#switch!luigi

[After Work:] 

Mario and Luigi parked their van at the usual parking spot, and they hopped out of the car. Luigi headed to the pipe first, and grabbed his backpack from earlier to put it on. With his stuff on his back, Luigi walked up and leaned against the pipe. 

“Try not to fall into the darklands this time, fratellino.” Mario warned. 

He sat on the pipe. “Right back at ya, fratello maggiore!” Luigi yelled back before saluting his brother and falling backwards into the pipe. 

Mario chuckled and followed him into the pipe. The two boys flew through the floating passageway, making sure to stay forward so as to not end up sucked into the darklands this time. This seemed to work in leading Luigi to the Mushroom Kingdom. 

Luigi flew out of the pipe. “WAHOOOOO!” Luigi yelled happily. He turned his feet down to the ground and slid across the grass towards a mushroom. Quickly, he turned himself around and slid into the large mushroom with his back.

Not long after, Mario popped out of the pipe and slid across the grass as well. Mario soon slid to a stop in a confident pose. “Now THAT’S-A how you land!” Mario declared. 

“Not bad, Mario!” Luigi said, giving him the ‘okay’ sign. 

Mario looked at Luigi. “Did you stick the landing this time?” Mario asked. 

Luigi widened his eyes and looked down at his feet. Wait…Did-Did he really land on his feet this time?! 

“I…” Luigi looked at Mario with pure shock. 

“Wait, you DID?!” Mario gasped. 

“I think I did!” Luigi reacted. Mario sprinted up and hugged Luigi tightly. “DIO MIO! QUESTO È ENORME!” Mario yelled. 

Luigi was laughing and jumping up and down while in the hug with Mario. “It is, it is!” Luigi reacted. 

“And I got to witness it.” Someone said behind them. 

Luigi opened his eyes and removed himself from the hug. “Hello Peach!” Luigi reacted. 

“Peach!” Mario turned around. “You saw him land?” Mario asked. 

“Yeah! Slid across the grass like it was ice, and backed up into the mushroom stump. Though he landed on his feet, he didn’t quite stop on his feet without a tiny bit of help.” Peach said with a wink, pointing her thumb to the mushroom stump.

Luigi’s excitement switched to slight annoyance. “Ouch…” He mumbled. “My dignity.” 

Mario shrugged his shoulders. “I think it still counts.” Mario said. 

“Awwww, did I kick you in the confidence?” Peach teased. 

“No.” Luigi shook his head, looking at Peach with just enough confidence to make a difference. “And so what if you did? It doesn’t bother me.” Luigi replied. 

Peach smirked. “Is that so?” 

“Yeah. It doesn’t bother me.” Luigi said back. 

“I heard you the first time, sweet pea.” Peach teased. 

Luigi widened his eyes and narrowed his eyes at her. But then he remembered something…from a week earlier. The time he had managed to tickle Peach a couple times mid-tickle fight. With this information, Luigi smiled a slight bit. He was beginning to let a small little mood fill up his brain with ideas. Many, many ideas. 

Mario widened his eyes when he saw the familiar expression on Luigi’s face. “O-Ohoho no. Luigi, let’s think for a second. This is the Princess. You know she doesn’t like that kind of thing.” Mario told him. 

Luigi looked at Mario. “Yeah she does.” Luigi replied. “She’d be allowed to get me back.” he mentioned. 

Peach tilted her head. “Get you back?” She asked. Are you proposing a fight?” She asked. 

Luigi was taken aback. “UH- well…Not really a fight-fight…” Luigi mumbled. 

Peach had to think for a moment…suddenly, her face lit up with surprise! “OH! Are you proposing a tickle fight?” She asked. 

“M-Maybe…” Luigi admitted. 

Peach was shocked…she soon looked over at Mario with surprise. 

But the moment Peach looked at Mario, the red man put his hands up in arrest. “Nope, nope. I’m not helping. This is strictly your thing.” Mario said, pointing to his brother and Peach. 

Luigi looked down slightly, biting his lip. “O-oh.” 

Peach smirked. “Very well.” She looked at Luigi. “You mentioned I can get you back?” She asked. 

Luigi looked at Peach with surprise, before lighting up and nodding. “Yes! Our tickle fights are usually a two-way fight.” Luigi told her. 

Mario rolled his eyes. “L'ipocrisia…” he mumbled. 

“Stai zitto.” Luigi muttered to Mario. 

Peach smirked. “Alright. Challenge accepted.” Peach declared, offering Luigi a hand. 

Mario put up his hand. “Hold on.” Mario pulled Luigi’s ear down and whispered in his ear. “Are you sure you wanna take on the princess?” Mario asked. 

Luigi smirked and flicked Mario’s fingers off his ear. “Positive.” Luigi replied back in his normal volume before taking her hand and shaking it. 

Peach smiled and shook his hand as well…before pulling Luigi into her arms and wrapping her arms around him. “Gotcha!” 

Luigi yelped and immediately started wiggling around. “WaiT-WAIT!” Luigi shouted, before throwing his head back as the fight began on his sides. “BAAAHAHAhahahaha!” Luigi threw his head back and cackled. 

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you. I was too busy tickling you.” Peach told him. 

“STAHAHAP! CHEHEHEATERHRHRHR!” Luigi yelled at her. 

“I did no such thing. YOU accepted my invitation regardless of what time we began the tickle fight.” She reminded him. “If you kept waiting or spoke up, I would’ve offered you a 3-second chance in the deal.” She mentioned. 

“IHIHIHIHI-” He gasped and squeaked as he felt a few fingers dig into his hips. “OHOHO GAHAHAHAHA!” Luigi squeezed his eyes shut and started snorting. “NAHA- *snort* -HAHAHAHA- *snort* -HAHAHA!” Luigi cackled. 

“Do you give up yet, Luigi?” She asked. “Do ya? Do ya?!” Peach repeatedly asked. 

Luigi snorted and shook his head as he let out a hissy fit of laughter. 

“Wow…You’re a tough cookie to break!” Peach reacted. “Your brother would’ve given up by now.” 

Mario widened his eyes. “Hey!” He reacted. 

“Am I wrong?” Peach asked, switching to squeezing the back of Luigi’s hip instead. 

“W-Well…No, but-” Mario admitted. 

“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I’m saying you two tolerate different things.” Peach explained as she stopped tickling. “You, I imagine, tolerate a lot more strikes.” Peach said as she pointed to Mario. 

Mario shrugged his shoulders and nodded. “Yeah…you’re not wrong.” he admitted. 

“And Luigi over here…” Peach took in a breath and blew a raspberry onto his neck, making Luigi squeak and giggle helplessly in her arms. “...tolerates a lot more agility.” Peach explained. 

Luigi’s giggles lessened slowly as he felt himself growing tired in her grip. The man had to admit…that Peach is a lot better at tickling people than he ever expected. Maybe…maybe he underestimated the princess. 

“Do you give up?” She asked slyly. 

Luigi let out one long breath…before moving his hands under him and grabbing her sides. “Nope!” He declared. 

Peach yelped in surprise. “EEP! Hehey!” Peach quickly tried to take back control of the situation. “Yohou finally gohohonna-” 

Luigi spun himself around and tickled his quick fingers all over her belly and sides. 

“Hehehehe! Nohot bahad, Luhuhu.” Peach giggled. Though her sides were quite ticklish, her belly sadly wasn’t. 

This was something Luigi noticed right away. “Alright. Strike belly off the list.” Luigi said. 

Mario smiled and crossed his arms as he watched his brother take control. “Try the ribs!” Mario told him. 

“Whahat ahahare rihibs?” Peach asked. 

Luigi smiled and fluttered his fingers up the ribs. “Just a little cage located right about here.” Luigi replied. 

Peach’s giggles seemed to go up an octave as he scratched his nails on the lower ribs. “HEhehehehe! Rihihibcahahage?” Peach asked. 

“Yeah. You’ve never heard of it?” Luigi asked. Mario shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe Peach didn’t grow up with much human medical knowledge.” Mario explained. “She was the only human she ever knew growing up.” He reminded him. 

“True.” Luigi replied before clearing his throat. “The ribcage is like the body’s armor that keeps your organs safe from harm.” Luigi told her. “Every human has a ribcage. They have to! Otherwise any hit to the chest would kill them.” Luigi explained. 

“Gohohohood to knohohohow!” She replied. 

Luigi tickled his fingers up towards the middle of the ribcage, making sure to touch and wiggle his fingers on every rib. “Are these ribs ticklish?” Luigi asked. 

Her giggles didn’t really change much. But it didn’t get less ticklish, which was good for Luigi. “Yeheheheah! Hehehehe- thehehehey ahahare!” Peach replied. 

“The rib cage is made up of bone. The ribs themselves start here…” He poked the bottom rib in the front, making Peach jump. “…all the way up…” Luigi tickled up the right side to the armpit. 

This made Peach switch from silly giggles to fits of laughter. “Wahait wahahait WAHAIT!” Peach yelled. 

But Luigi didn’t listen. He just kept up his conversation. “…to the armpits!” He continued. “In fact, the last rib should be right about…” he poked the area slightly below the armpit. “Here.” 

It was at this moment that Peach let out her first fit of cackles. Mario widened his eyes and raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Oho my god she’s cackling!” Mario reacted, giggling and covering his mouth with his hand. 

Peach had her arm clamped down against his fingers, refusing to let him go. But this only made Luigi tickle her more in the one ticklish area she didn’t know she had. 

“So, Princess:” Luigi smirked a bit. “Do you give up?” He asked. 

Peach wiggled around, somewhat struggling to handle such a strong touch on the very top rib. She wasn’t sure if she should give up or not. On one hand, Peach was loving the attention and excitement. But the tickles we’re getting to be a bit much…to the point where she was actually considering giving him the win. “Ihihihi…” 

“You know you can always get yourself out of this situation. All you have to do is tell me you’re done.” Luigi reminded her in a menacingly casual tone. 

