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“D-Des?” Luigi stuttered, his cheeks flushed honey pink. She looked so different. Gone was her pageboy haircut spiked with bleach and all shades of orange (her favorite color). Gone were her fishnet stockings and black jumpers littered with pins, pins and more pins. But Luigi knew it was her. It was the way she stood, her hands resting on her hips, her chin tilted slightly down, a teasing smile on her face. A ball gown couldn’t hide Destiny Del Vecchio.
“Daisy now, Weeg.” Her voice was the same too, the hard-to-decipher mixture of sarcasm and dead seriousness that high school bullies couldn’t figure out before they were shoved in a trash can or nearby locker.
“Daisy?” Luigi tested the name on his tongue. It felt like angel hair after a bowl of fettuccine.
“Weird, right?” She laughed, and it was Des. She turned, hopping onto a window sill. Luigi noticed her struggle to hoist up her skirts over her bent knees. Daisy noticed him, too. “I’m gonna ask this old Wiggler tailor to make me some shorter skirts, I love these, but, it’s a lot easier to get on the roof without fabric tripping me up, y’know?”
Luigi half-heard her. He was staring at her beat up, platform black leather boots. They were flecked with paint, the soles covered in white ink words. They were her boots.
“Y’know?” Daisy repeated over her shoulder, eyes focused on pushing open the window.
“Your boots.” Luigi breathed. Daisy turned around, her back to the open window. She winked at him.
“Don’t tell my council, but I still can’t get behind high heels. They’re freaking painful. Plus, I couldn’t leave these babies behind. A little momento, something to bring home from Brooklyn.”
“Bring home? L-Like—”
Daisy laughed, her voice edged with something. “Don’t tell me you thought that foster home was my home? C’mon, Weeg.” She folded her arms over her chest. “I’m a little disappointed.”
Then she fell back into the open air, her feet kicking off the wide stone window sill.
“DESTINY!” Luigi raced to the window, his legs scrambling to get his body up and over the sill. They wouldn’t catch, and as hard as he tried, he couldn’t get a grip on the edge. His fingers scraped over the smooth stone. He felt his hands slip off the ledge: in empty air for a split second. But, before he was pulled downward, two hands grabbed his wrists. Luigi looked up. He knew those hands.
“I forgot how little core strength you have, jeez, Weeg.” She pulled him up, his feet grazing the sill. She let go of his wrists, her hands instinctively floating around him as he got his balance. Luigi gripped her forearms, searching her face.
“Des, you’re okay? How did you— Destiny, you—”
“I’m okay, Weeg.” She shook off his arms, gripping Luigi’s shoulders and turning his body so that her back was to the open air. Her hips swayed as she did it, and Luigi felt his hands go to her waist. They swayed together, only slightly, it couldn’t even be called dancing, but they did it anyway. Luigi started humming. It was a nothing tune. Just something to sway to. They swayed, back and forth, back and forth. Daisy closed her eyes, pulling her hands flush against his neck. The wind swirled around her dress, batting at it playfully like a cat with a ball of string. Daisy pushed her cheek against Luigi’s overalls. It felt too similar. With her eyes closed she could almost imagine them back in that gymnasium. Almost imagine that floor length sparkly mint green dress rustling around her legs.
She’d worn it for him. Every other prom it was overall shorts. Black overall shorts with obnoxious knee high orange shorts. And those fishnet elbow length gloves. Every time. But not this time. This time it was long muslin gloves she’d painstakingly sewn herself. This time it was hair down, with a thin, almost invisible metallic circlet she’d made out of spray painted paper clips adorning her head. She had painted delicate little flowers along her cheekbones out of glitter. They seemed to grow over her face, catching the colorful lights of the gymnasium as they fluttered. She glowed. She was fae, magic. Luigi felt his jaw go slack when she walked in. He ran up to her, almost tripping over the dress shoes he had borrowed from his uncle.
“Des-tiny.” He swallowed, trying to quiet his pounding heart. She turned, her dress fluttering, and Luigi felt the sudden urge to bow. Her eyes fell on Luigi, and she smiled her toothy mischievous grin.
“Weegee!” She grabbed his tie, pulling him closer to her. “God! You are so handsome! Your little tux…!” She fiddled with his lapels, her smile causing the flowers to dance over her cheekbones. Luigi took her hands off his lapels, holding them in his own.
“You…” he squeaked. “Y-you’re beautiful, Destiny.”
She forced a smile, longing flicking in her eyes. But quickly it was gone, replaced by a wide grin. “I didn’t do it for that, Weeg, check it!”
She turned around, and between her shoulder blades was a tattoo. It was a daisy. Luigi studied the ink drawing, and felt an unknown sadness settle on his chest. Some of the petals were in full bloom, seeming to bounce off rays of spring sun. But others had cobwebs growing over the curling petals, others were crinkled and dead, and still others were frozen in mid fall, detached from the flower.
“Whaddya think?” Destiny asked excitedly, spinning back around.
