Chapter Text
The next morning - or afternoon - he isn’t sure, Luigi wakes up with a pounding headache and a case of cottonmouth so severe he can hear his tongue smacking as he tries to conjure up an ounce of moisture in his throat. He’s also boiling, Bowser having wrapped around him completely in his sleep. He realizes, with a healthy dose of mortification that someone had been in here this morning, two covered trays and multiple bottles of water sit on the table across the room, and a glass of water and a bottle of painkillers was placed on the nightstand by his head. He also sees, curiously, his phone, sitting on the nightstand on its charger. He almost doesn’t recognize it as his, having lost it at some point last night and not even realizing until right this second, but the green case with a large “L” on the back makes it easy to distinguish as his phone. He wriggles out of Bowser’s hold just enough to reach the glass of water and his phone, gulping down half the glass in one go. Checking his phone, it is definitely a good afternoon, the clock showing well after two o’clock. His passcode hasn’t been changed or anything, thank god, and when he unlocks his phone he has a text from an unsaved number.
Hey friend! I found this in one of the couch cushions last night. You should really have a harder to guess password. Look at this cute picture!
Luigi clicks on the attachment and as much as he was hoping it would be anything else, a picture of him and Bowser asleep in bed this morning, a blanket thankfully covering any indication that they were naked underneath.
Underneath the photo there’s two more messages and another attachment.
This is Kammy, by the way. And then here’s Kam’s number, just in case!
Under that was an attachment with Kamek’s number. He saves them both as contacts, and texts Kammy back a row of middle finger emojis, followed by a thank you for finding my phone. <3 which she heart reacts, and he sets his phone back on the nightstand before turning back to the warmth behind him and dozing until he feels a deep intake of breath over his shoulder.
Tilting his head up to find Bowser already watching him, he smiles and repeats his words from earlier, “good morning handsome. How’d you sleep?”
He’s pulled over large legs as he settles in Bowser’s lap. “Definitely tops my previous contender for “best sleep of my life” he smiles, and sits up to press a slow kiss to Luigi’s lips. “How about you? You seem… happy.”
The small man smiles brightly, “definitely that. This bed is also one of the most comfortable things I’ve ever slept on, aside from you of course.” He winks up at the dragon, who blushes and pulls him down to lie on top of him, rubbing his back lightly as they relax for a minute, before Luigi remembers his phone, and the photo. Huffing out a laugh, Luigi sits up and reaches over to grab his phone off the nightstand. He can feel the man underneath him shift to sit up against the headboard, and Bowser makes a noise of confusion when the small man settles back in his lap.
“Wait, when’d you get your phone back? You lost it like 20 minutes after dinner…” He unlocks the phone and flips it to show the photo Kammy took of them, laughing at Bowser’s shocked expression, “Kammy found it, who knows how.”
He nods, “yeah, that definitely sounds like her. I like that picture, send it to me?” He hands Bowser the phone, watching the man’s eyes track across the screen as he puts his contact info in. When he gets it back, he sends the photo with the message this is luigi ! “there you go!” He smiles and tosses his phone beside him somewhere in the bed before wrapping his arms around the dragon’s neck and pressing soft kisses to the skin there.
“What are your plans for the day? Even though we’re traveling I assume you have some sort of responsibilities.” He gets a hand tilt in response, “I don’t know if Kammy told you, but there aren’t really many rules on the ships. I have a meeting with the captain and some of the crew just to make sure we’re still arriving on time after dinner, but other than that my schedule is free. Good thing too, since it’s like three o’clock.”
He watches strong sides ripple as Bowser reaches across the bed and pulls his phone from the nightstand, as well as a pair of reading glasses, and he can’t stifle the small amused sound that escapes him at the reappearance of the glasses he had seen on the man in his office a few days ago. “Don’t even think about laughing at me, Greenie, I know I look hot in ‘em”
That earns him a halfhearted smack on the chest as he scrolls through the various texts that had come through while he was sleeping. A few texts from the nannies about Junior, and good morning texts from the kid, updates about things around the castle and the city, and obscure memes and social media posts that he was almost sure he knew what they meant from Junior. “Anything interesting?” He sees Luigi’s eyes pop up over the top of his phone, and he chuckles. “No, not really. Just my kid sending me stuff, plus the staff updating me about things in the palace.”
