Chapter 16 I Need Something

"Eleven hundred and eighty three…eleven hundred and eighty four…"

Roy lowered his body toward the floor once again, lifting himself up effortlessly. He smiled at his strength, not even caring that he was lowering his face down toward a dirty gym floor as he did a push up (it wasn't his room thankfully; that would just be too much). He could beat any of his siblings (with the possible exception of Morton) in a pure show of strength. He loved that part of his being, and did anything and everything in his power to keep his body like that.

Finally, he finished with his (exaggerated) number of push ups. Once he did, he stood up and wiped his brow. Yeesh, he really had worked up a sweat. Looking down on the floor, he saw a puddle of the stuff. Should probably clean that up and go take a shower before he went to back to the Mushroom Kingdom to see Celia. It was only a day since he promised her he had something to help Albert, but he wanted to fulfill his promise as soon as possible

The burly Koopaling made his way over to the dumbbells. He had really been thinking about Celia and her cousin a lot recently. The topic chewed at his brain like a little monster, threatening to consume him in his entirety. That was part of the reason he was in the castle gym this morning; he wanted to distract himself. Sure, he wasn't necessarily one to dwell, but when he did, he always found that a nice round of physical activity helped him feel better.

He picked up the one hundred pound dumbbells. Grunting so much one would think he was trying to pull a boulder up a mountain, he raised the equipment up over shoulders. He did it then for the other arm, alternating so that both sets of muscles got a proper workout. As he did this, he became acutely aware of the fact that he sweat again. Man, was this just because of the workout? Or was the situation with his girlfriend and cousin involved in this too, causing him to sweat at a much more consistent rate than he was used to/liked? He considered stopping right then, as he didn't want his potentially sweaty palms to make the dumbbells wet. And really, a nice shower would be good right now. Making him clean and aromatic, a true chick magnet that would certainly signal to Celia that he was the right guy for her.

He grunted as he lifted the dumbbell again. Despite wanting to, he wasn't going to stop. He had a system after all, a exercise routine that he stuck to like religious dogma. He was going to see it through to its completion. He had already done sit ups, push ups, burpees, squats, and had even taken a run on the stair master. That just left his reps with the dumbbells and a workout on the treadmill. He could handle that. He could handle that easily! And hey, if he did it well enough, he'd have a very nice bout of personal accomplishment following him throughout the day!

"Hey big guy."

Roy blinked. Larry? What was he doing here? He didn't usually come into the gym, at least not while Roy was doing workouts. Oh well, it was actually kind of a good thing he was here, as Roy had a question for him. He turned his head towards his youngest brother.

"Hey bro," he said. He lifted the dumbbell up to his shoulder again, smiling as he lowered it. "Hoo yeah, that's the stuff…"

Larry came deeper into the gym, stopping when he got next to Roy. He looked at him for about a minute, not really doing much aside from sniffing. His face lit up when he spotted one of Roy's dumbbells though, particularly the one hundred- and fifty-pound ones. Grinning, he picked it up and started doing reps himself. Unfortunately, he wasn't nearly strong enough to actually do it properly. He closed his eyes and grit his teeth, exerting so much effort that a vein popped out on his forehead. Even with all that effort, it too almost half a minute for him to get the dumbbell up to his shoulder. Roy had never heard someone let out such a huge sigh of relief as Larry lowered the dumbbell back down.

Roy chuckled. "Want the lighter dumbbells, little bro?"

"HA! Hell no!" Larry grunted as he lifted the dumbbell again. "This is fine. I'm more than strong enough to lift this. Not…" he grunted again, sweat pouring down his face. "Not even feeling it…" less than an inch away from his shoulder, he grunted and dropped the thing down on the floor.

Roy couldn't help but snicker at this. "Yeah, you have quite a ways to go before you're at my level, you little stinker."

Larry flashed him a glare. "Hey, watch it bucko or I'll drop it on your foot next time."

Roy chuckled. He considered making fun of Larry further, but ultimately decided against it. After all, he still had to request something from him. So, might as well butter the little gremlin up instead of making him feel like a walking piece of crap.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of!" He put his own dumbbells back on the ground. "You just gotta build up some muscle!" He flexed, showing Larry his impressively large bicep. "You think I got here overnight? No; I had to train to earn my power! I had to workout everyday, even when I thought it was a waste of time!" He pointed to his muscle. "Feel this bro."

Larry stepped up and felt Roy's bicep. Even though he didn't smile while touching it, Larry still gave his brother an approving nod. "Pretty hard."

"Exactly! And this?" He pointed to his bicep one last time. "This Larry is an example of what you can strive for." He stopped flexing and made his way over to the treadmill. "Just gotta keep working at it."

Larry snickered as Roy hopped on the treadmill and started it up. "I'm not a fan of work. It's coarse and rough, and it gets everywhere."

Roy raised an eyebrow at him. "What the heck you talking about? Is that your fortune cookie fortune of the day?"

