Chapter 18 Not Bad at All

"Woo Mama!" Albert exclaimed. The sound was music to Roy's ears, as was the sound of the young man clicking buttons on the controller. He noticed Albert biting his lip as he steered around the course, fully concentrating on the game and becoming fully absorbed by the fun world that it presented to him. This filled Roy with glee, as well as helped him relate to Albert a little more. He too would often find the most pure, wholesome form of enjoyment when playing video games, Mario Kart specifically.

The trio now finally brought their race on Bangkok Rush to a close. Roy got first, which actually helped him feel good because he often lost races when playing with Larry. Celia got eighth; not a pleasant position at all, but one that she still seemed proud of because hey, at least it wasn't last! As for Albert? He got fourth. The young man's excitement was at an all time high as he passed the finish line.

"Wow! I got fourth this time! I must be getting better!" He laughed, the sound filled to the brim with pride.

"Heck yeah you are!" Roy replied. He looked back at the results screen, beaming as he saw the three characters they had been using going through their victory animations (or losing animations in Celia's case). He turned back to Albert, who was all smiles. Any reservations he had toward playing the games that "promoted violence" had completely vanished, which gave Roy one of the strongest senses of satisfaction he had ever felt.

"Yeah, you did pretty well, Albert," Celia replied. She snickered. "Much better than me at least."

Albert beamed. He tossed his controller up into the air like a ball, catching it without any difficulty. "Yeah! And, I have to admit, it was a lot of fun!" He turned toward Roy. "Do you and your royal siblings play games like this every day?"

"Yeah!" Roy blinked. "Well…maybe not everyday, but we do take part in playing Mario Kart more often than not. We all find it to be pretty fun." He put on a pouty face. "At least, it would be a lot more fun if my brother Larry didn't win every single dang time!"

Albert laughed. "Well, I think you and your family are lucky. To have access to such a fun way to pass the time…" he sighed, his eyes sparkling. "I'm jealous." He grinned sheepishly. "Wow, I can't believe I just admitted I'm jealous of a Koopa."

Roy and Celia exchanged a look. It wasn't an angry one, in fact, it was far from it. If anything, while Roy couldn't necessarily speak for his girlfriend, he thought that this showed a nice example of progress on Albert's part. The man had managed to actually relax and have fun, around the two of them no less. This made Roy hopeful; maybe Albert was loosening his grip on the beliefs he held. Maybe…maybe he was finally starting to give Koopas a chance.

Right as he was thinking this, Ruby and Singe walked through the door. They both had bags of groceries in their hands, which actually ignited Roy's hunger. He just now realized that it was almost time for lunch, so he was hungry. Hungry enough that he would eat anything, even the abysmal dishes that Ruby would potentially put on their plates.

"Hey Celia, Albert!" Singe proclaimed. He moved the bag out of his face and blinked. "Oh. Hey Roy."

"You've really been stopping by a lot," Ruby said.

"Well yeah; Celia's my girlfriend!" Roy crossed his arms. "There's nothing wrong with me coming over to see her!"

Ruby laughed. "I'm not saying there is! I'm just making an observation."

"Oh." Roy lowered his head and put his tail between his legs. "That makes sense." Maybe this was just him overthinking things (cause that was something a dunce like him did all the time), but he now felt like a complete and total jerk.

Thankfully, Singe speaking up managed to stop Roy from wallowing in shame. "So, Albert…" he hesitated, sounding like he was trying to choose his words extremely carefully. "I…I realize that you've had issues with eating my cooking before." He set the bag down on the floor, allowing Roy to see that he looked a little…hesitant. "So, if you'd like, we can take you out for lunch."

Roy noticed that Ruby winced when that was said. She looked like she wanted to object, to tell Singe that was a bad idea. Roy reasoned the way she felt this way was because they didn't have a lot of money, which would make sense given Ruby's low-paying job and the fact that Singe himself didn't have a job due to nobody wanting to hire a koopa. Realizing this fact actually made Roy a little concerned.