Mario widened his eyes. Wait…is Luigi gonna actually win against the Princess of the mushroom kingdom?! 

But Mario’s surprise changed when she shook her head. “Nohohoho wahahay!” She yelled before moving her fingers away from her chest and up to his own ribcage. “Now lehehehehet mehehehe feheheel!” Peach told him, pushing on his ribs. 

Luigi yelped and attempted to cover himself up. “NoO! And you said I was hard to break.” Luigi reacted. 

Peach giggled and took out a golden bell. “Now let’s see what you’re really made of.” She put it against herself, turning herself into a cat and took off running after him. This alone made Mario drop his jaw in shock. 

“WaiTWAIT-” Luigi sprinted away and started up a chase scene. “HOW IS THAT FAIR?!” Luigi shouted back. 

“Again, it was all decided in the agreement we both shook on.” She replied. 

“CAT SUITS WERE NEVER MENTIONED!” Luigi shouted. 

“Exactly! Meaning I can use them!” She replied proudly. 

Mario wheezed and covered his mouth with his hands, loving the sudden change in rules. The hilarious part was that yes, technically she’s right! But at the same time, he would NEVER have the courage to pull that on his brother…because he knew that Luigi would most certainly make him regret pulling a move like that. But what’s Luigi possibly gonna do if it’s Peach?! A princess who doesn’t appear to be as ticklish as him. 

It didn’t take long for Luigi to be tackled to the ground by the determined pink kitty. “Are you purr-pared for your ultimate doom?” She asked with a smirk. 

Luigi had to cover his mouth to not let a stupid little giggle slip. Any sort of giggle would’ve indicated that he was secretly loving this. Free tickles AND cat puns?! YES PLEASE! 

Peach giggled again and wiggled her cat paws. “Coochy coochy coochy coo!” She teased, bringing her wiggling cat paws closer and closer to Luigi’s belly. 

Luigi squeezed his eyes shut, still covering his mouth as daydreams and thoughts of being tickled began to spiral inside his poor mind. The wiggling paws? The CHILDISH TEASES?! HOW MUCH DID SHE KNOW?! 

Peach smirked almost evilly as she quickly began poking and prodding the boy’s belly with her kitty paws first. “Now we’ve both tried out rougher tickles, but didn’t succeed.” She said, before making her scratches gentle and slow. “But what about slow, softer tickles?” She asked. 

Luigi squeaked and let out a fit of muffled giggles from his mouth. They were 10 seconds in…and Luigi ALREADY couldn’t handle it. Every little touch was making him jump and spazz, and it would only take a couple pokes for him to let out a few giggles at a time. Multiply this by 10, and you’d get the flustered, overwhelmed green bean known as Luigi. 

“Now if I remember correctly…” Peach began to flutter and poke her little cat claws on either side of his belly, as if Luigi’s belly was a piano. “These little notes…” She moved her right hand a bit towards his left side. “And a few notes over here…” She kept muttering to herself. 

Luigi squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head as he giggled helplessly into his hands. The lee mood was overwhelmingly strong. His body was filled with so much adrenaline, he had no idea what to do with it. Part of him wanted to push her hands off because it tickled so much, while the other part of him wanted to give up and let her keep tickling him. 

He couldn’t choose! How does one make any choices when you’re being tickled so delicately?! 

“Now: You were telling me about rib cages earlier…” Peach mentioned to him. 

Luigi squeaked through his hands and tensed up. Oh no! OH NO! NOT THE RIB COUNTING GAME! NOO! “Wahahait! Nohoho rihihibs!” Luigi begged. 

Peach raised an eyebrow as she held her paws slightly above his ribcage. “Bad ticklish spot, Luigi?”  

Mario smirked. “What’s wrong, Lu? Can’t take what you dish out?” He teased. 

“SHUHUT UP, MARIO!” Luigi yelled back. 

“MAKE ME, LEE-UIGI!” Mario replied with a laugh. 

Luigi groaned. Of all the times to bring out the dreaded nickname…why now?! I mean, he’s not wrong…he IS in a lee mood. But still! Why must he call him out like that?! 

Luigi’s thoughts were quickly distracted by a playful tickle strategy he wasn’t expecting: Nibbles. He immediately threw his head back and let out a long fit of cackles. “NAHAHAHAHAHA! OHOHO NOHOHOHOHO! HAHAHAHAHAHA!” Luigi laughed. 

Peach nibbled all over his ribs and ab muscles. “Om-nom-nom-nom-nom! Om-nom-nom-nom-nom-nom-nom.” She made playful noises as she nibbled on his ribs. 

“EEEHEHEHE- *snort* -HEHEHE! OHOHOH- *snort* -OHOHO NOHOHOHO! *snort* -NAHAHA- *snort*” Luigi yelled as he started to snort throughout his fits of laughter. 

“Ooooh! Look at this cute little piggy! Snorting up a storm, I see?” She teased with a wink. Luigi whined and covered up his red face, muffling his laughter in the process. Though despite his best efforts, you could clearly hear the snorts and laughs through his hands. There was just no hiding the embarrassing, but ultimately adorable snorts that the tall green bean let out. 

“I wonder if there’s any fishies hidden in this belly of yours…” She teased with a smirk. 

Luigi squeaked and shook his head. It’s too much! She’s teasing me way too much! ‘I can’t handle it! I can’t! I’ve reached my limit for teases!’ 

He uncovered his face. “I GIVE UP! I gihihive uhuhuhup!” Luigi shouted for Peach to hear. 

Peach widened her eyes and clapped her paws. “I win!!” She declared. “I win, I win, I win!” She reacted happily. Peach turned around. “Mario, I actually wo-…Mario?” 

Mario was covering up his face with his hat, refusing to show them his cherry red cheeks. It looked like Mario was going to burst from pure embarrassment. He looked almost mortified. 

“Ma…Mario?” Luigi asked, still tired from the tickle attack. He sat himself up and quickly saw what Mario was doing. Luigi walked up to Mario and very carefully removed the hat from his face with his hand. Luigi was taken aback by how shy and nervous Mario looked. It almost looked…familiar. 

Sensing what might’ve been happening, Luigi offered him a hand. “Want help up?” Luigi asked. 

Mario subtly nodded his head before taking his hand. “Y-Yeah…” Mario replied quietly. 

Luigi pulled Mario up onto his feet and patted his back. “There ya go, buddy.” Luigi replied. “What do you say we call it an early night?” Luigi asked. 

“S…Sounds good.” Mario admitted. 

Peach walked up to Mario and Luigi. “Is he okay?” She asked. 

“I think so.” Luigi replied. “He’s probably just tired. We’re gonna make some dinner and call it an early night.” Luigi replied. 

Peach nodded her head. “Alright.” She replied before kneeling down. “Have a good evening, Mario.” She told him, kissing his forehead. 

Luigi widened his eyes in shock. Oh my god- She’s kissing his forehead?! What does this mean?! Is this a sweet gesture? Or something more?? HE NEEDS TO KNOW! And Mario looked shocked and flustered all at once. Mario slowly covered his face up with his hat again, telling Luigi that he had to help Mario back to the house before he ultimately exploded. 

When Peach started to walk back to the castle, Luigi helped his brother back into the house. He opened the door for Mario, and gave the curious toads a good excuse as to what was going on, so Mario could sneak into the house without suspicion. 

When the door was finally closed, Mario squeezed his eyes shut and let out a cry of excitement before covering his mouth with his hands. 

Mario and Luigi were hanging out at their house, watching halloween movies. Though they were watching movies and eating lots of candy, they were also ready with the remote to pause the movie whenever trick or treaters knocked on the door. When multiple toads were trick or treating, Mario and Luigi would keep the movie paused and just chat about the movie until the collection of dressed-up toads would lessen. Then, when the crowd of toads were all candied up, Mario and Luigi would start up the movie again. 

They were now three quarters through The Nightmare Before Christmas, when a few toads knocked on the door. Mario paused the movie while Luigi hopped off the couch, and they both headed to the door to open it. “Trick or treat!” All the toads said in unison. 

“Awww! I love your costumes!” Mario reacted. 

“I’m a fire flower!” One of the toads reacts, dressed with a green body, leaf sleeves and a fire flower floppy hood. 

“Wow! I love it!” Mario reacted, handing the toad a big chocolate bar. 

“I’m a fox!” Another toad declared, dressed up as a big red fox. 

“Very-a nice!” Luigi reacted, giving the fox toad a candy bar as well. 

“And I’m a cat! Meow!” The third toad cheered, showing off his cat powerup. 

“Very creative!” Mario reacted, giving him a chocolate bar as well. 

“Look, look Luigi! I’m a chocolate bar!” The last toad declared, showing off its chocolate bar costume with a bright blue wrapper. 

“Ooooh, my-a favorite!” Mario reacted, giving the last toad a chocolate bar as well. 

The toads all thanked the twins, and left the house happy and content with their candy bags. 

Mario and Luigi closed the door, happy with themselves. “I loved the fire flower costume.” Luigi admitted. 

Mario laughed. “I liked that one too. The cat costume though…” Mario made a face and made an ‘iffy’ gesture with his hand. “It could use some work. We came across about 45 toads dressed as cats last year.” Mario admitted. 

“Yeah…but maybe they didn’t have time to make a costume.” Luigi suggested. 

“Yeah…Maybe you’re right.” Mario responded. 

Luigi chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. “But who knows.” He responded. “Wanna see Oogie Boogie get ripped to shreds?” Luigi asked. 

Mario shuddered and bit his lip. “Not really…but do I have a choice?” Mario asked his brother. 

Luigi smirked and unpaused the movie with the remote. “Nope.” 

Mario rolled his eyes as he checked the window. “Fine…” 

When the coast was clear, Luigi and Mario sat onto the couch again and watched the rest of the movie. Sure enough, Oogie Boogie got ripped to shreds, and the movie ended on a relatively happy note. 

