushed to stand back up. Only when you were steady did Bowser move his hand from behind you and place it along the window with his other. He was hunched over and, thanks to his shell, took up most of the space which left you squeezed close to him if you wanted to be able to see.

You weren’t quite sure what you were feeling in your situation. Bowser was so much more than a two dimensional villain and thanks to being mistaken for Peach you were starting to learn that. All your previous knowledge of who he was and how he acted felt void when there was an entire side to him you didn’t see. While you wanted to hate him for constantly hurting both your home and your friend things were much more complicated now. You couldn’t hate him.

He loved his kids. He loved his kingdom and its people.

“Not everyone thinks that you know?” when he looked at you with a raised eyebrow you quickly continued, “I don’t.”

You copied Bowser’s pose and leaned on the small portion of the window sill left. Your arm brushed up against his and instead of tugging away you just let it happen.

“I’m not sure what I expected but this isn’t it. Everything here is so beautiful.” you said.

Bowser, ever the one with low self control, mumbled something before he was able to realize what.

“Yes, you are.”

That also wasn’t what Kamek had meant.

Your head snapped in his direction where his expression showed that he certainly hadn’t meant to vocalize that thought. He had been looking at you and thanks to your proximity, with the frame of the window holding you both in place, your noses weren’t more than five inches apart. What were you even supposed to say as a response to something like that from the least likely person in the world? You let out a soft and flustered chuckle that made him quickly turn his attention back outside.

Was he embarrassed? King Bowser of the Koopa Kingdom? Embarrassed in front of you?

“Not a word.” “Don’t worry about it.”

But…did he really think you were beautiful?

It was the one question that refused to leave your head for the remainder of your conversation with Bowser. After you finally explained how you’d wound up in Peach’s bed, which for some reason he was dead set on knowing, he went quiet. He was unsure of what to ask you. Getting to know someone wasn’t something the Koopa King was familiar with. Luckily you were able to help him. You talked about your interests like what foods, animals, and plants you liked. It surprisingly wasn't hard for Bowser to talk about himself once someone got the ball rolling. You figured he wasn’t used to people actually listening based on the way he kept his responses short at the beginning. Soon though he became a pretty good conversation partner. He shared his own interests, he preferred meat over veggies as he had a carnivorous diet, he could play piano thanks to Kamek, he’d always wanted to be in a snowball fight, and he had a sweet tooth for buttercream frosting on cake. He told you how frustrating his work had been and that it’s made things hard on his relationship with his kids. And he complained about some diplomats who he felt were trying everything to make things difficult.

It seemed like almost an hour had gone by when a loud chime echoed through the halls. You looked behind you at the hallway while Bowser groaned and pushed off of the window sill.

“That’s Kamek letting me and the kids know that dinner is prepared,” He stretched, and the sight of him reaching his strong arms up over his head made your head swim, “You oughta head to the mess hall and get yourself something.”

You watched him roll his shoulders back which made his chest puff out before you said anything, “We can walk together if you’d like.”

“The kids and I don’t eat dinner in the mess hall. We have it in the dining hall together every night. Sometimes it’s the only chance I get to see them.” He said with a stretch of his neck.

You were surprised that he was letting you actually go off on your own. For the entire day you’d been with at least one member of the royal family. Of course he knew you wouldn’t be able to escape with all his soldiers around but there was something warming about the fact that he was trusting you enough to not feel the need to escort you.

Part of you didn’t want to leave his side. You’d talked so much and gotten to know each other so well. Much more than you would ever have without the Koopalings kidnapping you. But at the same time you definitely needed some time alone to wind down after your very busy day. You left Bowser at the window with a wave, not noticing the way his tail wrapped around your ankles possessively and brushed by them as you moved, and a smile and headed down the hall. Unfortunately it took you quite a long time to find the mess hall on your own considering you hadn’t been in the castle long enough to memorize anything. Everything was winding and there were staircases all over that had you going up and down on repeat. The walk did give you some time to think.

You wished you understood why you got a swirling feeling in your stomach when he smiled at you and your heart raced when he spoke a certain way. He was Bowser. The Koopa King. The guy that kidnapped your friend more than a handful of times. You didn’t know how to feel. It seemed wrong to find yourself…crushing on someone who did that type of stuff to your home and friends. What would Peach say? Would she hate you for it? No. She wouldn’t hate you. She wasn’t like that. But she wouldn’t approve of it either. It was all so confusing. A day before you would have thought him nothing but a monster.

