Chapter 9 Is the Diner Open?

Roy rubbed his palms against his knees in a rhythm. The tux he was wearing felt a bit itchy, like it had been used as a nest for fire ants. It looked awesome, sure, but that was hardly the point. Roy wouldn't be surprised if his skin was crawling with bugs.

Roy took a deep breath. Then another. Then another. Before he knew it, he was doing a deep breathing exercise. It was almost time for the date. The only thing that was preventing him from going out was Sage's absence, as the young Koopa boy was in the bathroom. Roy tried to spread his body out on the common room couch, but he was too stiff. It felt like Roy's skin had turned into cardboard.

Suddenly, the door opened. Roy bolted upward.

"Sage?"

It was not Sage. It was Ludwig, and he was looking for something. The special didn't even look at Roy as he spoke up.

"Hey, Roy. Nice tux."

Roy nodded to show his gratitude for the compliment. Although, the gratitude did very little to calm his nerves. If anything, it just made them act up even more. What if Celia didn't like the tux?

"Okay," Ludwig said once he had found what he was looking for. He held a wallet in his hands and pulled out his personal ID. "See you Roy. I'm heading out."

"Where are you going?" Roy asked. Maybe he was heading out on a date with Celia too! If that was the case, Roy was in big trouble. Celia would have to choose between the two of them, and Roy just knew that she would not choose him.

"I'm heading off to the courthouse," said Ludwig. "I'm going to get my name changed."

Roy felt such intense relief be poured on top of him that he felt like his insides would melt.

"Oh. That's cool."

Ludwig snickered.

"Understatement of the flipping millenium!" Ludwig said. He glanced down at his ID. "Soon, Ludwig Vanessa Koopa will be a shadowy memory." He looked back at Roy. "Honestly, I don't know why I didn't do this before. Me getting my name change is already long past due."

Roy nodded. A lot of things were long past due. In all honesty, he probably should have gone after Celia months ago. The fact that he didn't just made him feel extra uneasy.

So, Ludwig left the room. Within minutes of his exit, Sage entered. He ran his hand through his magenta colored hair. Roy didn't know if it was his imagination, but he thought Sage's hair looked like it was gelled up.

"You ready big guy?" he asked.

Roy hesitated before nodding.

…

Roy waited just outside of Celia's house. He smoothed out his tux, which by now was really acting up. It reminded Roy of how his nose used to itch during the Mushroom Kingdom springtime, only a thousand times worse.

"Why isn't she coming?" Roy asked as he glanced at Sage. Sage snickered.

"I don't know; maybe it has something to do with the fact that you didn't knock?"

Roy blushed crimson and knocked on the door. Within seconds, Celia came out. She smiled at the burly koopa.

"Roy, you're here!" She glanced down at his body, and the smile slowly started to fall. "And in a tux."

Roy chuckled nervously.

"Do you not like the tux?"

"Oh no, I like it. It's just...I didn't realize that we were going somewhere formal."

For the first time, Roy noticed that Celia was wearing her normal attire. His nervous chuckling grew more frequent.

"Uh, we actually aren't going somewhere formal. I just...wanted to dress up."

"Oh," Celia said in surprise. She smoothed out her pants. "Well, where are we going then?"

Roy smiled. At least he could answer this question with confidence.

"You'll see."

…

"The Spring Fling Diner?"

Roy nodded. He felt extremely proud of himself as he stood before the gray building with a flickering neon sign.

"Yep. The very first place we had a meal together. I thought it would be a nice callback."

Celia nodded, although Roy couldn't help but notice that there was some hint of disgust in her eyes. Why? It's not like she got food poisoning the last time she was here or something.

"Gre...great," Celia said as she swallowed a lump in her throat.

Roy looked back over at Sage, who was standing a few feet away. He noticed that the Koopa Boy was giving Roy hints of a glare. It freaked Roy out, especially since he had no idea why he was doing so.

With that, the three entered the establishment. The lighting was as dark as ever, as it looked like the lights were flickering uncontrollably. The floors were caked with grime and trash, and the puce colored walls had stains of alien origin smeared all over them. Roy took Celia to the bar, and he noticed that Sage took a seat at a table right next to the window. Celia looked his way.

"Roy, I don't know if I feel comfortable with your friend sitting within five feet of us."

Roy laughed.

"Don't worry; Sage won't bite." He then leaned in closer to Celia, giving her what he hoped appeared to be an endearing smile. "So, how has life been going for you?"

Celia's features seemed to soften up a bit. She smiled.

"Well, aside from the fact that my parents are getting married, nothing really big has happened. Mostly small things."

"Okay. I like small things; tell me about them."

Celia chuckled and pushed a lock of her hair over her ear.

"Well, I did go to a park on Sunday."

Roy grinned.

"That sounds like fun! Did you see any animals?"

"Mostly squirrels." She laughed. "The squirrels seemed to be stalking me. Every time I turned around, I saw more squirrels following in my wake. By the time I was sitting on a bench, I had about a hundred of them."

Roy laughed.

"You're General Squirrel!"

"That's right! I command the armies of the Squirrel Kingdom into action!" Celia said with a laugh. Roy smiled.

"They must not be a very great army, considering that they run up trees every time someone comes near."

Celia chuckled.

"You're right. It doesn't help that you can't train them. Getting them to do push ups and sit ups is a total nightmare!"

Roy and Celia laughed in unison. Their laughter carried around the building, making the dreary place ever more lively. Roy noticed that Sage was smiling a little bit.

"So anyway, enough about me," Celia said with a smile. "What has been going on with you, Mr. Tux Man?"

"Oh, you know, the usual," Roy said. "I got turned into a girl, met my Dad, and I had to go into a computer to rescue Larry."

Celia's eyes grew wide.

"That's your usual?"

Roy chuckled.

"Okay, maybe it is a little greater than usual."

"Are you kidding? It's a thousand times greater! That sounds like stuff that people in fictional stories do!"

Roy shrugged.

"The only difference between my life and fictional stories is that my life has better lighting."

Celia snickered, a practice that Roy found adorable. Just as she did, the waitress came over to them.

"Hello," she said in a nasally, monotone voice. "Welcome to the Spring Fling Diner. What can I get ya?"

"Oh right, this place serves food," Roy said. He picked up the menu and scanned over it. "Ooh, this place has a new cranberry poison Mushroom waffle! I am definitely getting that."

"Lovely," the waitress said. She turned to Celia. "And what about you?"

Celia scanned over the menu. As she saw what the place had to offer her, she turned greener and greener and greener.

"I can't get any of this stuff."

The waitress raised an eyebrow. Roy glanced at her in concern.

"Celia, what's wrong?"

Celia gestured to the menu. Each and every item had poison mushrooms in some form.

"I can't eat this stuff," she whispered. The waitress cleared her throat.

"Well, I'm sorry, but this is not a lounge. It's a restaurant. So either you order something off the menu, or you leave."

Celia glanced through the menu again, trying in vain to find a dish that was edible for her. When she found nothing, she sighed.

"Excuse me."

With that, she went off in the direction of the bathroom. Roy watched her go in concern, wanting to do something about this. Then he heard Sage clearing his throat.

"Roy," he said as he gestured for him to come forward. "We need to have a talk."