With that movie done, Mario took out the DVD and looked to Luigi. “What movie should we put on now?” He asked. 

Luigi thought for a moment. “What about Monster House?” Luigi asked. 

Mario widened his eyes. “Uhhhhh…” He looked down, visibly nervous. “I…don’t really like that one.” 

Luigi frowned slightly. “Why not?” He asked. 

“Cause the animation gives me the creeps.” Mario admitted. “And the house?! Nuh uh!” Mario reacted, visibly uncomfortable. 

“What’s wrong? Can’t handle a house haunted by the ghost of an old man’s chunky freakshow lover?” Luigi joked. 

“Shut up!” Mario yelled back. “You know exactly why I don’t like it. It’s the house itself. It looks too raggedy and gross…” Mario muttered aloud. 

“Isn’t that the point-” 

*Knock knock knock* 

Luigi paused his words and looked at the door. “More trick-or-treaters. Coming Mario?” 

Mario sighed and nodded his head. “Yeah, I’m-a coming.” He responded, walking to the door with Luigi. 

As soon as they opened the door, about 5 toads yelled “Trick or treat!” to them. 

“Wow! So many toads!” Mario reacted, switching to his surprised face. 

“I’m a bee! Buzz buzz!” One of the toads declared, wearing a bee power up. 

“Can you make yourself fly?” Mario asked the toad. 

“Yup!” The toad jumped up, and made the wings flap super fast, so it could fly. “Woo hoo!” Toad cheered. 

“Awesome! Here’s your chocolate bar!” Mario celebrated, giving the toad a bar. 

“I’m you, Super Mario!” The second toad declared, dressing in a red shirt and blue overalls, with a yellow blanket as the superhero cape. 

Luigi chuckled, appreciating the fun little costume. “Awww, now there’s two Mario’s here!” Luigi reacted, poking Mario’s side. 

“Lu!” Mario reacted, slapping his hand. “Stop it!” 

“What?” Luigi poked him a couple more times. “Can’t handle a few pokes?” Luigi asked with a smirk. 

Mario held his breath, trying to not react too much to his pokes. But the more he poked, the more Mario kept instinctively jumping and yelping. 

“What’s happening?” A third toad asked, dressed as a gold coin. 

“He’s ticklish!” The 4th toad replied, dressed as a goomba. 

“Ticklish!?” The 5th toad reacted, dressed as a penguin. 

“Yup, Mario is very ticklish!” Luigi reacted, poking his belly and side a few more times. 

These pokes earned him some more squeaks, jumps, and the occasional giggle. “L-Luhuhu! StahAP IHIT!” Mario yelled, trying to poke him back. But Luigi caught one of his hands, held it up and started poking even more against his armpit. “Oh yeah, Mario’s very ticklish! His armpits drive him CRAZY!” Luigi declared, before switching to fluttering his fingers against his armpit. 

Mario squeaked and closed one eye, laughing and giggling. He shook his head, squeaking and tugging on his arm. “Luhuhuhu STAHAHAHAP! HAHAhahaha Nohot fahahair!” Mario reacted. 

“He’s so ticklish!” The toad dressed as Mario had reacted. 

“He really is! It’s his only weakness besides his height.” Luigi admitted, playfully jabbing at both his belly, as well as his dignity. 

Mario threw his head back and squealed, laughing almost manically. “Mama Mihihiaaa! Plehehehehease! Hahahahaha!” Mario covered his mouth in an attempt to get his giggles under control. But evident by the continuous giggles leaving his mouth, it clearly wasn’t working. 

By now, some of the toads were giggling, while other toads were calling more toads to come see Mario get tickled. It was quite funny seeing the toads so eager to see Mario so giggly. 

“He’s so funny!” One of the toads reacted, giggling as well in his turtle costume.

“Are you sure this is his only weakness?” A toadette asked, dressed as Princess Peach. 

Luigi chuckled. “Oh, this isn’t Mario’s only weakness…” Luigi warned. 

“Luigihihihi, dohohon’t you dahahahahare!” Mario warned. 

“But for the sake of Mario’s dignity, I’m gonna keep that a secret.” Luigi said next to the toads. 

The toads let out a collective “Awwww…” in response, but quickly went back to laughing once Luigi tickled Mario’s armpits again.

“LUHUHUHUHU! STAHAHAP IHIHIT!” Mario yelled, reaching out and trying to poke Luigi back. 

“WaAH-” Luigi caught his other hand, and smirked. “Sorry, Mario~” Luigi declared. “You’re not turning the tables THAT easily~” He warned. 

“Meheherda! Cohohome ohohohohon!” Mario whined through his laughter. 

Luigi poked and prodded a few different spots, keeping Mario on his jumpy little toes. “Boop! Boop-boop, boop, boop-boop-boop!” Luigi teased in a baby voice. 

“Ihihi swehehehear to gohohohod!” Mario yelled before falling onto his back. “Ihihi’m gonna kihihihill yohohou!” Mario shot at him. 

Luigi knelt down and let go of his hand, before tickling both sides of his belly. “Let’s save that for later…Okay, brother?” Luigi teased, looking at the toads as he tickled him. 

The toads all giggled and covered their mouths, clearly loving the entertainment Luigi was providing them. The number of toads had now gone up to 15, with 11 toads and 4 toadette’s watching Mario get tickled to bits in front of them.

Right as Mario felt like he was gonna lose it, Luigi slowly stopped tickling. He couldn’t help but sneak a few little extra pokes, but he certainly lessened the tickles dramatically. The tickles weren’t nearly as bad as before. They mainly just left Mario jumpy and giggly. 

“Alright, I think that’s enough for the poor man.” Luigi told them. Despite the fact that Mario seemed to be exhausted, the toads all let out a whiney “Awwwww” sound all over again. But upon seeing Mario breathing heavily, they all gathered around Mario and offered him their candy to help him get better. One toad offered the chocolate bar Luigi had just given him, while another child offered up a bag of sour candies. A toadette offered him a juice box, which Mario did end up graciously taking. Mario drank it down slowly, appreciating the liquid that coated his previously-dry throat. The toadette looked at Mario, visibly concerned. “Are you okay?” The toadette asked him. 

“Y-Yeah…I’m okay.” Mario responded. 

“Is there anything else we can do?” Another toad asked. 

Mario lifted his head up slightly. “Actually…” He raised his pointer finger up. “You can tickle Luigi if you want. Get his armpits and hips.” Mario spoke up. 

Luigi gasped. “WhAT?! Mario!” Luigi yelled. 

Luigi and Daisy were arm-wrestling to see who was the strongest out of the two of them. So far, Luigi seemed to be winning. He and Daisy had both won 1 game out of 3. And now, this last round was supposed to be the tie-breaker. 

“Think you can beat me?” Daisy asked. 

“I think it’s worth a shot. This could be my redemption arc.” Luigi told her. 

“We’ll see~” Daisy sing-songed. “Alright. Hands up.” Daisy said, readying her hand. 

“Ready when you are.” Luigi said, holding his hand up. 

“You sure?” She asked, grabbing his hand with hers. 

“I think so.” Luigi replied, readying himself in his seat. 

“Come on, Lu. Have more confidence in yourself!” She encouraged. 

Luigi sighed and cleared his throat. “Okay. Ready.” 

“3…” Daisy said. “2…1…GO!” She started pushing his hand. 

Luigi started pushing slightly later which made his hand fall back a bit. But his pushing managed to level things out. 

“Oooh, not bad, Lu!” She reacted. 

“I’ve…been practicing.” He managed to get out through his grunting. 

“I…can tell…” Daisy started to grunt a bit as she kept pushing. 

Luigi managed to get her arm bent back slightly. “There…we go…” he grunted. 

“Okay-” she pushed a little harder, but didn’t make as much progress. “Oh god…” she muttered to herself. 

“Pretty good, huh?” Luigi asked. 

“Y-Yeah.” she let out a few breaths. “Come on…” she said to herself. 

“You…you give up yet?” Luigi asked. 

“You kidding me?” She pushed a bit harder. “We…just started.” She grunted. 

“We…did.” Luigi muttered back. 

“And you think…I’m gonna give up now?” She asked him. 

“I…I don’t know.” He replied, trying to focus on his arm. 

“Yeah…” She grunted a bit more, managing to get their arms right up again. “Less talking…more…pushing.” She muttered. 

“Got it.” He replied, pushing a little harder with his hand again. 

Daisy continued to push. You could see the determination in her eye…it was almost like she was desperate to win against Luigi. Most of the time, Luigi admired it! But right now, with Daisy using it against her, Luigi decided to treat it as a new challenge.

Luigi could see his hand pushing Daisy’s arm backwards a little bit more. His strength was surprisingly still strong despite the consistent pushing. It looked like Luigi might win this thing! 

But then…Luigi paused his movements when he saw Daisy adjusting her grip. 

“Hold on…” Daisy muttered. “Okay. Sorry Luigi, I’m good now.” She told him. 

Luigi looked at her hand, and noticed something: 

“Why are your fingers out?” Luigi asked, noting that the ring finger and pinky finger were sticking out. “Feels better.” She replied. 

“...Okay?” Luigi looked at it for a moment…but shrugged it off. “Alright. Start again?” Luigi asked. 

“Sure!” Daisy replied. 

Luigi nodded his head and readied his own hand. “Okay. 3…2…1…Go!” Luigi started pushing first this time, earning him a small headstart against his girlfriend. 

“Ohno-” Daisy muttered, pushing against his hand to try and quickly level the playing field. 

“Determined…huh?” Luigi asked, before looking up. 

But to Luigi’s surprise, Daisy was smirking…Smirking quite mischievously…It looked like she was just as determined to win as he was…

Suddenly, Luigi felt a fluttering feeling on the side of his hand. 

“WaaAAH!” Luigi jumped and unintentionally loosened his grip. “Oooooh~” Daisy’s smirk grew teeth. “Is someone a little…” The fluttering returned to the side of his hand. “Ticklish~?” 