The small man nods, “how are you so calm about leaving Junior at home? You seem really protective of him…”
Bowser chuckles, “trust me, it took a long time before I went anywhere without him, probably the first half of his life. But his nannies are great, and he’s an independent child. I’m not gonna force him to do something just because I want him to, you know?”
Luigi gets a little emotional at that, grateful that Bowser’s kid has a dad that wouldn’t force him to stay in his life. He thinks back to the screaming matches that filled his very traditional, very Italian home when he and his brother had expressed an interest in moving across town towards Queens where there were more prospective plumbing jobs for their new business, their mother begging them to stay and their father lecturing them on the importance of family.
“You’re a really good father, I want you to know that.” Bowser is wrapped up in a tight hug, one he returns as he tucks his head into Luigi’s neck and murmurs out a quiet, “thank you.”
They spend a majority of the rest of their day lazing about in bed, at one point getting up to eat only to drag the trays set on the table back with them to the bed, eating small bites of food as they watch the tv and end up binging an entire season of some sh*tty show they found scrolling through options, Bowser leaned up against the headboard with Luigi settled in the vee of his legs. Luigi has the decency to feel a little embarrassed at actually being caught in bed with the King considering how many times the staff had caught them asleep together before He remembers the flustered face of the poor koopa woman who had brought their food before the warmth from the chest behind him and the gentleness of the hand that fed him pieces of fruit banishes any embarrassment from his mind.
When it’s time for Bowser’s meeting, Luigi watches from the bed as the large man emerges from the shower, toweling off his fiery hair as he rummages around the wardrobe underneath the tv. Luigi’s eyes trace the lines of the body in front of him, settling on the muscles of broad shoulders and arms, shifting as they sort through the drawer. He gets caught staring, because of course he does, red eyes staring at him over his shoulder, a smirk gracing his features once he realizes he’s being admired, no other way to interpret the look that’s surely on the man’s features. Luigi watches as he strikes a pose, laughing at his own antics as the human rolls over to laugh into the comforter. When he rolls back over he’s engulfed in a dark shadow, Bowser having thrown on some sweats and leaning a knee on the bed and looking down at him. Pulling his chin between his pointer and thumb, he chuckles lightly at catching the smaller man so off-guard.
“Sexy, huh?” Luigi feels his face flush deeply before a coy expression crosses his face, “Absolutely, very sexy,” he wraps his arms around the man’s neck and pulls him in to a deep kiss, absentmindedly toying with the hair under his fingers as he slides up to tug lightly, smiling at the shiver that runs through the body above his.
“Don’t do that… I have to go to this stupid meeting.” His complaint pitches up at the end in a whine, and Luigi laughs, “well you better get going then… I’ll be right here when you get back.”
He’s wrapped in a tight hug, a soft oh my god, you’re killing me in his ear before Bowser is pulling a shirt over his head and making his way over to the door, checking his phone.
“I shouldn’t be gone for long, an hour at the most. I’ll see you later, okay?” His sheepish look makes Luigi giggle, and he flips over on the bed and props his head on his hands, “yeah handsome, I’ll see you later.”
He watches Bowser blush as he shuts the door behind him, giving him a wink through the crack in the closing door as Luigi buries his head in his arms, blushing. He lazes in bed for a few minutes before standing and stretching, his back popping in a way that would be concerning if Luigi didn’t know he was cursed with the body of an 80 year old man in his twenties. He ends up stealing a, frankly huge, shirt out of Bowser’s wardrobe, too lazy to find his clothes that had been discarded in the bathroom the night before, and stealing a pair of shorts out of a half opened drawer. He takes a deep breath, preparing himself for the, blessedly short, walk of shame back to his room down the hall, set on taking a real shower and changing his clothes before the dragon is finished with his meeting. He hasn’t even fully opened his door before he hears the sound of the door next to his flying open, an exciting and mischievous Kammy meeting his gaze as he darts in his room, trying to shut the door on her before she can bombard him with questions.
“Come on, Luigi! This didn’t work last time and it's not gonna work now! Let me in!” He rushes away from the door, sending her tumbling to the floor of his room with a glare.