Thankfully (and surprisingly), when Albert stood up, he said something that put all of Roy's fears to rest. "Actually…" he hesitated, as if he too couldn't really believe that he was saying this. "I…I'd like to try your cooking, Uncle Singe."

Everyone in the house stared at Albert, with Celia and Roy going so far as to have dropped jaws. Roy tried to wrap his head around this; the guy who had been so concerned about "Koopa germs" was now willing to put that to the side? Wow. That…that was actually really nice! It seemed he really was making progress! He really was willing to give Koopas a chance! This was…well, at the very least, it showed that things were starting to look up for both the Marksmite-Patch family as well as the Koopa prince that the Marksmite-Patch family considered…well, family.

Eventually, Singe smiled. "Okay then!" He picked the bag back up. "I was thinking about making cheep cheep fileted; does that sound good to you?"

Albert smiled back at his uncle. "That just so happens to be my favorite dish."

"Awesome!" He looked toward his daughter and her boyfriend. "Roy, Celia, would you be willing to help me?"

"Of course Dad!" Celia said. She followed Singe into the kitchen, with Roy trailing behind her. As Singe got the ingredients out of the bag, Roy's heart actually soared. Maybe it was because he was going to help make this dish for the person who was letting go of their prejudices, but he was actually excited about cooking this. Which was saying a lot, because normally he couldn't stand cooking. That was more Morton's territory, not his.

Oh well. The point was he was going to enjoy it now. So, with a few lovey dovey looks toward Celia. he jumped right into helping prepare the meal.

…

About forty five minutes later, the meal was all set. All five of them sat at the table, with Roy's mouth watering as he looked at the tasty hunk of fish that sat next to a heap load of vegetables on top of his plate. He wasn't going to eat it yet though. He wanted to see Albert's reaction to it first and foremost, partly because it was prepared by two and a half koopas but also because he was actually pretty proud of his handiwork.

"Well Albert," Singe said as he held his fork above his plate. "What do you think?"

Albert looked down at his plate. He slowly picked up his fork, sunk it into the fish meat, and put a bite in his mouth. To Roy, it felt as though someone was doing a drumroll as Albert chewed. His heart rate was at a standstill, and he could even see the anticipation in the eyes of all members of the Marksmite-Patch family. The suspense in the air almost gave Roy trouble breathing.

Then, thankfully, the suspense vanished when Albert swallowed. The young man's eyes lit up, looking like a green starlit sky. "Oh my word. This…" he stuck his fork back in the fish. "This isn't bad! Not bad at all!"

Everyone else at the table let out a breath of relief. He liked it! He actually liked it! Sure, "not bad" wasn't exactly the highest of compliments one could receive, but it still made everyone feel better (or at the very least, it made Roy feel better).

"That's great to hear," Singe said. His smile remained on his face as he took a bite of his fish. "Not bad for a koopa, huh?"

"Not at all." Albert took another bite. "It's quite tasty. I have to admit, I'm impressed by your cooking skills." He looked at Ruby. "I imagine he got his skills from watching you, Aunt Ruby?"

This caused Ruby, Singe, and Celia to burst into laughter, much to Albert's confusion. Just as he looked like he was going to call these people crazy was when Ruby got herself back under control.

"Oh no, Albert. I am terrible at cooking. And I do mean terrible!" She laughed. "I could burn cereal that I didn't even put over the flame if left to my own devices."

"Ah." Albert looked back down at his dish. "Well, either way, you did well Singe." He stuck another bite in his mouth. "Surprisingly well, but well none of the less."

Singe snorted. "Thanks." He gestured toward Celia and Roy. "Although, these two deserve some credit too. They acted as some very effective kitchen aids."

Albert nodded. "I see." He turned to face them. "Well, thank you you two."

"You're welcome," Celia said.

"Yeah," Roy said, beaming as he did. "You're welcome."