But now… there was so much more depth to him.

You rubbed your temples as you finally descended a set of stairs that looked familiar. You were finally back on the bottom floor and the mess hall was around the corner. Good cause after running around during badminton coupled with the stress of talking to Bowseryou were half starved already.

The hall was much more packed this time. It seemed dinner had only just started which left the line almost backed up to the door as well as every table packed. Hundreds of koopa troopas, dry bones, goombas, hammer bros, and many others talked loudly about their day. You couldn’t bother them. So you weaved between them and once you got your food from the line, some delicious smelling soup with bread and a tart for dessert, you wandered through the familiar door to the courtyard and sat yourself on a bench.

You frown down at your soup.

This was all frustrating.

Your conversation with Bowser had helped him relax a bit and it was obvious the moment he walked into the dining hall. His kids, the ones that had arrived thus far at least, knew something was different. His shoulders were dropped and his usual scowl was replaced with a slightly dopey smile. As he made his way to his seat at the head of the table he greeted his kids happily.

Wendy, and her occasionally hopeless romantic mind, immediately knew it had to have been you. You were the only new thing in the castle and they hadn’t seen him so at ease for a while. Oh but what could have happened? She tried to think of the possibilities. She went through all the romcoms she watched with Roy. All the popular tropes. If Roy were there yet she’d probe him about it as well but he had yet to show.

Ludwig gave her a knowing nod when she scanned the table and locked eyes with him. He was thinking almost the exact same thing she was plus he had the extra knowledge that you’d gone off with their father over an hour before. Something happened in that hour. He wanted to know what.

Morton wasn’t the most conversational but he wasn’t an idiot so of course he noticed the way his father’s smile didn’t waver when he sat. It had to be the pretty human they’d taken on accident. After all you had been a sweetheart to all of them so maybe you’d buttered their dad up as well.

Lemmy and Larry spoke in whispers in their seats. Well, whatever a whisper for Larry was considered. Papa Bowser was clearly swooning over something and that something had to be you.

Iggy and Junior both ran into the dining hall at the same time, yelling a ‘hi’ to Bowser, before hopping in their respective chairs. The moment Iggy was settled his head cocked to the side while staring his father in the face. His eyes looked weird, like when he was thinking about something he enjoyed. Junior wasn’t as keen to observe his father’s microexpressions but he could just feel that the energy was different.

Roy walked in last with his sunglasses propped up on his head. He’d been busy studying and had missed the chime the first couple times. He climbed into his seat next to Wendy and the moment his eyes brushed over Bowser his mouth dropped a little and the movement made his glasses fall down. His head turned back and forth from Wendy to Bowser. Oh this was different.

Servants brought out each family member's plate of food with a metal lid on top to keep it warm. Once they situated everyone's meal and ensured no one needed anything else they escaped back to the kitchen quickly. That was when all hell broke loose at the table.

Everyone started talking at once to each other and to Bowser. Normally he would just leave that ride but he had his own questions he needed to ask them. He easily overpowered all eight voices with his and thanks to none of the kids expecting such an outburst they went quiet pretty quickly. Except for Junior who was finishing up a sentence that seemed to be him asking where you’d gone.

“Alright it sounds like you all had a pretty eventful day so why don’t you tell me about it- one! At a time!” Bowser suggested.

He picked up his fork stabbed at the side of meat on his plate beside his soup. Carnivore diet.

The kids all glanced at each other unsure of who should start the conversation. Iggy decided to break the silence.

“The princess fake,” that earned a glare from Ludwig who didn’t approve of the name, “let me put a bunch of hair clips on them this morning! I was trying to make cool designs with their hair but they kept getting tangled. And then I went to study some magic. And then I caught the end of the badminton game and we went and then and then and then we listened to Ludwig play and I set up some magic traps around the castle for fun!”

It wasn’t unusual for Iggy to get so excited when talking about something. He was a pretty hyper kid. But he was also talking too fast for anyone other than Larry to understand. Wendy took over the conversation next in hopes to stop Iggy from running on a rant about any of it.

“Roy and I did our morning studying before going into town to see what new stuff the shops had.”

Roy piped up, “There wasn’t anything great to be honest.”