“GaAHaha- D-Daisy!” Luigi yelled, widening his eyes. He was squeezing his left eye shut, trying his best to handle the feeling. Daisy was being a little menace by tickling his hand…and unfortunately for Luigi, it was working! 

“What a funny little discovery!” She reacted. 

“Thihis- Ihit’s cheheating!” Luigi protested. 

“You’re right, it usually is.” She told him, before fluttering her finger faster. “But you never mentioned that I COULDN’T do this…” She reminded him. 

Luigi squeaked and lowered his head as little squeaky giggles left his mouth. “Hehehe! Daisy stahahap!” Luigi called. 

“Stop what, Lu?” She asked. 

“T-Tihihickling mehe!” He replied. 

“Tickling you?! But I’m just playing with your hand! How could this-” She fluttered her two fingers faster. “-tickle you?!” She asked with fake surprise. 

The truth is, Daisy knew all about Luigi’s ticklish hands. The side of his pinky finger was the worst spot on his hand by far, and that was the exact spot she was toying with. It didn’t help that Daisy had longer fingernails at the moment, which drastically increased the ticklish feeling. 

And on top of that, Luigi was rapidly losing the strength in his arm. “Dahahaisy! Thihis isn’t fahahair!” He tried to tell her. 

“I mean, it’s a little fair.” She told him. “Look at this as a challenge!” She encouraged. 

“Whahat?!” Luigi looked up at her, and noted the growing twinkle in her eye. “You just have to try harder to beat me!” She told him. 

Luigi closed both his eyes and shook his head. “Nohohoho!” Luigi squeaked and tugged on his hand slightly as her ring finger moved lower towards the side of his wrist. 

“Oh- Don’t let go, Lu~” She teased. “Or else I wiiiin~” 

Luigi opened his left eye, and looked at his girlfriend head-on. “Doho- Dohoho yohour wohohorst!” Luigi shot back. 

“Okay!” She pushed her hand down super quick, bringing Luigi’s arm back against the table in under 3 seconds. “BOOM!” 

“WAH-” Luigi yelped as the slight pain moved through his upper arm to his shoulder. “NO!” He yelled. 

“I WIN!” Daisy yelled happily, throwing her fists in the air with pride. 

“Th-Through cheating…” Luigi muttered. 

“You lose!” Daisy declared, poking his big nose. 

Luigi jumped and held his nose, before looking up at Daisy. “What do you mean ‘I lose’?! You cheated!” Luigi argued. 

“Yeah, well…You shouldn’t be so ticklish.” She replied with a hint of sass. 

“Technically I win because you cheated.” Luigi told her with a smirk. “Cheaters never win.” Luigi reminded her. 

Daisy grabbed his hand. “Except when the loser is too ticklish~” She started fluttering 4 of her fingers against his palm this time. 

“WAHahaha! N-Noho!” Luigi giggled, covering his mouth. 

“Tickle tickle, Lu~” She scratched right on the wrist, earning a little snort from Luigi. “Awww! How cute!” She teased. 

“N-Nohohoho! *snort* Dahahaisy stahahap!” Luigi giggled. 

“You’re not even pulling away or anything!” Daisy reacted. 

“Ihihi cahahan’t!” Luigi replied. 

“Well in that case…do you accept defeat?” She asked, leaning closer to his face with a smirk. 

Luigi shook his head. “Ihihi nehever-” Luigi squealed. “Ihi never lose to a cheeheeateher!” He shot back. 

“Are you suuuuure~?” She asked, pretending to be empathetic. 

“Ihihi ahaham.” Luigi replied. 

“Okaaay~” She giggled. “Looks like someone hasn’t learned the truth about life:” She leaned into his ear and whispered something: “Women are always right~” She whispered. 

Luigi didn’t know what to do at first…the tickling wasn’t bad. It was actually quite tolerable! but it was still so distracting, so overwhelming that he couldn’t think straight. The only thing going through his head was ‘should I show her mercy? Or make her regret cheating?’. 

A few minutes later, Luigi chose the latter. Realizing the grip that Daisy had on his hand, he took advantage of that and pulled her into his arms. With Daisy now stuck, Luigi made sure to tickle her till she admitted to her cheating. Because this is a lesson every kid has to go through. And what’s that lesson? 

I’m a failure…I’m just a shadow…I’ll never be as good as him…No one cares about me like they care about him…No one even wants to know me…Everyone treats me like a baby, and I’m sick of it! I’m not a nobody! I’m NOT A NOBODY! I EXIST TOO! MARIO IS NOT THE ONLY BROTHER! PLEASE NOTICE ME! 

Oh god…Everything’s going blurry…I can’t focus on anything in the room…So many colors, it’s overwhelming…There’s heavy weight on my chest…It hurts to breathe. It feels like an elephant is laying on my chest…I need to breathe heavier to make up for it. 

But it isn’t working…I feel light-headed from breathing so hard…It’s making everything worse. Why does my hand hurt-? Oh…I’m scratching it raw…that makes sense. 

Help…I feel my knees giving out…I’m gonna fall! NO! The hard ground is gonna hurt! 

Hard ground…it’s coming…

…It should be coming…right? 

G…Ground…? 

N…No hard ground? Why can’t I feel the ground? 

Wait…I feel…arms? Whose arms? What color are they? 

They’re yellow…Why are they yellow? I don’t know a person who wears yellow. Who is this? 

“Shh-shh-shhhh…”

I widen my eyes. Mario? Is that you?! Why are you wearing yellow? I never see you wearing yellow! 

“It’s okay, I’m right here.” 

Mario is here…I’m not alone. Mario cares. He has always cared about me…

I wrap my arms around Mario and let out a shaky breath of relief. Mario had saved me from falling and hitting my head. I’m safe in his arms.  

I feel Mario hugging me back. His yellow clothes are very comfy. I feel my eyesight getting better. I’m able to see more than just the random colors. I look down at Mario's back, and widen my eyes when I see it…

A waving cat tail…? 

Wait…Why does Mario have a tail?! 

“M-Mario?...” I call. 

“Yes, Lu?” He replied. 

I reach my arm out and touch the yellow tail attached to my brother. “Am…Am I losing it?” I ask him. 

“No. What’s going on?” He asked. 

“Then-” I took off my glove and felt it. It was real! “Why on earth, do you have a cat tail?!” I finally asked. 

Mario let go of me to reveal his costume and wagged the cat tail. He was wearing a yellow onesie with a hood with cat ears. “I’m a cat.” He explained. 

I didn’t know whether to burst out laughing, or coo with cuteness overload. “I-” I lifted my hat up and scratched my head. “Why are you wearing a fur suit?!” I asked. 

Mario giggled. “It’s a powerup.” Mario admitted to me. “It’s the powerup I used to beat Donkey Kong.” He admitted. 

“You beat a gorilla…by dressing as a cat…” I clarified, not at all believing him. 

“I did! I skittered all around him-” He reenacted it in front of me. “And I scratched him on the face a few times! This powerup is sweet.” Mario told me. 

I think for a moment. “If you’re dressed like a cat…and you have claws like a cat…” I smirked. “Does that mean you act like a cat too?” I asked next. 

Mario rolled his eyes. “I don’t know. I’ve only used it once, Lu.” Mario admitted. 

I smile as I wipe the leftover tears from my own eyes. “Can…Can I try?” I ask. 

Mario shrugged his shoulders. “Sure! Whatever helps you feel better.” He told me. 

I scooted myself closer to him and looked at his back. I brought up my hand to pet his back, but…I retreated it with an embarrassed laugh. “Sorry, this is really weird…” I admitted.

Mario chuckled. “Yeah, I imagine.” 

I reached out my hand closer to his back…but I made the mistake of looking at Mario’s face. Something about seeing Mario’s face surrounded by the yellow fur of a cat, made it look like he was being eaten alive by the cat suit. 

I dropped my hand down as laughter bursted out of me. “Ihit’s so hard to take you seriously when all I see is your face!” I admitted. 

Mario wheezed and hung his head as well, bursting out in his own laughter. “Ihihis ihit really that hard?!” He asked. 

I attempted to pull myself together. But…One little look at the suit…And I had thrown myself onto the floor, busting out in even more laughter. “Sohohorry! Gohod-” I reacted, my voice squeaking slightly. 

I rubbed my eye as I let myself laugh. The entire cat suit powerup thing was way too hard for me to properly process. All I kept thinking was ‘De yellow cat go mew’ and ‘Cat bro so kawaii’. It was next to impossible to take him seriously. 

Though, I had to admit…It felt amazing to just laugh till my stomach hurt. It felt so relieving after my panic attack. Mario’s cat costu- powerup, had already helped cheer me up. Even then, this was only the beginning. There was so much I could do to explore. 

I finally sat up and wiped a few tears out of my eyes. I was still giggling…but thankfully, I was calming down at least a little bit. It took me a second to realize Mario was holding up something in his hand. It looked like an old-fashioned bell you’d put on a cow. Or a bell you’d have at the end of a cat toy. But the only difference was…it had beady black eyes. 

“Whahat-” I blinked a few times and looked at Mario. 

“Take it.” Mario told me. 

“What is it?” I asked. 

“It’s the cat powerup.” Mario told me. 

“Oh…” I responded. I bit my lip and slowly brought my finger out to poke it. When I felt my finger touch it, I felt a surge of power overcome my body. It was so quick and so overwhelming, I didn’t know what to do with myself. But I gasped as the power calmed down. 

“Meow!” I heard. 

Wait…that was my- I widened my eyes and covered my mouth. Did I just do that?! Did I just meow?! Oh NO! That’s so embarrassing! 

I looked up at Mario, likely visibly embarrassed. But Mario smiled at me. “Meow!” He replied back to me. 

For some strange reason…his meow made me feel a little bit better about it. I instinctively uncovered my mouth and let out a guffaw. “I couldn’t control that! That was instinctual, I swear!” I reacted. 

