I mean, that's canon, no? She's often portrayed as being the one initiating any sort of affectionate contact with him, Mario is either characterized as kind of bashful about it or being completely caught off guard by it. I think the only time I've seen PDA more or less initiated by him is Luigi's Mansion 3.

(Hhgh it's so stinkin' cute dammit. The Mario movie better be at least, AT THE VERY LEAST half as fucking feelsy as this when it comes to them three or I'm going to riot.)

The implication seems to be that it's not that his nature isn't to be affectionate as much as maybe he's simply used to expressing it other ways, and your mileage may vary as to why this is- either because he doesn't want to impose or he's simply not used to the idea that he CAN be like this with a Princess- but he won't hesitate to go for a hug if he really wants one.

On one hand. Yes, absolutely. 100% agreed. On the other, you did not just make me imagine this happening to Mario

Who holds the others hand first? Peach. I can see Mario not wanting to cross any lines because of the class difference and all but Peach is like ‘Fuck that noise’ so pretty soon he is too XD.

Who initiates the first kiss? Mario. Gets carried away one of the times he saves her and then it dawns on him what he’s doing and he backs away all embarrassed while Peach’s giving him the Steven Universe star-eyes, all dazed.

Who asks the other out for the first date? I don’t know if it counts as a date but I can see Peach inviting him over for cake first.

Who says ‘I love you’ first? I can’t really tell. I feel like they convey their love for each other in many, many ways without needing words, and so I can’t really see them saying it out loud.

Who’s ready for marriage first? Toadsworth  I mean, Mario was p much ready to propose at the end of Odyssey, so canonically, him.

Who wants kids first? Toadsworth I MEAN. I can see Peach getting the baby fever way before Mario even allows himself to think about it. 

Who’s the first to break down because they’re going to be parents? Luigi, immediately followed by Mario.

Who’s the first to cuss in front of the baby? My brain breaks trying to imagine either of them cussing, don’t do this to me. Uhhhh, maybe Peach? But she does it like, really, really quietly so the baby realistically didn’t hear her but she still feels horrible afterwards.

Who’s name does the baby learn first? Dad’s. Hears it called out much more often.

Who’s least ready to let their kids grow up? I can’t really see them being apprehensive about it, tbh. They both lead such adventurous lives that it’d be kinda hypocritical of them to baby their kids when they clearly don’t need it anymore.

Who cries when the kids leave? Neither of them. They’re cheering all the way.

Who makes tea for the other because they really shouldn’t be getting up so much anymore? They have toad servants for that, man XD

Who teases the grandkids most? Peach. It’s in her nature. But she’s so sweet to them that they don’t mind it so much.

Who spoils the grandkids most? I mean… they’re royalty, so I guess the Toads?

Who insists on doing even the most simple of tasks for the other because they’re both growing so old and they really need to rest? Again. Servants. If for whatever reason the toads can’t do it, then Mario.

So what if we live in a walled garden? As long as I’ve got you then I don’t care

I think if Nintendo really wanted to make the leap, they’d find the way, and it could actually be interesting to see how they adapt an actual married couple to the Mario games, although I think they could actually keep the usual dynamic even provided that they actually had vows uttered and everything. Bowser would still be trying to take Peach for himself (He clearly doesn’t really think of marriage the way he should if he’s trying to force mah gurl to do it) Peach still wouldn’t be happy with the idea, Mario would still be risking everything to save her. Same thing, provided they didn’t go and well…give them kids or something…aaaaand, now I’m imagining them like Dirk and Daphne from Dragon’s Lair with like a dozen kids

A nu ma XDDDD

BUT

Nintendo is also very, very fond of letting the player make their own conclusions without going and saying ‘Nah, this is how it is and you gotta deal with it’ unless it’s something like…I dunno, those pendejos saying Mario isn’t human because people in New Donk City look different than him. The only exception I know is Hyrule Historia in general, and it’s partly the reason why I don’t really take much of what it says seriously. Mario and Peach are pretty much a given, but they’re still gonna give you some breathing space if you don’t want it to be, if you like either of them with Pauline or Rosalina or someone else better than you do the “Obvious” choice.They also really do love the status quo, and being able to play the same kind of scenario for every game with only variations in style, art and dynamic. They love this so much that LoZ, for instance, needed to get another company involved in order for something like Hyrule Wariors, where a lot of the usual rules for the saga are broken in the best way possible, to happen. 

I gotta agree that it was somewhat obvious that Nintendo was just teasing us with the marriage, but…tbh, with the way they advertised Odyssey like it was gonna be a game-changer (No pun intended) and the existing precedent of BotW being very different from what we’re used to in Zelda games…all I’m saying is people had good reason to think maybe Nintendo was going to finally have them tie the knot. It was a nice thought.

Under the cut ‘cuz spoilers

Okay so whilst it’s not that much of a list, to be honest, it’s a fairly decent amount considering how rare this ship can be, haha. Most of these fics are somewhat old (excluding the Ao3 ones), coming from my long years of internet fandom, and all, bar two, are pretty much SFW.

Of course, any recommendations are welcome, so if you’ve got any fics you’ve written or would like to recommend, feel free to drop me an ask or add them to this list!

Sweets For The Sweet by Moonlight_Serene (Ao3)

Not-so-ruined Vacation by rarmaster (Ao3)

Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop by Cythieus (AU, Ao3)

Premonition by CuriousLittleBird (TW for blood, moderate violence, fanfiction.net)

Bittersweet by Slave4UBrit (NSFW-ish, though nothing too strong, fanfiction.net)

Piece of Cake by MessengerOfDreams (fanfiction.net)