“Yeah sadly. I’m not surprised though. You know the imports into our kingdom aren’t the greatest with how everyone else looks at us. It’s hard to get stuff worth putting in the shops that isn’t food. Luxuries are hard to come by. Anyway, before lunch I proposed a game of badminton since it’s been so long so we had Kammy set that up for us.” Wendy ranted.

Bowser, nibbling at a chunk of food, nodded along as he listened.

“Yeah and the human play-”

“Lemmy.” Bowser mumbled, “One at a time.”

All the Koopalings paused and stared at their father. He was almost never so calm when one of them was being obnoxious.

After swallowing a chuckle at her father’s actions, Wendy continued, “As Lemmy said, the human came down and had lunch before joining us for the game. For never playing before they did pretty good after they got the hang of it. And…” she took a second to think back on it with a smile, “they congratulated me when I did well.”

Bowser noted the way his daughter’s face changed. She was usually kind of closed off and aggressive when it came to her feelings but she was openly showing that something had made her happy. If Wendy liked you then that had to count for something.

“And we had to run off to catch our show because last week’s episode ended on a cliffhanger-”

“Majorly unfair of them.”

“After that Roy left to study and I organized my room a little and practiced my magic.”

Roy gave his dad a thumbs up with one hand and Wendy one with the other. He was a child of few words sometimes so it was totally normal for his sister to talk for him. She also was better at keeping track of what happened during the day. Roy spaced out too much most of the time. Wendy rolled her eyes playfully at him.

“I caught the end of your badminton game. Your team won, aren't you proud?” Bowser asked.

The revelation that their father saw a portion of their game made them all pause from eating. Oh yeah you definitely had to be the reason he was currently so smiley.

“Yeah it was fun.” “It was my team too!” “They were super sweet about it too even though they lost.” “My turn Papa Bowser! My team won!”

Bowser didn’t worry about stopping Lemmy from talking this time considering Wendy was perfectly content to pass the conversation off to him.

Lemmy started to bounce in his chair a little as he talked, explaining that he’d drawn all over your face, Ludwig was eternally grateful that he skipped finding you trying to escape in the hallway, and then recounted how bad you’d been at the game. Bowser had only seen that end of the last round when you weren’t using your own racket but he tried to imagine you running around aimlessly trying to hit the birdie. You probably tripped over your own feet and got smacked a few times. Obviously you still tried or you wouldn’t have gotten to a third round.

After Lemmy was Larry. He was just happy to have someone like you around. He liked you. A lot. He made a comment about not wanting you to leave.

Bowser almost verbally agreed with his son but caught himself.

Then there was Morton, who used few words but got his point across that everything he’d done that day was fun, and then Ludwig. The blue haired koopa recounted everything that day which included a few study sessions for magic, the game, and then his musical practice which had been followed by him reading in the library for a bit before dinner.

That left Junior. The kid had been itching the entire time to talk but, before he could even start, Bowser remembered something.

“What did you eat for lunch today, Junior?” He asked.

Wendy had thought of mentioning that part but it wasn’t really her place. If Junior didn’t then she would but she figured it was best to let him tell.

Junior brightly smiled up at his dad and scooped a bit with onion up into his spoon. He held it up where his dad could see and enthusiastically said, “Ungun.”

“He had the meat and vegetable wrap they offered in the mess hall.” Iggy jumped in.

Well so much for letting Junior tell him.

Bowser was confused, “But I thought you hated onions? Kamek’s never been able to get you to eat them before.”

“The human helped me try a piece and I really liked it papa! I ate the whole thing up,” Junior licked his lips for effect, “And we shared a cookie.”

The Koopa King quite literally couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Junior hadn’t been around you for an entire day and you’d gotten him to eat something that Kamek and Kammy had attempted for years at this point? What kind of wizard were you? Had Ludwig’s magic to change your clothes somehow affected your influence over people?

“Well I’m,” Bowser coughed to clear his throat, “I’m proud of you kid now you can eat enough to get strong like me.”

Junior’s smile didn’t waver.

“Yeah that’s what they told me too!”

Bowser bit back a grin.

“So what did you do today? Everyone else shared so it’s your turn.” he initiated.

“Well the human watched me paint for a little bit this morning, they said they really liked what I made and that made me happy, and then we had lunch together and they showed me how good onions are.” Junior ate a spoonful of his soup before continuing with full energy in his voice.

