"Whew, I'm exhausted," Luigi breathed as he and Mario finally got back home. It was well past midnight, but a day out with friends was really overdo. Mario and Daisy traded off between winning. Luigi and Peach basically fought for third place the entire time, but it was still fun. Luigi set down his stuff, threw his jacket off, (he was wearing one tonight because it was late and slightly chillier than comfortable, even though it was early August, arguably the warmest time of the year,) then plopped face down on the couch while Mario kicked off his shoes and muttered something about how he was going to bed.

Luigi nodded, giving an exhausted thumbs up, then sat up and rubbed his eyes. He too probably should have gotten to bed. In fact, he was about to, when he noticed something... off.

Where was Polterpup? The dog didn't even rush up and say hello as soon as he and Mario walked in. The little guy was usually waiting by the door. What gives?

Luigi hummed in thought, then shrugged and assumed that the ghost dog must have fallen asleep with Dimentio. It was rather cute how Polter had seemed to take a liking to the former villain. Luigi hoped that it wasn't bothering Dimentio too much. There never were any pets back at Castle Bleck as far as he was aware, so he wasn't sure what Dimentio's opinion on them was. As far as he could tell, it didn't seem like Dimentio truly minded the ghost dog.

He carefully walked upstairs, taking off his shoes and walking on the tips of his toes so he wouldn't make much noise and wake Dimentio up. As soon as he got to the guest room he slowly and carefully opened the door, peeking his head inside. The way he did it almost reminded him of the way he'd open doors during his haunted house adventures, slowly and quietly in case there were ghosts inside.

Only, there weren't ghosts inside.

Actually, there was no one inside at all. No Dimentio OR Polterpup anywhere to be seen.

"Dimentio?" Luigi quietly asked, opening the door wider and flicking the light on. Surely enough, the bed was empty.

The man in green stepped inside, slightly curious. He actually had hardly gone into that room at all anymore ever since Dimentio pretty much moved in. It appeared that Dimentio had a neat and organized living style. The bed was made, the floor was clean, and every book Dimentio had was neatly stacked on the nightstand.

Luigi noticed that all the books Dimentio currently had were either about ancient magic or mythology. Plus and one astronomy book. The man in green wasn't sure if he should have been concerned over the fact that Dimentio was reading up on magic, but decided not to look into it too much.

If Dimentio was truly planning something big, he'd be much more discreet in hiding the evidence. He'd never be sloppy enough to just leave a book linking him to an evil plan just lying out.

Luigi raised an eyebrow, then walked to the window, looking up at the sky. Dimentio left the curtains open and the window slightly cracked. The air was still, not even a hint of movement.

It was almost like Dimento had left the window slightly ajar so he could feel a breeze if one were to come. He did often point out the fact that he wished one would blow past.

"Where did you go..." Luigi muttered, taking a step back and cracking his knuckles. It was a nervous habit that he just couldn't seem to break.

He then turned around himself and headed back downstairs, grabbing his jacket and his flashlight, then stepping outside.

He doubted that Dimentio would do something as silly as stealing his ghost dog and leaving, but Luigi still felt obligated to look.

He wasn't afraid that something bad had happened. He was sure that this was nothing, but there was still that etch of worry in his mind. There was that voice in the back of his head saying that someone could have seen Dimentio and taken him away.

Or worse, that Dimentio just decided to leave without saying goodbye.

He WAS leaving somewhat soon, correct? Luigi could recall Dimentio saying when he first got there that he would only be staying for three months. It had already been around two, so where was he going? Did he have somewhere else to be, or did he just want to leave?

Luigi walked out to town first, just to check. He didn't see Dimentio in any obvious places, so he then went to the woods, first heading towards the meadow. It was less peaceful now than it was earlier because with every step he was growing more and more worried. The thought on his mind now was that Dimentio must have run away, and Polterpup must have been chasing after him or something.

Actually... that gave him an idea! He recalled all the Polterpup chases he had to partake in during his ghost hunting adventures, where he had to track the little guy through mansion after mansion. Each time, the dog left behind a trail of invisible footprints only visible when the dark light device feature of his flashlight was turned on. Luigi wasn't sure if his flashlight could still do that, since it had been quite a long time since he actually used it, but he decided it wouldn't hurt to try.

He retraced his steps slightly and flicked the dark-light feature on, allowing an array of rainbow light to shine forward.

Sure enough, once he traced his path back to the woods, he found a trail of Polterpup's footprints. "Oh, thank goodness," Luigi muttered under his breath, quickly jogging to follow them. "Dimentio? Polter?" He called out into the darkness.

After a few moments, he heard the sound of Polterpup's soft snoring. The man in green let out a sigh of relief upon hearing the sound, then flicked off his dark-light device, switching to his normal flashlight. Turned out the tracks led him to the creekside, and right beside it in a soft patch of grass, Dimentio was lying there, clearly asleep with his arms wrapped around Polterpup as if it was a stuffed bear.

Luigi let out another sigh of relief and softly smiled. Though he was still confused as to why Dimentio was out there, he was just glad that nothing truly bad had happened.