Mario laughed. “I know, right?! It leaves your mouth before you can comprehend it!” He admitted. 

“It really does!” I agreed, still surprised. 

Mario stretched out his front paws, in almost a ready position. “You in the mood for a good ol’ fashioned cat fight?” Mario asked me. 

I smirked and got myself ready in virtually the same position. “You betcha~” I replied excitedly. 

The last thing I processed was Mario’s smirk towards me. And then the cat fight had begun. Mario tackled me to the ground while I rolled myself over and bapped Mario in the chest to get him off. Mario ran a good two feet away, and reached his right paw out to bap me. “Dooon’t you do it.” Mario warned. 

I smirked and slowly walked myself closer to him. “Oooh, I just might~” I teased. 

Mario smirked and raised his paw higher. “I’m warning you!” 

I swished my tail with excitement, before tackling Mario to the ground. “Warn me better next time!” I declared happily. 

Mario let out a cat-like cry, before kicking me with his back paws. “NO!” He shouted, bringing his head closer and showing his teeth. 

I smirked and rubbed my face and ears into Mario’s belly. 

I heard Mario wheeze and felt him bap my head in an attempt to get my head away. “WAHAITNAhahahaha! Luhu- nahahaha!” Mario laughed. 

“Looks like the kitty cat’s still ticklish~” I teased, gently fluttering the claws against his belly for good measure. 

Mario actually squealed, and rolled himself over to try and cover himself up. But little known fact about Mario: His back sides were ALSO very ticklish! And being his twin brother, I knew that fact all too well. 

So naturally, like any other brother would, I took advantage of the exposed area. 

“MAMA WAHAHAHAA!” Mario shrieked like a little girl, and wiggled around like a turtle stuck on its back!

I bursted out laughing. “Did you seriously forget about this spot?” I asked. 

“HAHAHAHAHA- YEHEHEHESSS!” Mario shouted. 

I couldn’t help but laugh at his struggle. “You really didn’t think any of this through, did you?” I asked with a giggle. 

Mario shook his head amidst his laughter. “NOHOHOHO.” He replied. 

I suddenly yelped as Mario pushed me off with his foot and flipped himself over. “Noho mohohore…Plehehease…” He muttered. 

I chuckled and scratched the back of my head. “Right…I forgot…you never could handle much tickling…” I admitted. 

I watched as Mario shook his head and huffed. “Gosh…I know you like to play, but…” He wiped off his sides. “Be careful.” He cleared his throat. “You know how anxious I get…” 

I widened my eyes in worry. Anxious? Did-Did I make Mario anxious?! 

No…Oh god…I messed up! I shouldn’t have tickled him!  

I wrap my clawed hands around myself and bring my knees up to my chest. How could I have made such a preventable mistake?! The playful tickling is too much for him to handle! Luigi, you know that! You know he can’t handle it! 

You’ve known since we were children! 

But-...But it was a spur of the moment thing…Mario started being playful with you first…

NO. Luigi, you need to stop doing what your heart wants to do! Think with your head! 

If you don’t…then you’ll throw him into an anxiety attack as well!

Experiencing an anxiety attack because of your own thoughts is one thing…

But putting someone else into an anxiety attack because of your thoughts too?! That’s unacceptable! Inexcusable! Selfish, even! 

Oh no…Luigi, you’re doing it again. Stop thinking these thoughts. You don’t want to go back to square one, right? 

Don’t be so stupid! You know better!

Come on, Luigi…Pull yourself together! Come on! Breathe! For the love of god-

…?

…H-Huh?

…..What-...

I feel…W-Warm…It’s…fl-fluffy? What is- 

“Shhh shhh shhh…It’s okay…” 

Mario…Mario’s voice…It’s soft…quiet…

I feel warm…cozy…What’s making me feel so comfy? 

I look down, and see a red blanket. Red…Mario’s favorite color…It’s his blanket…He’s letting me use it…It smells like him too…

Hm? I feel something hugging me…Hands? Arms? Who’s holding me? It feels…nice. 

I look up to see Mario’s red shirt. “It’s okay, Lu. It’s okay…I got you.” 

I smile. Mario’s here. It’ll be okay. It’s okay, Luigi...You’re okay. 

“There you go…” I hear him say. 

My heart isn’t beating as heavily…My breathing has slowed…I feel…a little more calm…more safe…

“You okay, Lu?” I hear. 

I bite my lip and look up at Mario as best I can. “Did I make you anxious?” I ask him. 

Mario shook his head. “No. You didn’t.” He replied. 

I frown. “I almost did…” I told him. 

“What do you mean?” I hear him ask. 

“I could’ve…” I shove my face into the red blanket. 

I hear Mario sigh and pull me closer. “You didn’t make me anxious…If anything, your tickles kind of surprised me a little bit.” I heard him say. 

I open my eyes a small bit. “They…didn’t make you anxious?” I asked, still fearful of what I might’ve done to him. 

“Not even a little bit.” Mario said back. 

Wait…I don’t understand. “Y-You said-” 

“Luigi…” I feel him rub my back. “There’s a huge difference between being surprised, and being anxious.” He told me. “I think I may have used the word ‘anxious’ in the wrong context…” He admitted. “But…I want to tell you…” I felt as Mario let me go slightly and fixed the blanket on my shoulders. “You did not make me anxious.” 

Every little brick that was balancing on my shoulders, had slowly fell off my shoulders. It felt like I could properly breathe again. The warmth and comfort Mario was giving me…was helping me exponentially. 

“You feeling better, Lu?” Mario asked me. 

I smiled and nodded my head. “Y-Yeah…” I admitted softly. 

*knock, knock, knock* 

“Mario? Luigi? Are you in there?” Someone called. 

Mario widened his eyes. “Peach!” He reacted. 

PEACH?! 

“SHOOT!” I pushed myself out of Mario’s grip and threw the blanket off myself. I fixed my hair and threw my hat onto my head quickly. “Come on, Mario.” I grabbed Mario’s hand. 

“Luigi hold oOOAAH!” Mario shrieked as I pulled him up onto his feet. “Geez…Okay.” 

I heard him rub his overalls free of any dirt while I ran up to open the door. “Hello Princess!” I greeted. 

Peach crossed her arms. “Took you long enough…” She teased. “What were you two up to?” She asked. 

I bit my lip, and struggled to come up with an excuse. I didn’t really want Peach to find out we were cuddling…

“I was about to give Luigi the biggest revenge attack ever.” Mario declared right beside me. I lit up. “Y-Yeah! That!” I said…only for me to realize what I just said ‘yes’ to. 

“What kind of revenge?” Peach asked me. 

I could feel the sweat dripping down my forehead. “U-Uh…” I hesitantly tried to protest. 

“The ticklish kind~” He teased me with the biggest grin on his face. I squeaked as my eyes fell upon Mario’s wiggling, villainous fingers. 

They were torturous to watch…Just wiggling…ready to pounce and cover me in overwhelming ecstasy. 

Before I could properly process my inevitable doom, I felt Mario’s hands grab my wrists while the smaller, gloved fingers of the Princess began to skitter and squeeze my sides and belly. If I knew THIS was gonna happen, I would’ve waited an extra 5 minutes before getting off Mario. 

But…alas…I was wrong…

Little known fact about Luigi: He LOVES to sleep. If he can find a comfy spot to sleep on, he is guaranteed to fall asleep there in about 10 minutes. That is just one of the many skills that Luigi possesses. Now…Most of the time it’s not a problem. But…Sometimes, Mario needs to wake his brother up to take him to bed, since he can’t really carry Luigi on his own anymore. Once in a while, Mario will find him in weird positions, and he has to help Luigi get himself out of that position before taking him to bed. And once in a while…he finds his brother flopped on the ground beside the desk chair, looking like he tried to get up, but fell down midstep and just…made himself comfortable. Those times? Mario has to take a picture and try not to laugh while he sends it to his family before waking his brother up. 

This time however, Mario was feeling especially mischievous…especially when he found his little brother sleeping with his spine on the back of the sofa, flipped upside down with his head resting on the couch cushion. This made Mario laugh silently as he noticed that his brother’s shirt had ridden up mid-sleep, exposing his belly and belly button. The gears began turning in Mario’s head as he walked up and sat down beside his brother. “Luigi…” Mario whispered. 

Luigi didn’t even move an inch. He was completely quiet, save for the occasional snore. 

Mario smirked a bit and leaned into Luigi’s ear. “Luiiigiiii…” Mario whispered softly. 

Luigi mumbled and waved his hand around to get the mysteriously warm air away from his ear, before settling his arm above his head. 

Mario’s smirk only widened as the exposed belly continued to entice him. Slowly, he brought his hand closer and closer to his belly, readying his fingers to give Luigi a good, ticklish wake up call. “Wake up.” Mario muttered softly. 

Luigi groaned and squeezed his eyes slightly, before unsqueezing them and going back to sleep. Who was bothering him!? How dare they bother him during one of his best sleeps? Whoever it was…Please kick them out, Mario. His brother knows how much he likes to sleep, so surely he can kick out the sleep intruder. 

Mario chuckled silently as his hand froze just millimeters away from Luigi’s belly. His hand was shaking, just begging to touch down. But…He didn’t. He moved his hand back towards himself when he realized how unsafe it would be to tickle Luigi in this position. Luigi could do a backflip over onto his stomach, doing damage to his already bad knees if he wasn’t careful. Mario decided that before he strikes, he will make the play area more safe. 

Mario stretched out his fingers and looked at his brother’s hands. If he angles this quite right…then he may be able to save his brother from falling, and still get his tickle attack in. So…Mario turned himself to face the left side of the couch, but remained on the right side so he could grab and pull him.  

Quickly, in one fell swoop, Mario grabbed Luigi’s wrists and pulled him onto the bottom of the couch. “Wake up, Luigi!” Mario said before hopping onto his brother’s hips and skittering his fingers on his belly. 