Bowser started to feel those fuzzy feelings again as he listened to his son’s tale. From the sound of it maybe you hadn’t been the wrong person for them to kidnap. They’d gone for Peach and gotten you but who knows what kind of day they would have had without you. Even he was glad that it was you.

After a few minutes when Junior finally finished his story about the bob-ombs, with Lemmy jumping in a few times from excitement, Bowser looked around at each of his children. They were all conversing among each other but the one defining thing was their smiles. Even Ludwig had a soft one he tried to hide.

“So you all like them even though you meant to kidnap someone else?”

The table fell silent. The truth was…

“Yeah.” “Yes.” “Papa, they're so nice of course we do.” “Uh yeah.” “Duh!” A chirp. “Morton like.”

When Roy answered the question he said, “Mhrm and from the look of it so do you.”

The kids snickered loudly. Bowser tensed and his eyes bounced to all of them.

“What?” He choked.

Wendy waved her hand, her bracelets jingling, and looked at Roy, “Classic romance trope, one is completely oblivious.”

Roy nodded but added on to that, “Yeah but I think they both are in this situation.”

“What are you talking about? Is there something funny I don’t know of?” Bowser started to sweat.

He didn’t even know what he was feeling, how could his kids? They had to be talking about something else right? Not his sudden infatuation with you?

“I don’t get it! It’s so obvious!” Lemmy cackled at his dad’s confusion.

Bowser tightened his grip on his fork until the laughing and teasing got to be too much and he slammed the end of the handle down on the table. Everything rattled aggressively at the sudden movement. When the kids looked at their dad he was red faced. Normally they’d all worry when he got that way but when Iggy pointed out that he wasn’t steaming like he did when angry they kept going. Talking about all the great things you’d done in your one day as prisoner and how it would entice him. Ludwig muttered a comment about how they had been alone together for over an hour that made Wendy slam her own hands down and shout, “No way!”

The onslaught continued all through their meal and dessert. No matter how many times Bowser tried to explain that he absolutely, 100%, no doubt about it, did NOT have a thing for you, no one listened. How were the kids supposed to believe him when he was sweaty palmed and his voice cracked like a young koopa still growing into their shell? According to Wendy and her expertise, books and movies and tv shows, he showed all of the signs of a man in denial.

Bowser finally called an end to dinner the second Larry made a clicking that Lemmy deduced as something about a wedding. The Koopalings and Junior couldn’t hold in their laughter as they saw their father scamper from the dining hall. They weren’t making fun of him per say. They all quite liked the idea of him having someone who actually reciprocated feelings for him. But it was too humorous to see him be a big softie for you. The king locked himself away in his room for the time being, he unfortunately would have to go back out for a meeting with the generals within the hour, to try and calm down.

He wasn’t used to these feelings. A racing heart, a flushed face, and to add insult to injury everytime he closed his eyes he saw you smiling at him. The man was going mad. He needed to talk to Kamek.

By the time you’d finished your food the hall had cleared out a bit. Even with how hungry you were you couldn’t get your thoughts to quiet so it took you quite a bit to actually eat. Luckily the soup had stayed warm so it was still very tasty. The tart had gone cold though so that wasn’t the best. Who cared though? You had more important things to deal with. Such as your growing admiration for a certain Koopa King.

You wished you could talk to Peach or even Toadsworth. They could hopefully steer you at least in the right direction from where you sat.

Getting up, you headed inside the hall and made sure to shut the glass door behind you. You walked your plate over to the return and sat it down gently. With how long you’d taken you were almost sure that Bowser, Junior, and the Koopalings were done with their own dinner. Hell, it’d taken so long that the sun had fully set. If you had to guess they were probably in their own rooms winding down for bed.

Well, you thought, it’d be nice to at least wish them all goodnight.

You stared at the first staircase up with a somber look in your eyes. It was going to take you forever to find your way back to the royal wing.

A small patter of feet sounded from beside you and when you glanced down there was a magikoopa that you hadn’t seen before hopping up the steps. She had short gray hair and long purple robes similar to Kamek’s along with her broom in her hand. She seemed to have ignored you completely as she made her way up. Awkwardly, you called out to her. She paused and turned on the step, which was big enough that her whole body wasn’t even enough to take up one, glancing at you.

“Can I help you prisoner?” She asked in a slight squawk.