The youngest Koopaling opened his mouth, raising his finger as if to say something important, before ultimately deciding against it. "Never mind."

Roy nodded. For about two minutes, all he focused on was the speed of the treadmill. He watched his breathing and hit a stride, enjoying the bit of a high that running (even in place) let him experience. He was just about to be completely absorbed into the thrill of the workout when Larry sighed.

"Well, I've got some other family members I need to annoy." He turned toward the door. "See ya, Roy."

Roy stopped. "No wait! Larry I…" He didn't even fully grasp that it was happening, but he fell off the treadmill and crashed into the wall. This was enough to get Larry concerned.

"Holy crap!" He ran over to Roy, who groaned as he rubbed the back of his head. "You okay dude?"

Roy winced. He didn't feel any bumps, which was a good sign. Sure, the back of his head still felt like it was on fire, but at least he wasn't unconscious. "I…I'm fine." He stood up, readjusting his sunglasses since they got messed up when he fell.

Larry let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, good." He seized up. "Uh, I mean…" he put on a wickedly mischievous smile. "Ha! You big dummy! You have feet for a reason; try to remember that next time!"

Roy frowned at him, but only a little. The truth was, he saw through the facade. He knew Larry was happy he was okay; he was just trying to cover it up to appear tough. A common thing for the youngest to do. It didn't really bother Roy as much as it bothered the other Koopalings, but he knew deep down, Larry was a sweetheart. Sure, that sweetheart was buried underneath a mountain of hard, sour exterior, but that was alright! If anything, it made Larry like a giant gobstopper; Roy could get down to the bottom most sweet layer if he was just given enough time.

"Thanks for the advice." Roy stretched his back out. "Well, I think my workout for the day is complete." He looked down at his brother. "Which gives me a perfect opening to ask you for a favor."

"A favor?" Larry held up his hand. "Woah woah woah dude. I do not do favors! The last time I did was when I turned into a girl and…well, you know how that went down."

Roy sniffed. "It wasn't that bad. I was there; I got turned into a girl too, remember?" This got a shrug out of Larry, so Roy decided he might as well work some more on buttering him up. "And besides. You're my favorite brother!" He grinned, the act cheeky as sin. "Wouldn't you want to do something nice for your biggest fan?"

Larry blinked, looking at Roy with an expression that showed he was trying not to get too hopeful. "B…biggest fan?"

"Yeah!" Roy gave him a playful punch in the arm (he didn't ruffle his hair, he knew Larry hated that). "I think you're awesome, clever, and all round just a really cool dude!" He smiled. "Wouldn't be nice to secure that position by helping me out in a way that only you could?"

Larry smiled a little bit before laughing. "Okay, you big meatwad." He looked him right in the eye, still sporting the flattered smile. "What favor do you need me to do?"

Roy almost jump up and down in excitement. Seriously, Larry never did this, and most likely wouldn't have done it if Roy happened to be someone else. He cleared his throat.

"May I borrow your Switch for a few hours?"

Silence. Larry stared at him. "Wait. You want my Switch?" He shook his head. "Oh no. No no no!"

Roy's heart sank a little bit. Of course it wasn't going to be as easy as that; Larry and his Switch were joined at the hip. Looked like Roy needed to put some work into trying to convince him.

"It'll only be for a little bit," he said. "I'll give it back to you by sunset this evening."

Larry crossed his arms and looked away from Roy. "No!"

"Oh, please Larry!" Roy got closer to him. "It would really be a big help to me! And besides, the Switch is the only thing I can use in this situation to help out Celia's cousin!"

Larry turned toward him with an eyebrow raised. "Celia's cousin?"

"Yeah. His name is Albert." He scratched the back of his head. "He, uh, is going through a lot right now."

Larry turned toward him, now looking interested as opposed to defiant. "Like what?"

Roy sighed. "His Mom is missing at the moment, and he is scared of Koopas. Both those things make the fact he needs to stay at Celia's really uncomfortable for him. My hope is, that if I be nice to him and help him out, he might just change his mind about our species!"

Larry actually snickered at that. "Man, if only you had been around to tell that to Bowser."

Roy snickered. "Yeah, it's a shame." He gave Larry another pleading look. "But seriously Larry, it would really mean a lot to me if you give me the Switch. I think playing video games is a great way for him to let his guard down." He held his hands together and held them just below his chin. "Please Larry?"

Larry hesitated, directing his gaze down toward the ground as he thought about this. Eventually, and much to Roy's relief, he sighed. "Alright. Since you make such a compelling case, I'll let you have it just once."

Roy beamed. "Thanks bro! You're the best!"

"Yeah yeah yeah, whatever." Larry sniffed and wiped his nose. "Feel free to take whatever controllers and games with you. Just not Tears of the Kingdom; I would kill you myself if that ends up going missing."

Despite that warning, Roy still beamed. "Thanks Larry." With that, he made his way out of the gym. He thought about Albert as he walked down the hall. Would this idea work? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, it was definitely worth a try.