You walk up to a nice restaurant. A glowing sign reading Luigi's Pasta Palace hangs off the roof. As the chilly night air breezes through your hair you look down at your phone, reading over the text for probably the hundredth time. 

I'll meet you at Luigi's Pasta Palace for 8 o'clock. I'll be wearing a blue suit and holding roses.

You smile, eagerly awaiting your first meeting with your blind date. Taking a deep breath and running your hand through you hair you walk into the restaurant and start looking at all the tables. In the back, you seem him. A tall figure in a blue suit holding a bouquet of roses. He's all alone in the back of the restaurant and people seem to be avoiding eye contact with him. You walk over to him and tap his shoulder. His heads turns and his brown eyes pierce into your own, making your heart flutter.

"Uh, h-hello there," he stutters, blushing and holding out the roses, "I assume you're my date for tonight?" You nod and take the roses, giving them a quick sniff before setting them on the table.

Your date runs a clawed hand through his neat red hair, which he had obviously tried to smooth down but pieces were sticking up at odd angles. "I'm Bowser Koopa," he said, averting his eyes as his blush intensified. You laugh to try and lighten the mood and introduce yourself.

"That's a wonderful name," he says with a smile.

As you go to sit down, Bowser abruptly rises from his seat and waddles to the other side of the table. He pulls out your chair and gestures for you to sit. You can't help but blush as you sit down, placing the roses off to the side of the table. Both you and Bowser look through the menus, stealing glances at each other over the tops of the menus. Every time you make eye contact, Bowser quickly hides his large head behind the small menu. 

Eventually a Toad scurries over to your table and takes your orders. As the Toad hurries off to the kitchen, you and Bowser get to know each other.

You exchange simple questions, mostly little personal things like family, jobs, and so on. As you continue talking, you can't help but feel the heavy gaze of the other patrons on your table. Bowser notices your change in attitude and sighs.

"I'm sorry, this is all my fault," he apologizes, "I'm an actor in the Mario series, as you probably know. I play Bowser, Mario's enemy. But some people forget to separate fiction from reality. I'm actually a really good person, at least... I think I am." Bowser continues to ramble, tapping his claws together and getting more and more flustered.

You reach out your hand and gently rest it on his, giving him a warm smile. 

Bowser immediately calms down. "I had a feeling you were different. Everyone that I try to go on blind dates with end up running away the second they see me," he sighs.

The Toad returns with your food, placing it on the table. In front of Bowser sits a large plate of meat while you decided on something smaller. As you both tuck into your meals, you notice Bowser devouring his as if he hasn't eaten in weeks. Bowser pauses in eating and notices your expression. He suddenly turns sheepish and wipes his face with a napkin.

"I'm sorry, I know my table manners aren't the greatest," he apologizes.

Your eyes widen as you open your mouth to apologize. You didn't mean to come off as judgemental; in fact you thought it was kind of cute. Just as you're about to speak, Bowser stands up and leans across the table. He extends his tongue and licks your cheek before sitting back down. 

You touch your hand to your cheek, feeling the small bit of saliva he left behind. Bowser's eyes widen in shock as he realizes what he has just done. "I'm so sorry!" he blurts out, "You had some food on your cheek and I have a young one at home and he always makes a mess when he's eating so it was just a impulse reaction! I'm-"

You interrupt Bowser by bursting out into laughter. A blush rises to your face as does Bowser's until you both are laughing. You assure Bowser you're not upset and he sighs in relief.

"I'm still really sorry," he continues, "Ever since his mom passed, Bowser Jr. has become my whole world. I love him so much and want the best for him. He's actually the one that convinced me to try dating again." Bowser scratches his cheek, averting his shiny brown eyes from your gaze.

You make a mental note that if you ever meet Bowser Jr. to thank him for allowing you to meet Bowser. The meal continues with cheerful conversation and laughs. Dessert passes without a hitch and finally, the meal is done. Bowser helps you out of your seat and offers you his arm. You take it without hesitation as you exit the restaurant, holding your bouquet of roses in your free hand. You ignore the judgemental gazes of the other patrons and focus only on the cheerful expression on Bowser's handsome face. As you leave the restaurant, the chilly air of the night has gotten colder.

Noticing your shivering, Bowser takes off his suit jacket and quickly drapes it over your shoulders. It is many sizes too big for you but the warmth the jacket provides is comforting, despite the many holes in the back of the suit for his spikes. A taxi pulls up and you move to give Bowser back his jacket but he holds out his hand. "You can keep it," he says with a smile, his fangs glittering in the moonlight.

Warmth rises in your cheeks and you gesture for Bowser to come closer. He lowers his head and you give him a kiss on the cheek. Bowser's eyes widen and he places his hand on his cheek, standing up quickly as a smile crept onto his face. 

"If you really wanted to give me the jacket back," he mumbled, "you could do it on our next date. Only if you wanted to."

A wide grin appears on your face as you nod your head rapidly. Bowser's face lights up and he goes to open the cab door. As you climb into the cab, you poke your head out one last time for another kiss on the cheek, but Bowser turns his head at the last second, making your lips meet his. Pulling away in shock, you smile. You duck into the cab as Bowser closes the door.

Holding the roses close and staring at Bowser's disappearing form in the window, you can't help feel your heart ache as you already anticipate your next date with the handsome Koopa King.

To Be Continued... (?)

A/N: Hello readers. I know that this may seem out of the blue for me, but I am literally only writing this book for a friend of mine (and I hope they like it). I'll probably add more to this because since quarantine is still going on I have a lot of free time. I'll still try to update my other books as much as I can but I may be slow. Anyway, as always thanks for reading and I'll see you all in the next one!