Wow, Iggy’s impression had been spot on.

“Are you Kammy?”

She nodded.

“Uh sorry to bother you but I was going to the royal wing and I don’t think I can-”

“Find it on your own?”

It was your turn to nod with a sheepish smile on your lips.

She let out a little sigh but waved to you to follow her anyway, “I’m heading past there so I can take you most of the way.”

You thanked her more than once realizing how much time you would have wasted when she took a left at the first turn and not a right like you would have. You tried to make conversation with her and to your surprise she was actually super relaxed. Apparently she was another one of the royal family’s magikoopas who had been with them for years and was on her way to her study to get the rundown of what the plan was with you.

Oh that’s right, you’d kind of spaced it, you were being used as a bargaining chip.

She asked if you were the reason Bowser stormed into his room about forty minutes prior. She’d received a call on her mirror from Kamek about it but Kamek wouldn’t explain what had happened. You had no clue what she was talking about but she seemed pretty adamant that it was something to do with you. There didn’t seem to be a point in arguing.

Kammy complimented you on your ability to handle all of the Koopalings and Junior during the day. It seemed Kamek had also told her about your babysitting escapades. In her own different way she appeared fond of you. Anyone who could wrangle in Bowser’s gremlins deserved at least a little praise.

Eventually you started to see familiar hallways and Kammy pointed down one of them.

“Down the hall and take a right, that’s the royal wing. His grumpiness, Kamek, and I will be in the library war room discussing plans so please don’t bother us.” she explained.

You assured her that you weren’t planning on it. It wasn’t like you could even if you wanted to considering you had no idea where the library even was. She sent a soft grin your way before turning tail and running down the opposite way. Following her directions you finally wandered down the most familiar hallway to you. All the doors that led to the kids rooms were open, the only door that was still shut was Bowser’s. Probably to make sure no one went in if he wasn’t in there. Wendy’s room was the closest and you could finally give her eyeliner pencil back if you went there first.

Only a sound stopped you. Mumbling, slightly breathy and frustrated, was coming out of the room on the other side of the hall directly next to Bowser’s. You weren’t close enough to see the nameplate but if you remembered correctly that one was Junior’s. He sounded a little upset from what you could hear. You made your way over to his door and peeked through the open space.

You hadn’t seen his room yet but it was about what you’d expected. Huge, just like all the others in the royal wing, and surprisingly his was cleaner than the twins’ room. His toys were shoved haphazardly into a toy box against the wall with the lid stuck open from it overflowing. He had a little race car bed that looked just like the one you remembered seeing him drive on tv in the kart races during the inter-kingdom tournaments. And at the foot of the bed Junior was sitting on the floor. A little black towel was over his shoulders and his hair was down and wet like it was just freshly cleaned. You tried to listen to his mumbling but there was no way to tell what exactly he was saying and since his back was to you, you couldn’t see what he was doing either.

“Junior?” He jumped but didn’t turn, “You okay in here little guy?”

For a moment he didn’t respond. You wondered if maybe you should have just left him alone with whatever activity he’d been partaking in. Knowing Bowser’s family he could have been doing black magic or something.

Junior sniffled a little and looked over at you. There was a little cardboard book in his hands, slight indents where his claws started to poke, that was brightly colored and had childlike art on it. There was a star on one page with white lettering signifying words in the dark blue space of the night sky. It was a children’s book.

“Papa usually doesn’t have the time to read me a bedtime story so I’m trying to,” his lip trembled a little, “but it’s not right when I do it.”

Oh the poor thing.

You stepped into his room, pushing his door open gently, until you were next to his bed. He had three other books on the floor in front of him that you didn’t recognize. You’d grown up in the Mushroom Kingdom so your children's books were definitely different from the Koopa Kingdom.

“Well… I know I’m not your dad and I figure Peach is probably the one you want but,” remembering that Peach was the person the royal family wanted made your heart drop a bit, “I can read it to you-”

Junior zipped up to his feet quickly, “You can?!”

You watched the books on the floor fly away when he kicked them inadvertently. If it was possible his eyes would be sparkling at the idea. He looked up at you excited with a wide smile and held the book out to you. He extended his arms as far as he could. Junior started to bounce lightly back and forth from one foot to another while waiting for you to take the book.

“Yeah I can if you’d like,” you answered.