“It’s…” beautiful, perfect, anything but…“Weird. It’s making me feel all…” He patted his stomach. Destiny grabbed his hands, smiling for real this time.
“Well yeah! It’s me, doofus!” She laughed, and Luigi joined, confused. But quickly they stopped, and together they listened to the upbeat song fade out and into slow piano. Destiny glanced sidelong at Luigi. “How about it, Weeg?”
“Des! I was gonna ask you, you just gotta give me a little, well a little time…” Destiny rolled her eyes, pulling him onto the dance floor while he stuttered. She wrapped her hands around his neck, and he tentatively placed his hands on her hips. They swayed to the music. Destiny pressed her cheek against his lapel, feeling tears come to her eyes. She blinked them away, pressing her face into his chest before she spoke.
“Do you like daisies, Luigi?”
Luigi stopped humming, pulling her back to reality. They stopped swaying. Daisy exhaled shakily. She wanted to ask Luigi that question all over again.
Do you like Daisies, Luigi?
Daisy let go of his neck. Maybe he didn’t. She ran her fingers down his overall straps, then took two steps into open air.
She landed on her back, feeling clay roof tiles crack under her. She had fallen on the roof, a couple feet below the windowsill. She made eye contact with a surprised Luigi staring down at her. Daisy burst out laughing. First they were high, perfect peals of laughter. Then they were piggish snorts, then mad giggling. Luigi couldn’t help but join as Daisy rolled very unprincessly over the broken tiles, hands clutching her stomach. Daisy waved for Luigi to come down, still giggling. He jumped down and landed on the curved point of the roof where the two sides met. The sides sloped very gently down, and Luigi knew Daisy was in no danger of rolling off. That didn’t stop him from pulling her up to stand on the curved, unbroken tiles, his hands hovering around her as she got her balance. Daisy’s laughs faded, and she suddenly pulled Luigi into a hug.
“I’m sorry, Weeg.” She sounded so serious.
“You’re OK, I-I mean, it scared me a bit when you fell out the win—”
“Not that. I’m sorry I left. Without telling you. About me. It wasn’t fair to you. Or Mario. or anyone,” she said.
Luigi pulled out of the hug, looking into her eyes. He could almost imagine her in that dress, waving to him before she climbed up the drain pipe and crawled into her window. Almost imagine that sinking feeling. That subconscious realization.
“It’s okay.”
“Liar.”
“Maybe.” Luigi looked over the roof of the castle, out into the oceans of dunes. The desert spanned for miles, only broken by scattered adobe houses and dots of green cacti. Her kingdom felt like her, too. Unordered, reckless, wild. Yet beautiful and lonely all at the same time. Luigi glanced back at Daisy, her dress whipping around her legs in the sudden gust of wind. Sand kicked up around her, spinning around her body like she could even command the ground of her kingdom. Daisy caught his gaze, and lifted her eyes to the dunes. She inhaled shakily, her eyes shining.
“Daisies don’t grow here. Isn’t that just rich?” She laughed, devoid of any real laughter.
“Dais—”
“Destiny, Weeg.”
“What?”
“Please.”
“What?”
“I don’t want you to forget.”
“What?”
“I don’t want you to forget.” She didn’t look him in the eyes, crossing her arms over her stomach. Luigi exhaled sharply, realization dawning on his face. He walked to her, placing his hand between her shoulder blades.
“Y’know, I’m actually not that forgetful.”
She turned, her dress twirling. “Yeah?”
Luigi reached into his front pocket and pulled out a crumpled, half dead flower. He held it up to her, twirling the flower in his fingers. “Yeah.”
It was a daisy.
“I don’t know if you like them as much as I do, but I thought you migh—”
Daisy was already in his arms, her own arms tight around his lower back. Her face was pressed into his chest, so Luigi barely heard her muffled: “Of course I love them, doofus.”
Luigi laughed. A real, big laugh. He pulled out of the hug, twirling Daisy around, her heavy boots scuffing the roof tiles. She joined in the rooftop dance, twirling Luigi right back and pulling him into a couple counts of swaying back and forth. Luigi put the daisy behind her ear, the petals stark white against her dark hair. Daisy smiled, slight. Their faces leaned closer. She smiled wider, dropping him into a low dip. His hat came loose, rolling to the edge of the roof. His hair grazed the roof before Daisy pulled him back to his feet. He came up, his face flushed, eyes shining. Daisy giggled, watching his cowlick wag back and forth.
“I should probably grab my hat.”
“Probably.”
Neither moved. The sun was almost under the dunes. Stars were starting to peek through the purple sky. Luigi rubbed the back of his neck, his lips pursed. “Y’know, I think Daisy Del Vecchio’s kinda got a ring to it.”
Daisy smiled, rubbing her fingers over the flower petals. “I was thinking Daisy Mario.”
Luigi choked, his face flushing fire engine red. Daisy laughed, planting a kiss on his flushed cheek.