Apparently, while they were out, Mario came home early from his golfing trip, setting up the guest bedroom.

Mario wasn't happy about the whole situation, but he wasn't about to kick Dimentio back to the woods. It was very clear that if Dimentio went anywhere else he'd be arrested, and the prison system was terrible. It was built upon punishing instead of building and redeeming. Mario himself had made many powerful enemies, and there was no better way to defeat them than to redeem them, which was the main reason he was allowing this.

Well, that, and because Luigi seemed to have such high hopes. Mario himself still got nightmares nearly every night about Dimentio, so this was quite an emotional strain. He couldn't even take his mind off the worries while golfing. (Daisy won, as always. Peach came in with a close second place, and Mario was last.)

Once Luigi and Dimentio got home as well, the man in red refused to make eye contact with Dimentio. Looking into Dimentio's eyes always gave him a jolt of fear because, though the jester from his nightmare looked vastly different now, his eyes were still the same.

It wasn't like he was the only one who was uncomfortable with the situation either. Dimentio was always silent around him, refusing to make eye contact as well. He looked at the ground often. Mario couldn't tell if it was because he felt guilty or because he missed being able to hide behind his mask and was just trying to hide his expressions. Perhaps it was neither of those and Dimentio was just humiliated by the fact that his life had come to that.

As Luigi and Dimentio got home, Luigi gently nudged the poor guy towards his older brother while smiling and saying, "Mario can show you to your room! I'm gonna start on dinner," leaving the two in awkward silence as he brought his cheerful energy away with him into the other room.

Mario and Dimentio maintained the harsh silence as Mario led the way, showing him to a small room on the second floor. There was a twin-sized bed next to a window, as well as a small dresser with a mirror attached. Mario gestured inside, then walked away silently, leaving Dimentio on his own. Dimentio was silently grateful that Mario wasn't forcing him to engage in conversation, unlike Luigi.

He felt as though the air was significantly tenser when Mario was around, which was odd and unexpected since Luigi was the one he had done the most wrong to.

Dimentio slowly stepped inside. The room was slightly cooler than the hallway outside, likely because people hardly occupied it. It was at least neat and clean. He sat down on the bed next to the window, feeling the mattress sink beneath him. It was significantly softer than his old mattress at Castle Bleck, which used to give him back pain from how incredibly stiff it was. He waited a moment, then fell onto his back, allowing the mattress to sink and nearly swallow him whole. He rather liked the feeling. The sheets smelled like they had been freshly cleaned and dried. He liked the smell and the warm feeling. There were heavy blankets, but as he got under them he didn't feel as if they were suffocating him, but instead he felt more like he was being secured. It was like the blankets were keeping him safe.

He stayed that way for a while, just staring at the ceiling while he tried to understand what Luigi and Mario's reasons were for allowing him to stay. Luigi technically had explained his reasons, which only further confused Dimentio and only opened more questions, but still. Dimentio had no idea why Mario would allow him to be there. Wasn't his job to protect the people of the Mushroom Kingdom? How would allowing a criminal to stay in his own home look on his resume? Surely it wouldn't look good.

He fell asleep for a while but was awoken by what he guessed was forty minutes later because of the smell of baking. He couldn't quite identify what he was smelling, but whatever it was, it smelled quite good. His sense of smell was not his strongest sense, but he could almost taste whatever was being baked.

He sat up and carefully made his way down the stairs, noting how sore he was feeling. He didn't like feeling this weak but hoped the soreness would fade as soon as he actually got a good night's sleep. He slowly eased his way down the stairs, careful not to trip when he poked his head into the kitchen, seeing both Mario and Luigi working on a meal together. There was a list of ingredients out, but Dimentio couldn't quite identify them.

"How long do you plan on keeping him here? I mean... we can't just keep him hidden forever," Mario whispered, stirring something as he spoke.

"I know, I know," Luigi replied, pouring something into whatever Mario was stirring. "I just... I don't know. We'll figure it out-"

"Three months."

Both Mario and Luigi gasped and turned, shocked to see Dimentio standing in the doorway. Mario immediately looked down, careful not to make eye contact. Not that it mattered. Dimentio wasn't even looking at him. Yes, he was answering Mario's question, but he was speaking to Luigi.

"I promise to be gone in three months," Dimentio repeated, stepping into the room, then standing on his tip-toes as if he was trying to see what they were baking.

"Oh? Where are you going?" Luigi asked in a completely innocent, oblivious manner that almost stung.

Dimentio stilled, unsure how to exactly phrase this. He knew that Luigi was the caring type of person and he'd panic if Dimentio told him the truth.

"Away," Is what he ended up saying.

"Oh, wow. Real specific and not suspicious AT ALL," Mario sarcastically retorted, crossing his arms, still looking away. "Why can't you just go back to sleep? It was much more peaceful then."

Dimentio's breath hitched. He knew what Mario meant since he was just asleep, but in a different context that could be incredibly hurtful. In Dimentio's mind it almost seemed like sleep was a metaphor for death and Mario was telling him to go back to that. It was likely that their lives were more peaceful before Dimentio was inserted back into them. But, alas, Dimentio knew that this wasn't what Mario meant, so he tried not to let himself waste time feeling hurt over it.

"I plan on it after I eat," Dimentio replied in an empty tone.

"Oh, I bet you're starving," Luigi smiled. "Especially after two days of-"

"Two days?" Dimentio interrupted, confused.

"Yeah. You fell asleep for two days," Luigi clarified. "I was a little worried you fell into a full-blown coma or something, but we didn't want to take you to the doctors because... well... you know."

Dimentio blinked a few times, a feeling of terror grasping at his heart like a claw. He was asleep for two days?? He didn't have time to sleep two days away! He just lost two whole days to something as insignificant as SLEEP!