After taking the book from him you settled down on the floor beside his bed. The book was titled ‘The Fairy Who Wished to Join the Stars’. The cover was a small white fairy sitting on a lilypad and staring up at a constellation with nine stars. You didn’t recognize it as anything you’d ever read or had read to you. With the amount of times you’d scoured through the children’s books in the Mushroom Kingdom castle for the children of the higher up you would remember seeing something with such a beautiful cover. Maybe it was exclusively something from another kingdom.

You flipped the book open to the first page and opened your mouth to start reading when Junior stopped you. He didn’t say anything. He just weaved between your arms and sat down on the inside of your elbow and leaned against your shoulder. You bounced your arm a little and he giggled. To help with the extra weight you leaned to the side and put your shoulder against his bed so your arm was resting on the edge.

“On a dark and stormy night, when all the creatures hid from sight, a raindrop fell upon a magical flower. And then that droplet, so small and clear, was touched by light, but there was no fear.” You read.

Junior pointed a finger at the raindrop and then the fairy, “That’s how the fairy was born!”

“Yup! The raindrop brought it to life.” You watched his smile from the corner of your eye and gasped playfully before reading the next line, “A fairy was born. This fairy was little, no bigger than a mouse, “oh where shall I go?” it cried, “I have no house.””

You continued to read and made it through the first few pages with no problem. The book had the fairy wandering around for somewhere to wait out the rain, it had gone from a log to a leaf and eventually into a small open space in a tree. However when you flipped to a new page and started a line there was a creak from Junior’s doorway. You and Junior both looked over to see Iggy and Lemmy standing there. While you’d expected them to be their usual energetic selves it was a shock to see them both looking, dare you say, shy.

“Is everything okay you two?” You asked softly.

Lemmy nodded and Iggy pushed his brother in response. Lemmy shoved his brother back but didn’t go beyond that. He fidgeted with his hands nervously. They had something to ask you but considering they’d never experienced needing to ask it before neither boy knew what exactly to say.

“Can we join you?” Iggy finally spat out in a sutter.

That’s how you wound up with two more of the kids sitting on you while you read. Iggy was hung onto your other arm like a koala with his head on top of your shoulder and Lemmy had climbed up your back and was on his stomach on your head. You had to readjust yourself a bit because you were sure that if you weren’t careful Lemmy’s extra weight would give you a neck pain. You didn’t have the heart to ask them to move. Not when they seemed so happy.

You continued the story with the new audience after Junior caught them up on the first couple pages. The fairy moved on from the tree when the rain finally ended and out into the night. It didn’t know who it was or where it was meant to go so it wandered. Eventually it came across a family of animals and asked each one if they knew. Or course none of them were familiar with something like the fairy. After it wandered for most of the night it came across a lake where it sat on a lilypad and looked into the sky. The clouds moved and the fairy could see a beautiful constellation with nine bright shining stars of different hues.

Slowly, more of the Koopalings trickled into the room. Each one was equally shy about asking to join, which at first you hadn’t understood. Junior said that Bowser did get the chance to read to them every now and again so why was it so hard to ask you? Your ignorance caught up to you the moment the last one joined.

They craved comfort.

Each Koopaling was laying on you in some way. Morton had sat down between your thighs and leaned back into your torso, Roy was resting against Junior’s bedpost and had his legs dangled over yours, Wendy laid down on her side with her head on your calf where she could see your face, Ludwig was also laying down but on his back with his head on your thigh and his eyes closed, and Larry had hopped up onto Junior’s bed where he could rest his chin against the top of the shoulder for the arm Junior was in, Junior had slid down and was laying in your bent arm on his side with his face smushed into your chest. You figured that being able to see and feel you helped them be secure.

Happily, you read on. All the kids kept their attention on you as you did. The fairy and the stars spoke to each other. The fairy had concluded that since it couldn’t discover what it was on land then it should become a star like them. But the stars informed the fairy that it wasn’t possible. The fairy cried and cried because it just wanted to feel like it belonged. The stars tried to help the fairy realize that maybe it was just something new and that wasn’t anything to be sad about.

Your ears picked up gentle snoring from one kid that, as you read, soon multiplied until all of them were out cold. You decided to finish the story in case one of them wasn’t fully asleep. May as well since you’d made it that far.

