mrsluigivargas | Sicktember Day 13

Of Speeches and Parties
Peach had gotten sick the day before an event she was supposed to be speaking at. So Luigi is going to give her speech in her place!
...He’s kind of low-key regretting volunteering for this.

Fandom: Super Mario
Rating: General Audiences
Characters: Mario, Luigi, Peach
Relationships: Luigi & Mario, Luigi & Peach
Additional Tags: Sickfic, Fluff, Crossdressing
Length: 1,341 words
Sicktember prompts: Anxious Stomach, “I should have stayed home”, “I’m so sorry”, Forehead Kisses

~~~

“Oh, I should have stayed home today...” Luigi moaned, frowning at himself in the mirror of the dressing room.

Actually, he should have stayed home yesterday. Maybe then he wouldn't have volunteered to do this. But since he’d done so, there was no way he could have stayed home today, even if he very much wanted to. Peach was counting on him!

Luigi examined his reflection. He adjusted his wig. Some of the blond strands tickled his nose, and he sneezed.

His task today was simple, all things considered: go out there to the party in place of Peach, give the rousing and thoughtful speech she’d written and he’d spent half the night memorizing to the gathered Toads and rolling cameras, and then he could go back inside and cry as much as he wanted from the stress of it all! Easy!

Luigi put on a face mask, hiding his mustache. He inspected his reflection one last time. He winked at himself in the mirror, making finger-guns with his hands. Easy!

...Yet his stomach twisted and knotted and rolled and flipped. Luigi wished he’d had breakfast; he’d been so anxious about today that he’d hardly eaten anything, and that certainly didn't pair well with the stress weighing down on him.

From beyond the door, Toadsworth called for him. Luigi swept up the pink skirts of his borrowed dress and exited the room. With a quick circle around Luigi to make sure not a hair was out of place, and a nod at the lack of faults in his disguise, Toadsworth led Luigi down the hall. With each step, Luigi only got more and more anxious. What if everything went wrong, and he was found out? What if he let Peach down, and she never spoke to him again? What if his foot started to itch, and he couldn't scratch it?

In front of the doors leading outside stood Mario, waiting to walk out with him. Seeing the look on Luigi’s face, though, Mario hurried forward to press his forehead against his brother’s, coaxing him to take some deep breaths.

“...I hope this isn't ruining the makeup,” Luigi fretted, and that was Mario’s cue to pull away, chuckling as he did so. He squeezed Luigi’s shoulders. Luigi tentatively smiled back.

Mario held out the crook of his arm. Luigi slotted an opera-gloved hand into it. Together they walked outside to the pavilion, Luigi humming under his breath to test his voice. Mario smiled encouragingly at him when he landed on the right tones to match Peach’s.

Toadsworth stepped up to the podium to quiet the gathered Toads. When there was finally nothing but the chirping of birds and the rustling of flowers and leaves, Mario and Luigi stepped up, to a smattering of applause. With one last squeeze to Luigi’s hand, Mario stepped to the side and backwards, leaving Luigi by himself up front. Luigi stood up straight. He cleared his throat. He took a deep breath. With Mario’s steady presence at his elbow, he began to speak.

Luigi barely made it off the stage and out of sight of the party guests, Mario’s hand on his back being the only thing keeping him upright and moving by a small margin. He all but collapsed into the nearest chair, weak-kneed. “I...” He swallowed. “I...did it?”

Mario beamed at him, jostling him with an enthusiastic thump to the shoulder.

“You did it!” Peach ran up to them, wearing a face mask of her own. She looked a lot better than she had yesterday. She threw her arms around Luigi, almost knocking the crown off his head. “Thank you, thank you!”

“Heh, it’s no problem!” Luigi hugged her back more tiredly. “I just gotta...sit here a while...”

Peach laughed. “Well, when you’re done sitting, feel free to change and come out to join the party!”

“Sure thing!” Luigi replied with a thumbs up. Just as soon as this terrible feeling in his gut went away, he didn't add. Peach grinned at him one last time before she swept away to take his place (her place?) mingling with the Toads.

After a few minutes, that terrible feeling lessened enough for Luigi to get up again. He waved Mario off, telling him to go out and sample the buffet table already instead of wasting time waiting for him. He’d been looking forward to it, after all. With a touch of reluctance, Mario did so.

Luigi made his way back to the room in which he’d gotten ready for the speech. Along the way, he stumbled a bit, the lack of food and sleep catching up with him. Even though today’s stressful moment was over, his body still hadn't gotten the memo, apparently. But after only one or two more pauses to lean against the wall, he made it to the room. He changed back to his regular clothes, and as he was taking out his earrings there was a knock at the door. Luigi opened it and Mario was standing there. “Mario,” Luigi huffed. “What are you doing here?”

Mario held a plate up to Luigi. It was piled high with food from the buffet table. Luigi took the plate from him, looking down at everything Mario had brought. He wanted to eat it, but...

“I...don't think I’m hungry...?”

Mario frowned at him, disbelieving. He convinced Luigi to eat some of the food he’d brought, at least, the biscuits and bread and crackers. Doing so made Luigi feel a tiny bit better.

Together, Mario and Luigi stepped outside. They were very quickly swept up into the festivities, and at some point, between one blink and the next, they got separated — Mario wandered off to hang around the buffet table again, and Luigi chatted with a group of older ladies nearby. In the middle of a conversation about the rose bushes they were standing next to, Luigi started to feel unwell again. Plastering a smile on his face to hide the grimace threatening to overtake it, he excused himself from the conversation as quickly as he could with a promise to catch up later and wandered off further into the gardens.

Mario found him there, as did Peach, with his head in his knees and a stomach that still hadn't gotten the memo that everything was over, even now. Peach was saying something to him, and then to Mario, but Luigi was too focused on breathing through his discomfort to hear her.

Mario waved something jingling in front of Luigi’s face. It was the keys to Luigi’s kart.

“You can't drive,” Luigi mumbled in protest, despite him currently being an even less valid candidate for the driver's seat. Mario knew it too, rolling his eyes and helping Luigi to his feet.

Luigi gasped, clutching his stomach as the world spun around him. Mario caught him against his side as he teetered. Eyes squeezed shut, Luigi more felt than saw Peach dart in to plant a kiss near his temple, her healing magic washing through him and setting the world to rights. Luigi smiled at Peach in thanks, and she returned it with a smile that barely reached her eyes.

“Get home safe,” she bade them. “I’m so sorry about this.”

“’s not your fault.” Luigi reached out to squeeze her hand. “Just need rest, probably. You should go back to the party before the Toads start freaking out.”

“If you’re sure,” Peach said, and Mario nodded, pulling Luigi closer to him and giving Peach a thumbs up. Luigi added an albeit weaker smile to the reassuring image, and together they managed to ease Peach’s frown some and turn it a little upside-down.

With a final goodbye and one last worried glance to the both of them, Peach disappeared amongst the flowers. Mario and Luigi left in the other direction, down a hidden path that would take them to Luigi’s kart without being seen. Luigi sighed tremulously as Mario eased him into the backseat. Now all he had to do was survive the trip home...

~~~

Another sequel to one of my 2022 fills. Got to utilize Luigi’s ability to pretend to be Peach. I like the scene where Mari’s quietly supporting Luigi as he’s walking up to the podium; some of the best writing of the bros’ relationship I’ve written, so far. Mario’s really good at being silent support.