Chapter 10 I'm Uncomfortable
Even though Albert had said yes, and Roy had advocated for him to stay with the Marksmites, he still felt a little uncomfortable around him. The interactions they had the previous day made the atmosphere stinky with awkwardness. It didn't help that the facial expressions Albert looked at him with weren't exactly…friendly. To be fair, they weren't hostile either; it didn't look like Albert wanted to kill Roy. But still, making eye contact with Celia's cousin sent chills down his spine.
Nevertheless, he wasn't about to change his viewpoint. He wholeheartedly believed what Bowser had told him the night before. There was more to Albert. There just had to be. Sure, he may have presented himself in a less than endearing way, but that hardly meant anything! Right?
Albert sniffed and looked around the house. Smells from the kitchen wafted into the main room as Singe cooked up a little breakfast (thank the Star Spirits Ruby wasn't doing it). Ruby was in her bedroom getting ready to go to work, and Celia…admittedly, Roy had no idea what she was doing. Some observant boyfriend he was.
So, it was just him and Albert in the common room. In order to break the ice and make this uncomfortable situation at the very least bearable, Roy smiled at the young man.
"You know," he said, "I'm somewhat of a celebrity in the Koopa Kingdom." The only response that Roy got to that was Albert raising an eyebrow at him. He figured he may as well continue. "Yep, everyone who is anyone at home knows about me and my glorious muskles." Albert snorted, although Roy was ignorant about the reason why. "Makes you feel extra special, dosen't it?" He used a tone that he hoped would tell Albert that he was half joking. "You have something to brag about to your friends now."
"Friends, huh?" The tone Albert used put Roy off a little; it sounded like his words had been dipped in venom. The shivers returned.
"Uh, yeah."
Albert just nodded in response and looked away, which was honestly a small mercy as that allowed Roy an excuse to not carry on with this already dead in the water chat. The Koopaling took deep breaths. He needed to cool it. He needed to cool it like a cucumber, calm it like a storm.
Man, this guy is not a great conversationalist, Roy thought to himself once he managed to stop the shivers. He snuck a side glance at Albert, who fiddled with a loose thread on his shirt. Then again, he is feeling stressed. If my Mom went missing…well, I'm not exactly close with my mom, but still. I'd probably be freaking out too. He looked away. I should probably doing something to help this guy feel better. But what? Roy mulled over the options until he got an idea. Maybe music will help Albert. It always helps me feel a little less iffy.
So, Roy took a deep breath. Albert turned to him, looking like he was expecting the shades-wearing Koopaling to start talking again. Instead, lyrics came flying out. Said lyrics belonged to a song written by Ludwig and Lemmy, called Lamentation of the Soul.
Our worlds got turned upside down
When we both stepped up to bat
A perfect Freudian paradox
Now we're just like Schrodinger's cat.
Albert blinked. An unease entered his expression, prompting Roy to sing more.
When the world always says
Become the person you want to be
I hope they didn't mean
To take that literally.
The unease didn't go away; it just grew stronger, as indicated by Albert's wrinkled nose. It was then that Roy realized something. A little fact about himself that always felt out of his head at the most inopportune times.
He couldn't fucking sing.
Oh boy. Sweat beads formed all over his body. Albert's ears are gonna bleed in a few minutes, aren't they? He looked straight into Albert's green eyes. He had no idea what to do, and any idea that might have come up was snuffed out by the sheer volume of the awkwardness and the cringe.
"Uh…" Roy put on a nervous smile. "Think I should sign up for a record label, don't you?" He chuckled, the sound close to collapsing in on itself.
Albert fidgeted with the loose thread again. "Um.." He cleared his throat and got up. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom."
When Albert walked away, Roy had to admit that he was extremely relieved. He let out a long breath and allowed his body to relax. "Man, I am NOT good at this." He chuckled. "I guess I can cross 'friendship maker' off my resume." He laughed a little before his face fell. "That would be funny if I wasn't dumb."
Right at that moment, Ruby and Celia came into the room. Ruby had her hair done up and had put at least a noticeable amount of makeup on her face. Celia had a backpack and her hoodie covering her fiery hair.
"Well, off to work," Ruby said. "If I'm not there to sort those power ups….it doesn't make much of a difference." She laughed before opening the door. "See you later everyone!"
"Bye Honey!" Singe's voice called out from the kitchen.