The stars all complimented what the fairy could do. It could fly, it was beautiful, it was sweet, and it was the first they’d met who actually talked to them. You started to nod off a bit on the last few pages. It had been a long day so it wasn’t a shock that you were so tired. When the fairy started to understand that it was okay to be different and new it made an agreement with the stars. They would remain friends until the end of their times.

“The fairy felt, in it’s bright heart, that-” your own yawn cut you off, “that it would be happy with it’s life.”

You spoke the last bit with your head slowly inching down toward Larry’s, “‘I’ve found my home’ the fairy smiled at the stars, ‘oh how happy I am indeed.’” It was impossible to control your eyes from closing. The book flopped out of your hand and your breathing steadied out as you drifted off.

In the back of the castle library was a door that led to the war room meant for Bowser’s meetings and planning. Kammy and Kamek floated on their broom next to the king while he listened to all of the generals’ good and bad news. After the way dinner had gone Bowser was irritable but he tried his best to just listen. He always heard his people out and that didn’t change just because he was in peril over a crush.

From one subject to the next Bowser helped pose solutions to their problems with his chin in his hand. It was unbelievably difficult to not let his mind wander to you or the raging storm of unknown emotions inside him. When he’d told Kamek that he thought he was getting ill and Kamek asked what his symptoms were, the magikoopa had actually laughed. Well, it had been a choked back chuckle but Bowser caught it nonetheless.

How had Bowser missed you all these years? Of course he had occasionally seen you at Peach’s side before you would have to run and fulfill your invasion protection duties but he’d never really thought about you.

He choked on his spit when that thought entered his mind because it made him realize something else.

He hadn’t thought about Peach most of the day. You’d busted his tunnel vision by calling him out and since then she was mainly a passing thought.

A hammer bro called his name multiple times before he snapped back to attention.

“Apologies, what did you say?” Bowser asked.

His general’s usually didn’t take him spacing out too personally because lots of things were always on his mind. And sometimes he spaced out simply because he was bored but that was only when Kamek and Kammy both attended so they could catch him up if he missed anything.

“I asked about the human. Do you have some plan in mind for if or when the Mario Brothers show up?”

A plan? He hadn’t even rewrote his message to Peach yet which meant most likely she didn’t even know where you were at the moment. If you weren’t returned to the castle soon though she would probably get suspicious and he would be the first one she questioned. The idea of sending you back to your homeland had his heart twisting a little. But he wasn’t even entirely sure he wanted Peach out of the deal anymore. He didn’t really want you to leave at all. Though he’d learned enough about you to know that you wouldn’t be happy being forced to stay with him. Maybe you’d come back and visit him?

“The current plan is to-”

Bowser cut Kamek off, “I’m going to let them go.”

Every set of eyes in the room stared at him in utter shock.

“It was a mistake when the Koopalings took them and it would be unnecessary to keep them here. Tomorrow I will talk to them about when and how they’d like to be taken home. I will personally explain to the princess that it was an accident.” he explained.

Kamek squawked, “But your precariousness, what about your plan?”

Bowser scratched his chin with his claw, “I changed my mind.”

Kamek and Kammy shared a knowing look.

Awkwardly, everyone in the room nodded in understanding of their king’s declaration.

“Besides right now we need to focus our troops on the borders at the far end of the kingdom. We’ll be exposed if I have you all here to guard the castle.”

They all agreed and moved on to the next topic. It was another half an hour before the meeting ended and Bowser was exhausted. As his men filed out of the room one at a time he yawned.

“What time is it Kammy?” he asked.

“A little after nine thirty your tiredness,” she responded.

Ah, so the Koopalings and Junior would all be in bed. He’d hoped to catch them and say goodnight.

“Where did this change in plans come from?” Kamek asked when Bowser began to lumber out of the room.

“I wanna give Peach a breather,” he lied.

It wasn’t entirely a lie to be honest. Your words from this morning had struck a chord with him about how she had her own kingdom to run. Once again Kamek and Kammy shared a look. They would definitely be discussing all of this later on when everyone was asleep.

Bowser stomped his way through the halls until he reached his wing with the two magikoopas following behind. It was a shock to see that instead of his kids being asleep, like they were supposed to be, all of their doors were open wide. He peeked into Wendy’s. She wasn’t there. Next to her’s was Roy’s and… no he wasn’t in there either. With a small bout of panic in his stomach he sent Kamek and Kammy to search the other rooms. It was too late for them to be running around and causing problems. And it was too quiet which meant they could have left the castle again without his permission.