With that, the next six minutes were spent eating. Roy savored each savory bite, even though he was used to richer and more tasty meals in the castle (which he supposed made sense since the people who prepared those meals were professional chefs chosen through grueling interview processes). But even though this particularly meal didn't even come close to matching the quality of those dishes, it was still very good. Honestly, there was just something about home-cooked meals to Roy, something precious in their preparation and flavor that was hard to replicate. He gladly consumed this dish as a result, eating with as much joy as Albert clearly felt.

After a bit, Albert lifted his head away from his plate and looked at his uncle. His eyes fell on his mechanical arm, a part of Singe that Roy himself was so used to that he honestly forgot sometimes that other people might find it strange.

"Singe," Albert said. "What happened to your arm?"

Singe swallowed a bite and looked down at his cybernetic limb. "Oh. It's…it's sort of a long story. I…I…"

While Singe struggled to speak, Celia was thankfully there to help fill in the gaps. "He gave it up. He bargained for it to be cut off so that he could save a friend that was on death row."

Albert did a double take. "Woah. Really?"

Singe nodded. "I didn't want my friend to die." He leaned forward over the table. "I had spent a good amount of time with both that particular friend as well as his brother. We had all gotten extremely close. So, when he got put on death row…well, I couldn't just stand idly by. I gave up my arm so that Bowser would reduce his sentence to prison for life."

Albert gaped at Singe. "Wow," he whispered. "That's…that's incredible."

"Thank you," Singe said. He smiled again. "I never regret that decision. Sure, it was scary, but I feel like it was the second best decision I've ever made."

Albert leaned forward. "What would the first be?"

Singe beamed. "Marrying Ruby." He wrapped his mechanical arm around his wife, causing her to blush.

"I feel like that was the best decision I've ever made too," Ruby said. She smiled as she held onto his hand. "Sure, it was a bumpy road, but being with Singe and getting to see how the amazing young woman our daughter has become…" her eyes sparkled, similar to Albert's a few moments prior. "It's the most rewarding thing in the world."

Albert actually sunk into his chair when he heard that. "That…that's amazing." His face darkened a little bit. "You…you guys are so happy together. Even though you're different species, you still are there for each other. You take care of each other."

"Of course!" Ruby replied. "It…it's the natural thing to do!" She turned toward Singe. "In my eyes, it doesn't matter if Singe is a koopa. He could be an alien with thirteen arms and oozy skin, and I'd still love him."

Singe chuckled. "I'll make sure to tell my alien friends with thirteen arms that you said that next time I see them." This got him a playful punch in the arm from Ruby, causing him to laugh.

Meanwhile, Albert just looked at his plate. Roy instantly felt concerned; what was going on in his head? What was he thinking about; what in his mind was causing his face to darken that much? Roy looked over at Celia, who looked just as concerned about her cousin as he was. Roy asked her with his eyes if there anything that either of them could do to make him feel more comfortable. Unfortunately, she didn't have an answer.

But, thankfully, Albert lifted his head and smiled at Roy making his concern melt away. "Well, Shady, are you interested in playing more of that racing game?"

Roy's heart rate picked up. "Of course!" He got up from his chair. "I think it'll be fun kicking your butt!"

Even though Albert might've taken that as an insult earlier, he just gave Roy a competitive smile. "Too bad it's not mine butt that'll be getting kicked."

Roy laughed. "We'll see about that." He turned toward Celia. "Cee, do you want to play?"

Celia hesitated. "Actually…" she put her napkin down and stood up. "I think I'll spend sometime outside. You know, just to get some fresh air."

Roy seized up. He looked into her face, trying to gauge if there was any distress she was feeling. He didn't see any tells, but that didn't mean much. She still could be dealing with some stuff.

"Are you…are you alright?"

Celia nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine." She walked up to him. "I promise I'm fine."

Roy still wasn't convinced, but he nodded regardless. "Okay." With that, he and Albert walked over to the Switch while Celia exited the building.