#honestly I think Peasley's my favorite character to write for in the series

[peaches2217]

🥶

🥶 Cold

Sunlight

~~~

Winter was slow in the Beanbean Kingdom.

Perhaps it shouldn’t have surprised Luigi. The Beanish people were some strange mix of mammalian and plant matter, meaning their body temperature, already low by human standards, fluctuated with the changing of seasons. Sunlight was something they not only thrived in, but required to remain fully functional.

Everything from ramshackle huts to the Grand Palace itself were structured to let in as much of it as possible for as many hours as possible, and nights were almost surreal in their hush once that sunlight was gone. Their peak festival and harvest seasons lay between late spring and early autumn, and even when the air was frigid, they would drag themselves outside bundled in fifteen layers of sweaters and scarves just to feel the sun on their faces.

And when the sun wasn’t out in the dead of winter, well, nothing got done at all.

Yes, the more he thought about it, the less surprising the slow winters were. What did surprise him was how deeply he enjoyed the tedium anyway.

“Regale me again with tales of your winter holidays,” Peasley moped. He bustled about the castle without pause, tending to the innumerable flowers that brought color and oxygen into its bleak halls with hands that shook constantly. All morning he had paced as he read through papers and notes that needed his attention, and when he was forced to stop and provide a signature or write down his thoughts, he’d bounced on his toes like an impatient toddler until he could move once more. His duties complete, he now did everything in his power to create work for himself, all in the hopes of staying just a bit warmer.

This was routine, Luigi had quickly learned. The crown prince didn’t have the luxury of waiting out the winter in one comfortable, secure spot. He yearned to be a successor in his mother’s image, productive and proactive in all areas of life, and that meant he couldn’t shoulder his responsibilities off to her or Lady Lima, and he certainly couldn’t leave them for more tolerable weather.

He was very proud of his own resolve, never passing up an opportunity to brag about how humble and selfless a leader he was… until the first day winter’s chill became strong enough to reach their bed. “Save me, my love,” he’d groaned into Luigi’s chest, and Luigi had promised with a soft laugh that he’d do his best.

“Which holiday do you wanna hear about?” he asked, following on his husband’s heels. It was good exercise, he had to admit, chasing him around all day. Not too exhaustive or overstimulating. Just enough to keep the blood flowing and the joints moving.

Peasley’s trembling hands knocked over a vase on an extensive table. It clunked harmlessly onto its side. “The one where your mother forced a great bird into the oven,” he requested as he realigned the vase. Luigi snickered. Mundane traditions always sounded so much more exciting when Peasley rephrased them.

“Well!” he started. And just for theatrics’ sake, he clapped his hands together and waited a breath or two before continuing. “When we were in the fifth grade, Mario and I decided we were gonna surprise our mom by making Thanksgiving dinner all by ourselves. Bird and everything.”

He must have babbled on about all of them a thousand times, those small but noisy and vibrant Thanksgivings and Christmases and New Years in a little apartment in Brooklyn. He knew for a fact he’d told this story at least twice. Yet the tension and discomfort melted from Peasley’s face as he recounted the disaster that was two ten-year-olds trying to cook a whole turkey; he grinned and gasped and laughed so hard that he wiped tears from his eyes, as though he were hearing it all again for the first time.

When he wasn’t fiddling with the flowers, Peasley’s hand found Luigi’s and squeezed tightly. His skin was cool to the touch even during the hottest summer days. In the winter, it was almost enough to sap all of Luigi’s body heat. But he gave what he had anyway, and sometimes it was enough to allow Peasley a break from his busybodying. In those moments, he would relax his hold and press their sides together briefly, and then he was on the move once more.

And this was how Luigi spent his first winter in the Beanbean Kingdom: following his husband, entertaining him, and keeping him warm, every single day. Perhaps it sounded dull or even overwhelmingly repetitious. To Luigi, it was heaven. 

He wasn’t sure how much it actually helped, but it saw Peasley through until they could retire to their quarters and take more drastic measures to stay warm, and he took pleasure in that.

That night, those drastic measures involved curling up on the couch with three fluffy blankets, two giant mugs of hot cocoa, and Season 13 of DegrasSoy on DVD. Peasley’s small but well-built frame fit so perfectly in Luigi’s arms. Holding him near as his shivering subsided felt as natural as growing facial hair, as natural as breathing itself.

Four episodes in, Peasley broke the amiable silence in their dark room.

“I don’t know if I’ve thanked you.” His normally boisterous voice softened, a tenderness only Luigi got to hear from him. “For keeping me warm.”

Luigi chuckled at that, pulling him in even closer. Peasley was in his lap now, both having abandoned their empty mugs two episodes earlier to twine their arms around one another. Come to think of it, had he even been watching? His head was turned in the direction of the TV, but he hadn’t seemed as invested as he usually was in trashy daytime television. 

“You thank me every night, mio caro,” Luigi reminded him. Peasley, already a classic romantic, became extra sentimental when he was comfortable and tired. It never got old.

“No, I mean… during the day.” In the light cast from the TV, he watched Peasley close his eyes and smile. “I don’t know how I ever survived a winter without you.”

“Oh, come on. All I do is talk and hold your hand!”

“No, no, it’s so much more than that.” Once more Peasley opened his eyes, and this time he fixed them on Luigi; they were heavy not with sleep, but with love, so much love that Luigi felt a bit dizzy. 

“Your voice alone is a driving force,” he continued. “It reminds me that this winter will come to an end, just like every other winter before it. Before you, it always felt… endless. But you, my dear — you’re sunlight in living flesh. And I would live through a hundred consecutive winters without complaint so long as I could spend each of them with you.”

A lump formed in Luigi’s throat. Oh, the things he could promise this man — he had little to his name outside of these castle walls, but it was all his, always, and always would be.

“On second thought—” Peasley drew away suddenly, pursing his lips in thought, and suddenly that air of amorous devotion popped like a flimsy soap bubble. “No, I would absolutely complain. Constantly and fervently. That’s too much suffering to go through in silence. But!” And then he drew back in, grinning at the startled laughter his sudden shift in demeanor had evoked from Luigi. “I would endure it still, knowing my hero would be there to keep me warm.”

“You’re so dramatic,” Luigi snorted. He wanted to kiss him until neither of them could breathe.

“Darling, do you underestimate me?” Peasley gasped. “I can be so much more dramatic.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh, Luigi!” Luigi’s laughter renewed as Peasley sprawled out in his lap, pressing the back of his hand to his forehead in a mock-faint. “I’m so terribly cold, Luigi! I beg of you, relieve me of this torture!”

A hiccup escaped Luigi’s throat, and he took a moment to gasp for air before diving in. “Oh, no!” he cried, twisting himself so that they could face one another without falling off of the couch. “Don’t worry, I’ll save you!”

Peasley joined in on his mirth as Luigi scooped him close, as close as they could physically be. “Oh, my hero,” he called out, pulling at all three of their blankets until they were completely enveloped in soft fabric, “my hero!”

Their show continued until it reached the looping main screen once more, but they were too preoccupied to pay it any mind.

#I was WAY overdue for another Luisley piece #honestly I think Peasley's my favorite character to write for in the series #he's so dramatic! so verbose! so much fun! #super mario bros #smb #mario and luigi #superstar saga #luigi #prince peasley #luisley #luigi x peasley #peaches' fancy fics #peaches’ prodigious prompts