Chapter 11 A Special Present
The bed felt soft, but not soft enough. The horrible feeling in Roy's stomach made him nauseous. It caressed his spine. It made his back feel stiff. He could barely move his arms, he could feel his throat tightening.
Roy sighed and changed position. As he did, he saw that the door to his bedroom was opening up. Sage entered slowly, like a Caterpillar. He held a box covered in shiny purple wrapping paper in his hands.
"Hey," he said. He approached and took a seat on the bed. "You okay?"
Roy shook his head. He did not want to talk about this. After a moment of silence, Sage let out a breath.
"You were doing so well with her too."
That made Roy feel worse, but for all he knew, that could have been Sage's intention. He scoffed.
"I'm a fool. I should have known better than to set fireworks off in a building."
"Yeah," Sage said with a snicker. "That's pretty much common sense at this point."
Roy rubbed his shiny, bald head. That phrase, common sense. He probably did not have it, if this display was any indication.
"Oh," Roy groaned. "I should never have tried to go after her. Everything I do just ends in disaster. That's what happens when you aren't very smart."
Sage stared at Roy, his eyes wide.
"Roy, that's not true."
"Except that it is! I'm always screwing up like this! There was that time that we had to fight a gang because of my outburst. Then there was the time I unleashed the Shadow Sirens out on the world. And now this!" Roy shook his head. "Honestly, a girl like Celia is better off without me."
Suddenly, Sage was hit by another wave of Flickering. This one was worse than all the other times before. He gripped the sides of his head tightly, grit his teeth so hard that they almost stuck together. By the time the wave had passed, Roy expected Sage to yell at him. After all, that was what he had done before. Instead, to Roy's shock, Sage looked at him with sympathy.
"You really feel that way?"
Roy bit his lip.
"How else am I supposed to feel?" he asked honestly. "I can't even get a decent score on an IQ test, so clearly I don't have brains. So what do I have; brawn?" Roy scoffed. "Brawn didn't stop the restaurant from burning down."
Sage paused and put on a contemplative expression before he came up with an answer.
"No, it didn't. But it can do other things. Besides, if you just had brains, then you would be another Iggy. And believe me, I think one Iggy is more than enough."
Despite himself, Roy let out a laugh.
"You're right." His face fell. "But I still wish I had at least decent intelligence."
The sympathetic look returned to Sage's face. He then looked down at the box that he had brought into the room. He picked it up and handed it to Roy.
"What's that?" Roy asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It's a birthday present your siblings got you. They didn't get a chance to give it to you yesterday because...well, I dropped by." He pushed the box closer to Roy. "I think that you'll really like it."
Roy, curious, stared at the box for a minute. He lifted the lid and grinned when he saw what was inside.
"Hey! It's a little me!"
Indeed it was. A Roy plushie sat right in the middle of the box. It came complete with it's own miniature pair of sunglasses. Roy picked it up and shook its hand.
"Howdy do, Roy? 'I'm good, Roy!'"
Sage smiled. He then pointed to the bottom of the box. Roy noticed for the first time that a card was sitting there. He picked it up and read it out loud.
"Happy birthday big guy! We all hope you have many more. Love, Iggy, Wendy, Ludwig, Lemmy, Morton. and Larry." He grinned. "That's sweet."
"It is," Sage said. "And you want to know why your siblings gave it to you?" Roy nodded and leaned forward in interest. "It's because they love you. They don't care whether or not you're the sharpest tool in the box." A sort of nostalgic look entered Sage's eyes. "And Celia loves you too. In the future that I know, she tells you this everyday. She says that she is beyond grateful that you came into her life." Sage looked at Roy again. "This is because you are you, Roy. There is not a single other person like you. Even if Iggy were to use his clone machine, you would still be irreplaceable."
Roy felt his heart melt. He looked down at the card again. He had the support of his siblings. He had people who loved him in all sorts of aspects in his life. If what Sage said was true, then Celia was one of those people. For the first time since he took the IQ test, Roy started to feel a surge of confidence.
"You're right." He stood up, a smile brimming on his face. "You know what?" He got his phone out of his hammerspace and stared at the 93 on the screen. "Screw being smart…" He exited out of the IQ test tab. "I'm gonna try to get Celia again. But this time…" Roy smiled. "I'm going to do it Roy style."
An ecstatic smile appeared on Sage's face. He jumped up with a very real sense of excitement and enthusiasm.
"That's awesome! Thanks Dad!"
Roy smiled confidently.
"You're welcome..." He then gave Sage a funny look, unsure if he had heard that right. "Wait, what did you just say?"
Suddenly, a look of realization and horror appeared on Sage's face.
"Umm...I said thanks Roy."
Roy breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's what I thought." He grinned as he faced the door. "Okay. I'm going to win back Celia." He started to march.
"Uh, but what about the restaurant you burned down?" Sage asked.
Roy chuckled.
"After I help repair the restaurant."