“Wha- HA! HAHAhahahahaha!” Luigi threw his head back as the man was overcome with laughter. “MAHAHARIOHOHO WHYHYHYHY?!” Luigi yelled. 

“Because you were sleeping upside down! And that’s really bad for the mushy thing in your head.” Mario joked, poking his brother’s head lightly. 

Luigi shook his head and tried to wiggle himself away from Mario. “OHOKAHAHAY, IHIHI’M AWAHAHAHAKE!” Luigi told him. Mario chuckled. “I know you are…I would normally stop, but I’m actually enjoying tickling you.” Mario admitted. 

“WHAHAT AHABOUT MEHEHEHE?!” Luigi asked. 

Mario tilted his head. “You’re not enjoying this?” Mario asked. 

Luigi shook his head. “IHIHI WAHAHAHAS, BUHUHUT-” Luigi admitted. 

“Ooooh…” Mario smiled. “It’s too much for you?” Mario clarified. “YEHEHEHEAH!” Luigi replied. 

“Okay. So you need me to stop?” Mario asked. 

“YEHEHES- YES-YES, PLEHEHEHEASE STOHOHOHOP!” Luigi begged. 

“Okay, okay.” Mario said, stopping his fingers. 

Luigi let out a few breaths of relief. “Ohohoho gohohohosh…hehehe…” Luigi muttered, looking away. “Behehed tihihime?” Luigi asked. 

Mario nodded. “Bedtime.” 

Mario helped Luigi get off the couch and brought him to Lu’s bedroom. When Luigi was in bed, Mario headed to his own bed and got under the covers. And as Mario laid in bed…he spent his time considering whether he should go back to softly waking him up, or resume tickling him awake. When his eyes closed, he made his future decision. 

Though Luigi would usually fall asleep in the house, he also would fall asleep outside. There have been a few times when Mario had found Luigi under the same tree in the park back in Brooklyn. He would later find Luigi sleeping under mushroom heads in the forest. Mario would have to find him when it was getting to be dinner time. Sometimes he would end up finding him at 10pm under the mushroom head, STILL sleeping. You’d think he would be tired of sleeping by now, but nope…Luigi could sleep for 6 hours if he could. 

There was one time when Mario had found Luigi sleeping on a lawn chair in the blazing sun. How in the heck Luigi had managed to fall asleep with the sun in his eyes, Mario had no idea. But either way, he found him like this and yelped in horror. “Luigi!” Mario yelled, sprinting up to Luigi. “What are you doing?!” Mario asked. 

Luigi groaned and looked at Mario. “What?” He asked.

Mario had started checking his skin. “You’re gonna badly burn yourself if you’re out in the sun for too long.” Mario warned. “Did you at least remember sunscreen?” Mario asked. 

Luigi felt his face and noticed how hot it was. “I don’t think so, actually. How long was I out here?” Luigi asked. 

“What time did you go out?” Mario asked next. 

“2:30, I think.” Luigi admitted. 

“It’s 5 o’clock, Luigi.” Mario told him, showing him his phone clock. 

Luigi read the clock, before widening his eyes and handing Mario his phone. “Sorry…I didn’t realize I was out here for so long.” Luigi admitted. 

“Well, be careful.” Mario told him. “I don’t want you going to work with blistering skin.” Mario told him. 

Luigi hissed at just the thought of painful, bubbling skin on his body. He got up and carried the lawn chair back to the house, before walking inside the house. When Luigi was inside, Mario made sure he stripped down to just his underwear to check for any burns, specifically on his back. Then, he sat his brother down on a stool and started to check him for any burns on his back. 

“Does any of this hurt?” Mario asked, tapping the red spots on his back. 

Luigi hissed a couple times at a few different spots. “Mhm…yeah…” Luigi muttered. 

Mario rubbed some ointment on his back, before moving his hand to the right arm. “What about here?” Mario asked, prodding the upper, outer part of his arm. 

Luigi shook his head. “Nope. That doesn’t hurt.” Luigi replied. 

“So that’s just a red mark.” Mario muttered to himself as he moved onto his left arm. “Anywhere here?” Mario asked, patting down his arm. 

“Nope…nope…nope- Aaah…okay yeah, there.” Luigi admitted, pointing to the lower, inner part of the left arm. 

Mario nodded and covered the spot in cold ointment. “Alright.” He started touching and prodding his sides. “Anywhere here?” 

Luigi pulled his arms towards his sides as he squeaked and chuckled. “N-No.” Luigi replied. 

“You sure?” Mario started poking up his ribs. “Cause I see some red spots-” 

Luigi snorted and doubled over, struggling to push his brother’s fast hands away. “Mahario, quit plahahaying arohohound!” Luigi giggled. 

“I’m being serious, Lu!” Mario reacted. “I have to check, or else they’re not gonna heal as fast!” Mario explained. 

“Yohou’re messing with me-” 

Mario grabbed Luigi’s upper ribs, squeezing them a bit for extra effect. “Thihihis doesn’t hurt, does it?” Mario asked, no longer able to contain his laughter as he tried to help his brother. 

Luigi hung his head and lost his mind with laughter as he curled his arms up. “GAHAHAHAHAhahahaha!” Luigi cackled. “Yohohohou’re sohohohoho mehehehehehean!” Luigi argued. 

“What’s so funny, Lu?” Mario asked ‘innocently’. 

“Yohohou’re tihihicklihing mehehehehehe!” Luigi laughed. 

“Tickling you?! Who would do such a thing?!” Mario teased, acting all innocent when he clearly wasn’t. “Now lower your shoulders, I need to check your neck for any burns.” Mario told him. 

“Nohoho mohore tickles?” Luigi mumbled. 

“We’ll see.” Mario replied. “Are you ticklish on your neck?” Mario asked, wiggling a single finger on his neck. 

Luigi snorted and pushed Mario’s hand away. “Yehehes! Yohohou knohow thihihis!” 

“I’ll try to be careful.” Mario told him. 

But Luigi shook his head. “I don’t truhuhust yohou.” Luigi admitted. 

“Come on, Lu…” Mario put some ointment on his spine to help him calm down. “Just loosen up.” Mario said, gently pushing down his shoulders and helping Luigi slowly uncover the rest of his neck. 

Luigi sighed and tried to calm himself down. It’s gonna be okay. He’s not gonna tickle you. Luigi felt as Mario rubbed some more ointment on his neck and shoulders. It felt almost like a light massage…All the while he was thinking quiet thoughts…calm thoughts…serenity…peaceful thoughts…sooo sooooothing…Zzzzzz…

“Luigi, you’re hanging your head-” Mario turned around to look at Luigi, and shook his head with a smile. Yet again, Luigi has proven he can fall asleep anywhere…Even when he’s sitting up. 

Mario smirked and placed his index finger right onto the bottom of Luigi’s spine, and slowly began to draw it up his spine while whistling playfully. 

Luigi squeezed his eyes slightly when he felt the touch on his lower back. He mumbled something as he attempted to sleep…but it began to get harder and harder to stay asleep when the finger was going up his spine. He let out an exhale through his nose with a wobbly smile as he instinctively arched his back a bit. 

Luigi was developing more of a smile the higher Mario went, and he soon began to let out little giggles. “Hehe…hehehe…” He mumbled. “Heheheheee-” 

But when Mario had reached the shoulder blades, Luigi opened his eyes and jolted awake. “HehehaHAHAHA!” Luigi quickly jumped off the stool and sprinted away. “Duhuhude!” Luigi reacted, scratching his back. “You said you wouldn’t tickle me!” 

Mario cackled and laughed. “How did you manage to fall asleep while sitting up?!” Mario asked. 

Luigi looked down. “I…I don’t know. You told me to loosen up…and I did.” Luigi said. Mario chuckled. “To the point of falling asleep?” Mario asked. 

“Well, it worked didn’t it?” Luigi asked. 

Mario shook his head. “I’m gonna need to take notes of when you fall asleep…” Mario told him. “Because as much as it’s funny, it’s also getting a little worrying.” Mario told him. 

Luigi looked up at Mario and tilted his head. “I have no problem staying awake.” Luigi told him. “You fall asleep in the car when we’re stuck in traffic on our way to our next customer…” Mario mentioned, sitting down on the couch nearby. “And I think it’s getting to be more than just trust in my driving.” Mario added. 

Luigi bit his lip and looked down. “Should we…be seeing a doctor about it?” Luigi asked. 

“No no no…” Mario said. “Well…Not yet.” He clarified. “I’m gonna keep an eye out on when you fall asleep, and how long you sleep for.” Mario told him. “Depending on that…we may have to see someone.” Mario said. “But All I need from you…” Mario got up and placed his hand on Luigi’s shoulder. “I’ll need you to keep going about your day like you usually do.” Mario told him. “If you fall asleep, then that’s okay. If you don’t, then that’s okay.” Mario told him. 

Luigi smiled a bit more and hugged his brother tightly. “Thank you, Mario.” 

Mario smiled and hugged him back. “No problem. I’ll always be here for you.” 

Luigi smiled and closed his eyes. He felt a little bit more safe and understood now…

For the next while, Luigi would go about his days and fall asleep when he felt like he needed to. Mario kept a mental chart of when he fell asleep and would write it down in a small journal. But the only time Mario didn’t write it down…was when they had finished work and were watching TV together. 

Luigi was laying his head on Mario while Mario was watching some sort of cliche cop show. Mario looked down at Luigi and smiled a bit as he saw his brother resting on his belly. Luigi had once again fallen asleep. But this time…he had fallen asleep at an appropriate time…and against Mario like he was a toddler.  

Mario tried to place his focus on the TV, and follow the plot. It was the usual cop show case of cops pulling someone over, only to find a dead body in the back of the trunk, which leads to a whole investigation with endless twists and turns that either make no sense, or they were so predictable Mario had called it from the beginning. 