After checking nearly every room and finding nothing Kamek and Bowser turned to their friend. Kammy, who was checking the ones at the end of the hall, was standing in front of Junior’s doorway with a small gape of her beak. Bowser headed in her direction and the thud of his footsteps made her turn to him quickly and shush him aggressively with a small flailing of her arms. By the time the Koopa king had actually realized she was trying to quiet him down he’d already stopped in front of the door.

Now her gape had made sense. Because Bowser did the exact same.

There you were. On the floor with one side laying up against Junior’s bed and each of his children asleep on top of you. He couldn’t see your face from the angle but based on your soft breathing and lack of movement you were asleep as well. A picture book was open against your knee that seemed to have fallen from your hand.

There was a solid minute where Bowser couldn’t react. He found himself completely incapable of saying or doing anything. His heart raced in his chest just seeing how safe his children were with you. His tail wrapped around his own leg from the riding sense of pride in his chest. You looked so cozy.

“I wasn’t aware it was possible for them to all fall asleep in the same room.” Kamek muttered.

Kammy nodded, “We should move them to their beds.” she looked up at Bowser, “your flusteredness?”

Bowser flinched, was he blushing again?

“R-right. Let’s move them.”

Kamek and Kammy both used their magic to lift up one Koopaling at a time. Morton and Roy were the first ones moved back to their rooms. Bowser gently pried Iggy off of your arm and Lemmy from your head and sat them over his shoulder on their stomachs. He picked Larry up as well, who had apparently drooled down your sleeve, and walked as soft as he could to get to their rooms. Once he’d tucked all three of them in, Kammy was busy moving Wendy and Kamek had taken Ludwig. The only one left was Junior which Bowser could take care of. He sent his two magikoopas off for the night and entered Junior’s room. In your sleep you’d wrapped your now free arm around Junior and your head had dropped in his direction.

Bowser was worried that he’d wake you up so he tried to be as careful as possible when moving you. He eased you back enough to wiggle Junior out of your grasp. It was harder than it should have been thanks to his son’s little fists gripping onto your jumpsuit. The sight of you laying back on the floor below him made his tail swish. You were so small. And you were asleep. The predator in him knew exactly why it made him excited. He carefully maneuvered around to the other side of Junior’s bed and tucked him in.

When he was sure all the kids were secure in bed he moved on to you. Scooping you up into his hands was easy but the way you nuzzled into his plastron when he shifted you into his elbow sent his brain into overdrive. If you were awake would you have done the same thing? Realistically you’d probably pull away.

The question of where he was going to put you arose once some of the fog cleared from his head. Normally, he’d put you back in your cage in the throne room. He imagined the sight of your small form curled up on the bottom of the metal cage, face calm as you dreamed of who knows what. You looked calm in his arms too. If he didn’t have to sleep as well he might just leave you there in the crook of his elbow with your body pressed against him. It did feel really nice.

He watched your slow breathing through your parted lips. You really were beautiful. He reached up with his free hand and traced a claw over your delicate cheek. You hardly reacted.

No he couldn’t put you in the cage. That would be cruel.

There were guest rooms a few floors down but… he didn’t want you to be so far away.

Holding you close to him, he left Junior’s room and turned down the corner at the end of the hall where a pink door with a crown on it resided. This way you would be close and comfortable. The guards that typically watched the room whenever Peach was in it were nowhere to be seen since they weren’t needed. Bowser figured it would be okay. You wouldn’t try to run and even if you did it didn’t matter because he was going to let you go anyway.

Bowser squinted at the pink room that greeted him. Everything in the room was a shade of pink that almost made his head swirl. Had pink always made him this woozy? The bed was directly across from the door and he trudged towards it silently. He tugged the sheets back with one hand, hissing when you shuffled from the slight jolt, and laid your body down. Instantly, you curled up on your side and grabbed a hold of your pillow to snuggle into it. You hummed in content. Your lips pulled into a smile.

The koopa watching you sighed dreamily at how cute you looked.

The next day, they would see what you wanted to do. And Bowser hoped that maybe, just maybe, you’d opt to stay in his life. You made him feel heard and you made his kids happier than ever. The most he could do was hope.

He truly was smitten.

Notes:

The hyperfixation is real. I hope you liked it. I lost sleep writing this.