Chapter 14 A Word in Edgewise
Lemmy sulked as he marched over to his bed. It looked so comfortable, so comforting. His little feet practically hugged the floor as he dragged himself forward. It felt like his body had grown ten times heavier. Specifically, his eyelids and his lungs, as he could barely keep his eyes open. It wasn't until he dropped down in the middle of his mattress that he realized just how cumbersome the burden was. He closed his eyes, ready to go to sleep as he laid on his belly.
"Lemmy, are you okay?"
Lemmy lifted one eyelid and looked over at Roy and Ludwig. His two brothers were staring at him. Ludwig had a piece of paper in his hands while Roy was seated in a swivel chair. Lemmy glanced at Roy's chair and gave a teensy smile.
"Why are you here, Roy?" Lemmy asked in a whispery tone. "Are you here to 'chair' Ludwig on?"
Lemmy chuckled, but the action sounded hollow to him. In fact, it felt hollow too, like the the inside of a rotting oak tree. Lemmy let out a whimper and turned over on his side.
"Man. Not even my puns can cheer me up," he said. His spirit felt like it was sinking into the underworld.
"Cheer you up?" Roy asked.
"Why would you want to cheer yourself up?" asked Ludwig. "Lemmy, what's going on?" Lemmy pressed his lips together and sat up.
"This day was not a good one," he said as he patted one of his sock monkeys on the head. Roy and Ludwig exchanged a look with one another.
"How much time do you have?" Ludwig asked.
"Yeah, can you tell us something that we don't know already?" Roy asked. Lemmy shook his head as he swallowed a pretty nasty lump in his throat.
"No. But I bet Iggy could."
Now Ludwig and Roy leaned forward in interest.
"What's Iggy got to do with this?" asked Ludwig. Lemmy scoffed.
"Well, I would usually say nothing. If it weren't for the fact that he completely took over the class that I wanted to teach and pushed me out of my own classroom."
Ludwig took a seat on Lemmy's bed.
"Why would he take over the class?" he asked.
"Yeah," said Roy with a smile. "Can I ask him to cover for me too?"
Ludwig shot Roy a glare before turning back to Lemmy for an answer. Lemmy provided one for him by shaking his head and shrugging.
"I don't know, Ludwig. I think he did it because he was really excited about the subject." Lemmy felt tears weld in his eyes. "I don't blame him. Biology is...*sniffle*... really cool!"
With that, Lemmy started to wipe tears from his eyes. Ludwig handed Lemmy a corner of his cloak, allowing him to blow into it like a tissue. That didn't stop the flow of tears though. If anything, it exacerbated it.
"I didn't know you like bib-ology," said Roy as Ludwig took his cloak off and threw it toward the door. Despite himself, Lemmy let out a chuckle.
"It's biology, actually. And I do like it. A lot. I was up late last night reading about cells."
"Really?" Roy asked as he blinked. Ludwig nodded to confirm the statement.
"Yeah, he was." He chuckled. "Thanks to him, I now know the ins and outs of the rough and smooth ER."
Roy nodded with as serious expression on his face.
"Good. It's always nice to know how the emergency room is run," he said. Ludwig opened his mouth to correct him, but Lemmy beat him to it.
"Actually Roy, ER stands for endoplasmic reticulum. It's one of the organelles in eukaryotic cells."
"Oh," Roy said. He then stared at Lemmy in confusion. "Wait, if you know that, shouldn't you be the one teaching it?"
"Yeah, exactly," said Ludwig. "I mean, Lemmy, if Iggy is teaching your class for you, then that is not a good thing."
"I know that!" Lemmy said. He hugged his sock monkey to his chest. "But Iggy just wouldn't back down!" He sighed. "He said that he knew what he was doing. How can I argue against that? I can't even get a word in edgewise!"
Ludwig shook his head and snickered.
"He knows what he's doing, eh? Is that really what he said?" He stared down at Lemmy. "Well, Lemmy, why don't you show that pineapple haired nerd exactly what he's doing by going over to Bowser and telling on him?"
Lemmy thought about that suggestion. It did sound like a legitimate idea. On top of which, it would actually allow Lemmy a chance to teach his class for himself. He started to put on a smile.
"Yeah. Yeah! You're right, Ludwig! I should tell Bowser!"
"You should! You have every right to do the job that you were assigned to do!"
"Yeah! Because gosh darn it, this is my punishment!" Lemmy got up of the bed ands started to make his way toward the door. "Thanks Ludwig!"
"Happy to help!" Ludwig responded. Lemmy's spirits were soaring higher than ever before. He was just about to open and step out the door when Roy called out to him.
"Wait. Lems, who is Otic?"
Lemmy stopped and stared at his younger brother in confusion.
"Otic?" Suddenly, it ocurred to him what Roy was asking. "Oh! You mean as in eukaryotic?"
"Yeah! I mean, if I'm gonna carry the guy, I at least want to know more about him first!"
Lemmy let out a hearty chuckle, despite Roy's confusion.
"I'll explain later. As well as save that one in the vault for a future pun." He ran out into the hallway. "Right now, I have a brother to tattle on!"