"Hey, don't panic," Luigi told him, seeming to somehow sense the fear growing within Dimentio. "You're okay. You're not dying or anything. Sometimes when people are really exhausted and lacking a lot of necessities such as food, shelter, and clean water, our bodies shut down until they can replenish themselves."

Dimentio wanted to slap back and tell him that he didn't care about passing out, he cared about the fact that he actually WAS dying and he just lost two days. But, he couldn't say any of that, so he just stayed silent, trying to calm his breathing, which was much more rapid than he would have liked. He could feel each second ticking away. He wanted them back. It wasn't fair that he spent so many seconds of his life sleeping. He deserved that time back. It shouldn't count!

"Okay, Mario, can you take him to the table? I'll finish this up," Luigi breathed, seeing that Dimentio was clearly panicking despite all Luigi said. Mario nodded, grabbing Dimentio's arm and bringing him to the dining room, silently sitting him down at the table, setting a plate down, then sitting across from him where Luigi had sat the other day.

Mario looked down, then asked, "Okay, what is it really?"

The man in red waited as Dimentio looked down as well, opening his mouth, but not finding the words. He didn't know how to process the fact that time was already ticking away. What was he even doing? He should have been using that time by looking for a solution, not sitting at a dinner table across from Mario.

Dimentio just silently shook his head, signaling that he wouldn't be explaining it. Mario let out a sigh, then leaned back, allowing the awkward silence and the tension to tighten.

"You're not here to hurt us. I can tell now," Mario said.

Dimentio looked up at him, seeing that Mario was still refusing to make eye contact.

"That being said," Mario continued. "I am still unsure what your intentions are. I can tell you're afraid, which is weird because for this past year I have been convinced that you were incapable of feeling such things. Weird, isn't it?"

Not really, Dimentio wanted to say. Everyone sees what they are shown, and Dimentio never showed any forms of emotions other than a fake smile and laugh, so it would make sense that Mario had been convinced of such things. It was Dimentio's goal back then to convince people that he couldn't feel fear. He was a little disappointed with himself over the fact that Mario could tell he was afraid now.

"I can't tell WHAT exactly you're afraid of, though," Mario continued. "It can't be us. I mean, you're WAY more powerful than we are and have literally killed us with the snap of your fingers. Although, I do find it weird that you've yet to use magic. Actually... I find this entire situation weird. The fact that you disappeared for a year and suddenly just appeared..." At this point, the man in red was just thinking aloud.

Mario was about to continue his train of thought when Luigi walked in, holding about three different plates. It was impressive how he could balance them all. He almost looked like one of those cartoon waiters who would balance fifteen trays of food at once. Polterpup was running in between his legs and around him, clearly excited that it was dinner time. Dimentio frowned slightly, wondering if the dog even NEEDED to eat. He had seen that the dog could in fact eat, but was food even a necessity?

Luigi then carefully set down the trays onto the dining room table, miraculously not spilling a single thing which was shocking considering the fact that he was usually seen as somewhat clumsy. Back at Castle Bleck Mr. L would drop wrenches and robotic parts all the time, creating big messes.

The meal was a classic Italian dish. They had spaghetti with homemade sauce and meatballs, along with breadsticks on the side. There was also a bowl of caesar salad on the side as well. There was clearly way too much food to feed three people, which almost bugged Dimentio. He hoped that Mario and Luigi would at least save the leftovers instead of contributing to food waste.

"I put the meatballs and the sauce separate from the spaghetti so you can choose whether or not you add them," Luigi smiled, showcasing that he remembered Dimentio's slight dislike for meat products.

However, something inside Dimentio didn't like the fact that Luigi was acting as if he knew him, so he sat up, took a fork, picked a meatball out, and popped it into his mouth despite his better judgment. That'll show him, Dimentio thought.

It was a little too warm and he didn't like the texture, but it actually wasn't bad as far as meat products go. He wouldn't be having any more, though.

Luigi blinked at him a few times, then sat down next to him, shrugging and making his own plate. "Okay then."

Mario made his own plate as well, occasionally taking a meatball and holding it under the table as a response to Polterpup's constant whining to be fed. Dimentio was the last to actually fill his plate, unsure of what to actually choose. Back at Castle Bleck, there was hardly any time to cook any full meals like this. O'Chunks had been an excellent chef, but he was never given the time to properly cook something good, so most of the meals ended up being bland and repetitive.

Dimentio was somewhat shocked when he bit into the breadstick to see that it actually had flavor. There was a cheesy garlic taste to it that he hadn't expected. The look on his face made it appear as if he didn't like but, but the truth was that he had just been shocked to taste something.

"What's wrong? Do you not like it?" Luigi asked, frowning slightly at Dimentio's expression.

"No," Dimentio assured him, blinking a few times and adjusting to the unexpected taste. "I just didn't expect it to have flavor. I'm not used to it."

Mario briefly furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, still looking down at his plate while Luigi lightly smiled and nodded. "Oh, right," The man in green chuckled. "I forgot how bland the food at Castle Bleck was. No offense to O'Chunks. I'm sure he's a great chef. He just never had the time to prepare a real meal."

Dimentio nodded, taking another bite. Luigi seemed to be the fairly observant type. He had only lived at Castle Bleck for a short amount of time, yet he seemed to remember the details so well. It was actually impressive, considering it was a year ago and he was literally brainwashed while he was staying there. Perhaps he just had an incredible memory. Or maybe he thought about it a lot.

The meal was good. It gave Dimentio a sense of security. He couldn't quite remember the last time he had been satisfied after a meal. The breakfast he had eaten hadn't felt quite like this because he was starving and that meal was more so there to reintroduce him to food. This one was different.

He enjoyed this meal.