Ruby nodded. "Thanks, Singe!" She looked at Roy and her daughter. "While I'm gone, I'm going to go over to the police and report Alicia missing."
"Sounds good," said Celia. She smiled. "Bye Mom."
"Bye sweetie." Ruby smiled and left. Once she was out of sight, Roy stood up and went over to Celia.
"Where are you going?"
Celia snickered. "To pull off the greatest crime of the century."
Roy's eyes grew wide before he snickered. "Sorry Cee, but I think me and my family's numerous attempts to kidnap Princess Peach kind of have you beat there. But it's good to know you have ambitions!"
Celia laughed before clearing her throat. "I'm just off to school."
"School?" Roy blinked. "You're still going to Mushroom High? I thought you dropped out."
"Drop out?" Celia shook her head. "Oh no no no. If I'm gonna be a teacher when I'm older, I first need to be taught stuff! Haven't you heard about circular logic before?"
Roy snickered. "Fair enough." He scratched the back of his head. "I guess it's just me, your dad, and…Albert."
"Hey." Celia took hold of Roy's hand. "It was your idea. And if it helps, it was a good idea."
"Well, I guess I can add that to the list of good ideas I've ever had. That brings my total up to…two." He shook his head. "Still waiting on that bathtub full of cheese sauce."
Celia laughed before placing her hand on his cheek. "It's going to be okay. Even if he is a complete and total pain in the ass, at least we're doing the right thing."
Roy bit his lip. The right thing. He didn't do that very often, but he always felt good hen he did.
"Okay." Roy kissed her on the cheek. "See you later, alligator."
"After while, crocodile." With that, Celia turned toward the door and walked out.
Roy sighed. "This is fine," he said out loud. "I'm sure I can get Albert to warm up to me." He chuckled. "Celia was right; having him stay at the house until Alicia is found is a good idea." He chuckled. "And it was my idea too! Go me!"
The scent of the breakfast cooking on the stove grew stronger. While starting to salivate, Roy followed his nose into the kitchen. He felt a little giddy as he watched Singe flip the Yoshi Fruit pancakes. Singe looked over his shoulder and smiled at Roy.
"Thought I could enchant my nephew with the allure of good food. After all, the closest way to a man's heart is through his stomach."
Roy blinked. "I thought people only said that about dating."
"Hey, it can apply to this situation too!" Singe flipped the pancake again. "Besides, gotta put my best foot forward for a member of the family."
Roy nodded, the corners of his mouth turning up. "We can get Albert to like us, right?"
Singe snorted. "I don't know if I'd go that far." His face fell. "Unfortunately, when prejudice is programmed into someone, especially at a young age, it's extremely difficult to reverse that programming. Trust me, I know; my mom is a prime example." He put the pancake on a plate with about six other ones and carried it to out of the kitchen.
Roy followed after him. "But Albert is still young, relatively speaking."
"Still young?" Singe asked. "He's twenty; he's almost old enough to drink!"
"Hence the 'relatively speaking' bit." Roy cleared his throat. "While it might be a bit of a longshot, I want to show Albert that we koopas aren't so bad. Maybe if I can do that, he might change his mind about us."
Singe sighed as he placed his plate on the table. "You can give him all the reasons you want Roy, but whether he changes is a choice he has to make." He sniffed. "You can lead a Bob-omb to an enemy, but you can't make it explode."
"I know," Roy said. "But I at least want to try."
Singe nodded. "Well, I guess I can give you credit for that."
At that moment, Albert came out of the bathroom. He wrinkled his nose when he saw the pancakes. "Did you make those?" he asked, his eyes on his uncle.
"I sure did!"
Albert gagged. "Blugh. Like I need Koopa germs in my food."
Singe froze, and Roy did as well. He seriously wanted to teach that kid a lesson. He was tempted to punch him on the jaw, but he didn't do that because one, he didn't want a repeat of yesterday while playing A Thousand Blank White Cards. And two…perhaps that was the wrong approach to have.
Yeah. If he was going to get Albert to change, he needed to do it without bloodshed.
"Alright," he said. He looked between Albert and Singe. "Then, why don't we go somewhere to eat? No koopas have made that food. And besides…" he beamed. "I'm gonna pay!"
Singe blinked before sighing. "Okay…"
Albert blinked before groaning. "Whatever."
Roy smiled. It really did feel good to make progress.