Dimentio was lying on his side now, slightly curled up around Polterpup. He was shivering slightly, so it was clear he was cold. Luigi smiled at the two, then kneeled down, lightly rubbing Polterpup's head.

"Hey," he whispered softly in a low voice so he wouldn't wake Dimentio. "What happened?"

Polterpup yawned, then sleepily blinked up at Luigi, its eyes immediately lighting up upon seeing its owner. The dog seemed to smile, then rested its head on the ground again, still looking up at Luigi as if it was trying to explain through its eyes.

"Did you follow him out here?" Luigi asked.

The dog blinked once, so Luigi took that as a yes.

Luigi yawned, then took his jacket off himself, laying it gently over Dimentio and standing back up. "I wish you told me. I would have brought you blankets and a pillow. But I suppose this will have to do."

Dimentio's shivering slowed as Luigi took a step back, smiling at the sweet scene. He then turned and started walking back home. "Be sure to keep him safe," he told Polterpup.

_____

The next morning Mario finally woke up on time to make breakfast. It was technically Luigi's turn to cook, but Mario had missed his turn for the past few months, so Luigi didn't complain. He knew his brother was just trying to make up for all the slack. Luigi also noticed that Mario was getting less and less tense, (even though he was still somewhat on edge. He WAS Mario after all.) He mostly refused to maintain eye contact with Dimentio, but it was less on purpose now and more of a habit.

"Where's Dimentio?" Mario asked, setting breakfast down at the table where Luigi was patiently waiting.

"He decided to sleep outside with Polterpup last night," Luigi shrugged, leading to Mario nearly dropping his plate, scrambling and catching it before a mess was made.

"Wait, WHAT?! Like... alone??" Mario asked with an almost frantic quality to his voice.

"No. Polterpup was there," Luigi repeated, taking a bite out of a piece of toast.

"And you're just... okay with this??" Mario asked. "What if someone finds him? What if he gets arrested??"

"Aww, your first concern was, 'What if someone finds him!' I KNEW you were warming up to him!" Luigi smiled, seeming to lack the concern Mario's voice held.

"I'm not," Mario replied, taking a deep breath and sitting across from Luigi. "I'm not 'warming up to him.' I just... I'm not scared of what he's gonna do anymore. He seems different now. I'm not saying I trust or forgive him, but... I don't know."

Luigi swallowed his food and lightly smiled a reassuring smile that could put almost anyone at ease.

"Don't worry," Luigi told him. "I know that not everyone is going to be as forgiving. But he can also handle himself. I mean, it must be a little suffocating for him to be surrounded by us at all times. I think he needed a night to himself. I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"And what if he isn't?" Mario asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He will be."

______

That morning, Dimentio woke up to the feeling of sunshine streaming through the trees and onto his face. As he slowly opened his eyes, he could look up and see a blur of unfocused color. It was beautiful before his eyes came into focus, and he found it even more breathtaking when they did.

He didn't even realize that he had fallen asleep, but he felt nice. He felt warm-

He frowned slightly, then sat up, grabbing ahold of the jacket that was covering him. He held it out in front of himself, slightly confused. Did he have that with him last night?

No... he didn't recall taking that jacket. He didn't even own a jacket!

Actually... that was the very jacket that he saw Luigi leave to go go-carting in. Had Luigi found him out there? Was he mad? Was he upset? Why didn't he wake him up and drag him home? Luigi did specifically tell him not to go out on his own.

Why would he just...

Dimentio felt a small warm feeling form, then pulled the jacket around himself. He then picked up Polterpup. (The dog let him pick it up this time.)

"Thanks for finding me," Dimentio whispered to the dog. "I've enjoyed speaking to you."

That wasn't a lie. The night was much more bearable with Polterpup around. What he was sure would have been a horrible night filled with fear ended up closing with a somewhat peaceful note because of Polterpup, and he was grateful. It wasn't often that peaceful sleep found him.

Perhaps his life before would have been better had he had a dog to accompany him previously. He never really thought about the value of pets beforehand and only thought of them as an extra mouth to feed, but the rewards of having a dog around were rather nice. Polterpup offered a listening ear, (even though it didn't technically appear to have ears. How DID it hear and register sound? Dimentio knew it could because it reacted to words, but how?) and was always there to be a good friend. To offer companionship when such things were needed.

That morning Dimentio woke up feeling better than he had in a long time. He didn't feel nauseous at all! On top of that, he felt like he had more energy than usual. In fact, he didn't just feel good, he felt great!

He felt healthy, strong, and alive.

His muscles and body didn't ache like they had every single day for the past month or so. He felt like he could do anything.

"You know what," He told Polterpup, softly smiling. He was speaking more so to himself, but he told himself he was speaking to Polterpup because he wanted someone else to care.

"I think... No, I've decided. I'm going to live."

Polterpup blinked once in confusion, then stuck its tongue out in an innocent manner as Dimentio walked back home.

"I'm going to live," Dimentio repeated. "I'm not going to die. I've changed my mind."