Luigi shuffled himself around a bit against his belly, moving himself from his left side to his stomach. He let out a breath as he relaxed again, but accidentally tickled Mario’s belly as he did so. This made Mario tense up slightly and temporarily pause his breath. 

Mario didn’t realize, but Luigi had noticed this change. It was a little bit hard trying to hide the change in belly breaths when Luigi’s laying on his belly. Luigi closed his eyes and attempted to sleep for a while longer. But when the cop cars with the red and blue lights went by on the screen, Luigi squeezed his eyes shut to shield his eyes from the pain. Red and blue lights always bothered him…

In an attempt to get the lights out of his eyes, he moved his face into Mario’s stomach and let out a huff…right into his stomach. 

Mario jumped and covered his mouth, preventing himself from laughing. He had paused his breathing again, before letting a long, slow breath. Mario looked down at Luigi, who was moving his face around against his belly. “Luhuigi-” 

Luigi mumbled and turned his head to face the back of the couch, in an attempt to hide his eyes from the TV. Mario let out a sigh of relief and went back to watching the TV. It looked like the detectives were starting to interrogate the suspect through pictures. And because the suspect is refusing to confess, the detectives are getting more and more fed up with him. Then, the detective slammed the suspects head onto the table, surprising Mario for a moment. The feel of the show began to turn somewhat…it was quickly evident that the detectives aren’t afraid to break protocol to get an answer out of the suspect…whatever gets the suspect talking, I guess…

And then…Luigi snuggled his face more into his belly. While the snuggles tickled enough, it felt like his mustache was fluttering against his stomach too, which tickled him like crazy. Mario had to hold his breath and cover his mouth in an attempt to not let out any titters or laughter. Make a wrong move…and Luigi might take advantage. 

But then, Luigi moved his head up to look at Mario. And when Mario looked down to see his brother, he widened his eyes…

Luigi was looking at him with an evil little smirk on his face. Oh no…How much did he notice?!

Just seeing his brother’s mischievous face…made him nervous. “L-Lu?” Mario called softly. But the moment Luigi took a deep breath, Mario started to panic. “LUWAIT-” 

PPBBBTTBBPBFBBBTFFBBBPT!

“WaaAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Mario threw his head back, before doubling over as much as he could and holding his brother’s head. “LUIHIHIGIHIHI!” Mario yelled. 

Luigi giggled before taking another deep breath in. 

PPPPPPBBBBTTTFFFBPPBBBTTBFFFBBT! 

“NAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahaha!” Mario’s laughter seemed to lessen as the vibrations stopped, allowing Mario to get a bit of a break amidst his cackles. 

“Hmmm…I’ve heard of a soft pillow before…” Luigi brought his right hand up to Mario’s side and started poking his belly. “But not a ticklish pillow…” Luigi added. 

Mario instinctively tried to push Luigi off his belly, but to no avail. All he could do was laugh, and beg for Luigi to stop tickling him. “LUIHIHIGIHIHI PLEHEHEASE!” Mario pleaded. 

“Funny…that laughter sounds…” Luigi poked his brother’s belly with his right index finger, causing Mario’s laughter to jump around. “-Quite familiar.” Luigi teased. 

“YOHOHOU IHIHIDIOT…” Mario said out loud. 

“W-Wait a second…” Luigi started squeezing both sides of his brother’s belly. “This doesn’t feel like a pillow at all!” Luigi reacted. 

Mario had covered his mouth by now, muffling his laughter a little bit. “Mmhmhmmhmhmmmhmhhmmm!” Mario mumbled. 

“In fact…” Luigi lifted up Mario’s red shirt and gasped. “This is someone’s belly!” Luigi declared rather innocently. 

Mario uncovered his mouth. “HEHEHEHE- NOHO SHIHIT, SHEHERLOHOCK!” Mario yelled back. Luigi stared at his belly for a couple seconds, before humming in thought. “I need to double-check something…” He took in a deeper breath and blew another big raspberry onto his belly. “PPPBBBBFFBBBBTT!” 

Mario threw his head back and let out a long fit of cackles. “Yup…” Luigi smiled. “Just as I thought. This is Mario’s belly.” Luigi declared.  

“YOHOHOHOU SUHUHUCK!” Mario yelled at him. 

Luigi chuckled and stopped tickling. He turned himself back onto his side and snuggled carefully into Mario’s belly again. “Note to self: Mario’s belly pillow is very comfy…” Luigi said before poking his upper belly. “And ticklish.” He added. 

Mario rolled his eyes and shook his head with a smile. “Was that revenge?” Mario asked. 

“For all the times you’ve tickled me to wake me up?” Luigi clarified. “Yes. Yes it is.” He replied. 

Mario smiled and gently skittered his fingers in Luigi’s armpit. “Gitchy gitchy goo~” Mario teased. 

Luigi squeaked and hid his face in his belly instinctively, snorting into his brother’s belly. “Nohoho! Nohohohoho fahahahair!” Luigi giggled, snorting a couple times more. 

Luigi’s laughter and snorts only made Mario laugh as well, thanks to the ticklish jolts that Luigi’s mouth was causing against his belly. The truth was…Luigi was just as capable of tickling Mario by accident, as he was of tickling Mario on purpose. Meaning the cycle of tickles between them only stopped when Mario stopped tickling Luigi’s armpit. The boys eventually fell into a calm rhythm of giggles as they both attempted to calm down. 

Mario groaned as he woke up to the sun glaring through the window. He covered up his head with the blanket in an attempt to block out the sun. But it was just no use. The blanket seemed to be glowing from the sun shining against the blanket as well. Mario sighed and rubbed his eyes before throwing the blanket off himself. He sat on the side of the bed for a few moments, trying to further wake himself up. 

“Morning, Mario.” Someone said behind him. 

Mario turned around and smiled tiredly. Luigi appeared to be already up and looking at something on his phone. What he was looking at…Mario had a pretty good guess. 

“Reading those stories again?” Mario asked. 

Luigi looked up from the phone with a small blush. “...Maybe…” Luigi mumbled, sinking further into his bed. 

Mario chuckled. “What’s it about this time?” Mario asked. 

Luigi bit his lip as he tried to figure out how to summarize the story without including certain specific scenes in it. “Well…” He cleared his throat and just read the summary at the top of the story. “Roman has decided to summon a whole bunch of puppies, to make Patton beam with happiness. As the day goes on, Roman becomes more and more evil and accidentally goes a little overboard on the puppies…” Luigi read. “It’s called…” He scrolled up. “Puppies! Puppies! Puppies!”.” Luigi read out loud. 

Mario couldn’t help the laugh that left his mouth. “Sounds exactly like something you’d read. Fluffy, cutesy, even got puppies thrown in there.” Mario reacted. 

Luigi smiled and blushed a bit more at this. “Y-Yeah…” Luigi mumbled. 

Mario got off the bed and walked up to Luigi before taking his phone. “Let me see this here.” Mario said, grabbing the top and gently taking it from his brother’s fingers. 

Luigi yelped and tried to reach up and grab it. But Mario was much quicker than him. “M-Mario, why?” Luigi asked. 

“Let’s see…” Mario started to read bits of the fanfiction out loud. 

Luigi squeaked and covered his face with the blanket. Luigi’s blush only began to darken as he heard Mario literally quote the fanfiction in little bits at a time. The even went as far as to pause his reading to add how ‘cute’, ‘funny’ or even ‘unrealistic’ the fanfic was. 

“No person can actually conjure up a puppy on the spot.” Mario told him. 

Luigi whined and tightened the grip on his blanket. “I knoooow that.” Luigi reacted. 

As Mario read more of the fanfic, he actually started to laugh while reading it. “Did the man really refer to the pomeranian as a ‘pom pom puppy’?!” Mario asked. 

Luigi couldn’t help the awkward little laugh he let out as he loosened his grip on the blanket. “Y-Yeah…They are really floofy and soft…” Luigi admitted. 

Suddenly, his blanket of comfort was thrown off of him, and Mario was standing above him in his PJ’s. “Did you seriously mispronounce the word ‘fluffy’?!” Mario asked. 

“WAH!” Luigi yelped and giggled almost desperately as he tried to grab his blanket of solitude. “Nohohoshutup-” Luigi turned to his right and curled into a ball. “Gohoho awahahay!” Luigi mumbled amidst his newfound giggle fit. 

Mario laughed at him a bit more before pointing to the green phone. “Do you even realize what these stories are doing to you?” Mario asked. 

“Marioohohoho…” Luigi mumbled and whined as he covered his own face with his bare hands. 

“They’re turning you as red as my shirt!” Mario pointed out, holding out his shirt before giggling upon seeing the hot blush on Luigi’s ears. “In fact, you’re almost more burgundy than red at this pohohoint!” Mario reacted, gently poking and wiggling his finger on his brother’s visible ear. 

Luigi squeaked and moved his left hand over to cover up his ear. “Ihihit’s called Maroon, Mario…” Luigi told him. 

Mario actually guffawed at this. “Oh really~?” Mario asked. 

Luigi closed his eyes as he risked his future with this one single line: 

“...Burgundy is m-more of a reddish-brown shade…” Luigi admitted. 

Mario smirked as he threw Luigi’s phone onto the bed and rolled up his sleeves. “Alright, smartypants.” Mario started squeezing and skittering his fingers all over Luigi’s exposed left side. “You asked for it.” Mario declared. 

Luigi squealed and arched his back as fits of laughter overcame him. As he flopped onto his back, Luigi tried to both cover up his ticklish spots AND push Mario away from him. But not only did Luigi fail to accomplish one of the actions, he managed to utterly fail at BOTH! And that was laughable in and of itself! 

“Not so tough and mighty now, huh~?” Mario asked with a smirk. 

“MARIOHOHO! Ahahahaha- Leheheave me alohohohone!!” Luigi laughed, slightly whining as he failed yet again, to stop Mario. 