“Man, you really missed it last night! Me and Kam tried to recruit you on our team for a game, but we couldn’t find you! Come to think of it, the King was missing for the last half of the night, too.” The way she says it, paired with the knowing look she’s throwing him confirms that for all that Bowser tried to keep people from gossiping about them, it had likely already started.
At his nervous look, she lifts her hands placatingly, “don’t worry! I kept my observations about your…absence… to myself, but you know Kam caught on before too long.”
That made him feel better, knowing that the only two people who suspected anything between him and the king were the people that already knew, you know?
“Does it not weird you out? To know about me and your brother?” he asks it a little hesitantly.
She laughs. “Puh-lease. Before we were his ‘siblings' we were his friends. And I for one am tired of watching my friend get rejected or used by people who are only concerned with his status.” At this she nods resolutely, crossing her arms, “I’m happy that someone has come along that seems to like him for him, and isn’t concerned with his status or afraid of his past.”
He feels a little guilty, seeing as he and his brother had done exactly that until he had been given a chance to actually get to know the dragon king, and he voices this before he can decide against it, “Well, I’m not entirely innocent in that either. I mean, my brother and I have passed our share of unfair judgment on him.”
She fixes him with a disbelieving look, “regardless of all that, would you look at him knowing what you know about him now and still think those things?” and he’s quick to respond, “No! No, not at all! I was actually surprised at first by how…different he seems when we come to rescue the princess. It’s like he’s a completely new person.”
She laughs a little, “yeah, I’m sure it is. He spent a lot of time refining the royal image after he was crowned king. A lot of people were very vocal in their discontent with such a young and inexperienced ruler, so he took it upon himself to project the image of a tough, fearless leader to ease the unrest.”
He frowns at that, upset at the thought of a teenager having all of this dumped on them, and Kammy smiles lightly, “Nowadays though, most people around the kingdom know it's an act he puts on to protect them. That’s why nobody acts scared of him unless we’re at a tournament or something.”
Now that he thinks about it, he’d watched the same group of goombas and koopas, Bowser’s personal guards who he had joked around with and drank with at the party, cower as the large man shouted orders at them while they were setting up for the various competitions held between kingdoms.
The realization must be clear as day on his face because Kammy is smiling at him, “But, you didn’t know it was an act, at least not at first, and you continued to want to get to know him even after he literally kidnapped you. He’s seemed really happy these last few days, and I know it's because of you. And what kind of friend would I be, not to mention older sister, if I didn’t stick my nose into Bowser’s personal business?”
He laughs, and she makes her way over to his suitcase, still open and horribly disorganized from the night before. “And like it or not, you’re my friend now too. I will be skipping out on the explicit parts, but I expect a full rundown of what happened! Sneaking away during a party? How scandalous!”
He rolls his eyes as he makes his way to the bathroom, because any friend that’s close enough to hear about his love life is close enough to hear about it while he takes a well-needed shower. Recalling his night with the king, he can hear the faint sounds of Kammy rustling around his room, pulling clothes from his suitcase and throwing them on the bed. He returns to the bedroom clad in a pair of worn plaid pajama pants he bought at Target after he and Mario had moved away from home, running a towel through his curls. Kammy has set out an ensemble on his bed, smiling behind her hands as he looks at her, unimpressed.
“What? He’s expecting you when he gets back, isn’t he?" She laughs at his flustered expression as she leaves the room, and Luigi has an idea.
He pulls out one of the sets he'd packed while distracted with thoughts of the Alpha and sets it on the bed beside his clothes. Sheer and black, the bottoms were loose enough to be comfortable but tight enough to hide underneath the green silk shorts Kammy had laid out. The top was more sheer black fabric, a flowy, deep cut camisole with a slit down the middle that fit nicely under the matching silk button up on the bed. He blushes hard, imagining himself in it, and throws the shirt overtop of the sheer fabric when Kammy peeks her head back around the corner
“By the way, the rooms are soundproof, so don’t worry. Good luck, have fun!” She leaves with a wave and a wink, leaving Luigi to get dressed, shivering embarrassingly at the soft fabric running up his legs and over his chest. He finishes up quickly, grabbing a few things and his phone before making his way back down the hallway, socked feet muffling his footsteps.