“And let you get away with being the smart one?! No way!” Mario replied. “I’m the older brother! I’M supposed to be the wise one here. And you attempting to take that title from me is just rude.” Mario added. 

“Yohohou’re juhuhust cahahan’t ahaccept the truhuhuhuth.” Luigi admitted. 

Mario dropped his jaw, before widening his smile drastically. “OhoHOOO!” Mario stopped tickling. “And what is THAT?!” Mario asked, leaning against the nightstand, eager to hear his answer. 

Luigi huffed softly as he hugged himself for dear life. He knew he was screwed if he said it…He knew it before he even said the precursor. But…he also felt like he was screwed no matter what his answer would end up being…So, he just…let it leave his mouth. 

“Tha-That I’m taller, and cooler, and therefore smarter.” Luigi declared with a surprising amount of confidence dripping from his lips. 

Mario raised both his eyebrows and dropped his jaw. He knew the man would say it…but he did NOT expect such confidence from the man he called his little brother! And to be completely honest, he was thoroughly impressed! 

“And…Yeah. Yeah, I said it.” Luigi declared, poking Mario’s chest awkwardly in the process. 

Mario looked down at Luigi’s finger…then looked up at Luigi’s eyes…before ultimately dropping his facade with a drop of his head and a soft wheeze. 

Now it was Luigi’s turn to be taken aback. Mario was genuinely laughing with his own fist partly covering up his mouth. It was so funny seeing Luigi become the strong one of the brothers. It was either that, Or it was the embarrassment manifesting itself into fits of laughter. It’s usually hard to tell with Mario. 

“Uhuh…Yeah…” Luigi let out, confused, but still quite proud of himself. 

“Mama mia…” Mario reacted, wiping a tear from his own eye. “Okay, that was a good one.” Mario admitted. 

“O-Oh! Uh- th-thanks!” Luigi reacted. “I…I tried, Mario.” Luigi admitted. 

“Yohou have no idea…” Mario said. 

Luigi smiled a bit more to himself. He felt really proud in this moment. 

Mario looked at him. “No idea how SCREWED YOU ARE!” Mario suddenly scooped up his brother under the arms and threw him a foot into the air. 

Luigi screeched and yelped as he was thrown into the air. All the confidence Luigi had just seconds prior, had diminished as fear as the man was literally thrown for a loop! 

Mario caught his brother bridal style, and took in a big breath really quickly. 

“WaitwaiTWAIT-” Luigi yelled right before the inevitable happened: Mario had unloaded a huge raspberry onto Luigi’s somewhat bare belly. 

“MAMA WAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Luigi screamed as he kicked his legs wildly and waved his arms all over the place. As it would turn out, Luigi’s temporary flying was enough to bring his pj shirt up, uncovering the poor man’s belly just enough for Mario to make the biggest impact right on his belly. Either it was dumb luck, or Mario had deliberately planned it that way. 

Either way, Mario being impressed didn't really change how doomed Luigi would end up being. 

Not even close. 

Mario removed his face from Luigi’s belly, before looking at Luigi. “I wonder how many raspberries it would take to make you utterly breathless…” Mario asked with a smirk. 

Luigi squeaked and covered his mouth hard enough to muffle a lot of his suspenseful giggles. 

“One is clearly not enough.” Mario added as he adjusted his grip on Luigi slightly so he could tease him a bit more. 

How did he do this? 

Well, it’s simple really. Mario started to bring Luigi’s PJ shirt up just a touch more with his right finger. And in the process, Mario had also managed to tickle Luigi’s lower back ribs slightly. This alone was enough to make the boy giggle and wiggle around a bit in Mario’s arms. “Eheheheeee! Mahario please dohohon’t.” Luigi whined. 

“Don’t do what?” Mario asked innocently. 

Luigi widened his eyes. 

“Please, by all means: Tell me what I can’t do.” Mario told him. 

Luigi squeaked and leaned back, covering his mouth and letting out a big burst of whiny giggles. 

“Oh? Oh what’s that?” Mario asked, bringing his ear slightly closer to Luigi’s face. But all the man heard was squeaky, flustered giggles from his leprechaun-colored brother. “Oh you can’t tell me?!” Mario reacted. 

Luigi squeezed his eyes shut, knowing what was coming next. 

“Looks like I’m just gonna haaaave to continue doing what I had planned.” Mario declared before taking in a big breath and blowing another raspberry. 

“PPPPBBBFBBFBFFFBBFBBFBB!” 

Luigi threw his head back, uncovered his mouth and let out a SUPER strong cackle. He had no clue what to do with his hands at this point! So the man had begun flapping his arms like a freaking bird while kicking his feet up and down at rapid speed! 

“Oooone raspberry.” Mario declared, taking a second to look at Luigi with a smirk before taking in another deep breath. 

“PPPPFFFFBBBFBFBFBFBBBBFFFBBFBFBFFF!” Mario blasted another raspberry right into Luigi’s vulnerable tummy. 

“BAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!” Luigi cackled once again before covering his face. 

“Twooo raspberries.” Mario said with a smirk. “I wonder when the snorts will start coming out…” Mario said out loud. 

“YOHOHOHOHohou suhuhuhuhuck!” Luigi yelled at him. 

“Oh I do, do I?” Mario said as his smirk widened. “Congratulations! You just earned yourself another raspberry!” 

Mario took in a big breath and blew. “PPPPBBFFFBFBFBFFFBBBBFBFBBBFBFFBB!” 

“GAHAHAHAHA- *snort* -AHAHAHAHAHA- *snort* EEEHEEK! NOHOHO-” Luigi covered his mouth as more snorts started coming out at full force. “OHOHO NOHOHOHO- *snort* NOHOOOHO!” Luigi yelled, uncovering his mouth before letting out a long fit of cackles. 

“Wow! I’m impressed, brother! Three raspberries, and you’re not even breathless!” Mario reacted. “Snorty for sure, but not breathless.” Mario added. 

“Ihihihihi…*huff* Ihihi’m gohohonna-” 

Mario smirked and raised an eyebrow. “Oh? What are you gonna do?” Mario asked. 

“Ihihi-” Luigi attempted to say. 

Mario’s smirk widened. “Tell me, my sweet little brother, what YOU are gonna do while YOU’re stuck in this predicament.” Mario declared, poking his chest. 

Luigi wasn’t even thinking straight, which was exactly why Luigi let out the following sentence: 

“Ihihi’m gonna get you back sohoho bad after thihihis!” Luigi threatened through his giggles. 

Mario narrowed his eyes as a genuine little smile grew onto his own lips. “Whatever you say, brother.” Mario said, shrugging his shoulders before breathing in and blowing yet ANOTHER raspberry onto his poor brother’s belly. 

“aaAAAAAHAHAHAHA- *snort* HAHAHAHAHAAA! *snort* EEEEEHEHEHEHEHEEEeee-” 

Mario removed his face from Luigi’s belly right around the time that Luigi’s body went limp as his laughter became breathless. 

“Four raspberries…” Mario muttered before dropping Luigi back onto the bed. “Not bad, bro.” Mario reacted, poking his side. 

Luigi curled himself up into a ball on his right side again, hugging himself as he attempted to calm down. “Yohohohohou…Yohohou’re ehehevil.” Luigi told him, squeezing his eyes shut as his giggles died down. “Sohohoho, sohoho evihil.” Luigi mumbled. 

Mario smirked and gave Luigi’s neck a little flutter with his fingers. “I know.” Mario replied rather proudly. 

This immediately made Luigi squeak and tense up, curling his neck to the left. “EEEEheeheeheeheehehee!” Luigi giggled, reaching his hands back to move the fingers away from his neck. 

Unfortunately, this move of defense only opened up another vulnerable spot on the man. And Mario quickly took advantage of that. Mario shoved his hand right into Luigi’s left armpit, wiggling his fingers. Luigi turned over onto his back yet again, and instinctively squeezed Mario’s hand against his armpit, locking it in. “Wahahait dohohon’t!” Luigi laughed. 

“Thought I was done, huh?” Mario asked. 

“Yeheheah! Ihihi thohought-” Luigi looked up at his brother. “Ah ah ah~” Mario warned with his free left hand. “Just because I complimented you, doesn’t mean I was done.” Mario reminded him. 

Luigi closed his eyes and just gave up wiggling. He was too tired to keep moving for much longer. 

Mario stopped his fingers, and slid them out of Luigi’s armpit. “Okay, now I’m done.” Mario decided. 

Luigi covered his sides. “Ihihi dohon’t believe you…” Luigi admitted. 

“I am. Promise.” Mario replied, holding out his pinky. 

Luigi looked at the pinky for a moment, before sighing and intertwining his own pinky with Mario’s. With the promise in place, they let go. Now, Luigi would’ve moved onto his side again…but he was just too tired to do that at this moment. So, he remained on his back. Mario knelt down and picked up Luigi’s phone, which seemed to have dropped on the ground amidst Mario’s tickle attack. He handed Luigi his phone, holding it up like a claw machine. “Here.” Mario said. 

Luigi reached up to grab it, but widened his eyes slightly as Mario lifted it up another inch away from his hand. Luigi knew something was up, but couldn’t think properly. So, he reached for it again, but Mario lifted the phone up another inch. Luigi narrowed his eyes and reached for it again. And Mario lifted it up yet another inch. 

Luigi grumbled a bit. Two can play at that game. Luigi moved his fingers up to Mario and tickled his own fingers against Mario’s side and ribs. 

“BWAAAHAHA!” Mario laughed, pulling his arm back and dropping the phone right into Luigi’s hands before covering up his own side and giggling. 

“That’s just a small taste of what’s coming for you.” Luigi told him with a smirk. 

Mario bit his lip as he felt a slight blush of his own starting to show up on his face. He decided to try and brush it off by walking away from him.  But Luigi had decided to take this wonderful chance to tease him just once more. 

Luigi cleared his throat with a small smirk. “Ah, I can see why you like the color red now.” 

Mario froze in place. Did he just-