AN: Hey everyone. I hope you enjoy this story. I figured, since I've just finished Family, that there was no harm in publishing this. Also, Woohoo! I actually managed to reach the 30th Super Koopalings episode! This is...wow. Thank you all for your support and your help getting me here.

Anyway, please enjoy :)

Chapter 1 Normalcy

"Did you enjoy your meal?"

That was a question Celia had asked over and over while working at the diner. The monotony of those words were enough to cause her brain to enter a coma. Honestly, she was surprised that such a thing hadn't happened to her yet.

"Eh," said the Chargin Chuck with a shrug of the shoulders. He was a regular at this place, and this heavy shrugging and annoyed "eh," were the typical response from him. "Could be better."

Celia tried to put on a smile for him, but honestly, she couldn't. She had literally no sympathy for this guy. If he was so insistent on criticizing the meal that was served for him, why was he a regular here in the first place? It made no sense.

"I...I'm sorry that this was not up to your liking." She glanced over at the table, where his half eaten burger rested among a bed of fries. "Would you like a box?"

"BAHH! No thanks."

Celia felt her eyebrow twitch. She wanted to yell at him. She really wanted to yell at him. She couldn't though; she had been told, point blank, that she should never take out her anger on her customers. Good advice but...man this guy was an ass.

"Okay. Will you be paying with cash or card?"

"Cash, obviously." He pulled a bunch of greasy, grimy coins out of his hammerspace. "I don't trust anyone with my card. Anyone."

Celia swallowed a lump and smiled. "It would make paying a lot easier."

The Chuck snorted. "More like make identity theft a lot easier.

Celia sighed and picked up the coins. She made sure to use a napkin in order to do so; she did not know where they had been nor the origin of the stains on them. She had to use all of her self control to smile at the customer. "Have a good day."

"Yeah. Sure." With that, he got up and left. Celia counted the amount of coins in her hand and felt even angrier.

"He didn't even leave a tip," she grumbled. "Good...flipping….gravy." She went over to the cash register and put the coins in. She pounded on the buttons extra hard, wanting to express her anger in some way.

"Woah woah, Celia!" said Connie, a Koopa troopa whose job was to disinfect the tables. She stared at the hybrid as she did everything in her power to try and break the register. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing," Celia said through gritted teeth. "Everything's just peachy." She slammed the drawer to the register shut.

Connie stared at her coworker, a concerned but also taken aback and frightened look on her face. She turned toward the table, where the half eaten burger still rested. Comprehension took over her expression. "Oh. Bert?"

"Yeah." Celia wiped her hand on her serving apron. "Bert."

Connie chuckled. "He sure is a pain. Tonya had to deal with him last week; he burped right in her face."

Celia cringed. "So not only is he grumpy, he's also disgusting. Good to know."

"Seriously," said Connie as she fidgeted with a spray bottle filled with peroxide.

Celia shook her head. "Why is he even a regular here?"

Connie shrugged. "Beats me." She turned toward the entrance when she heard the door open. "Say, isn't that your boyfriend and his brother?"

Celia looked up, and every last drop of anger that had accumulated when dealing with the Chargin Chuck melted away. Sure enough, there were Roy and Larry Koopa, coming into the diner. Roy flashed her a smile and a wave when he saw her. Celia waved back.

"Why don't you take over serving them?" Connie suggested.

Celia blinked. "Really? Shouldn't Erica do that?"

"Erica's in the back getting trained. Besides, there's no other customers here when it's so close to closing time. You'll have time to catch up with them."

Celia smiled. "Thanks, Connie."

"Of course." She went over to clean Bert's table. As Celia went over to the table Roy and Larry had set themselves down at, Connie called out "Besides, you'll get a much better tip from them than you ever will with Bert!"

Celia snorted. "Truer words have never been spoken," she whispered, still feeling the sting of getting absolutely nothing for a tip. She walked over to Larry and Roy, this time not even needing to force herself to put on a smile. "Hey guys. Nice seeing you in the Mushroom Kingdom."

Roy grinned at her, making her feel like swooning. His grin was just so adorable. "Hey, sweetie! We were just in the neighborhood and wanted to stop by!"

Larry sent a cringe toward his older brother. "Ah, gross! You guys are calling each other sweetie now?"

Roy looked over at him. "Of course we are. Isn't that a big step thingy to take in a relationship? There were times where I called Judy sweetie."

Larry snorted. "And you wonder why she broke up with you."

Roy lowered his head and directed it down toward the table. The hurt in his eyes looked extremely strong. Celia decided it would be best to change the subject.

"Anyway, what would you guys like to drink?"

"Orange juice," said Larry with a chuckle. "It's my life blood."

"I would like apple juice," said Roy. He shot a glare toward Larry. "And if you could spit in his orange juice for me, that would be great."

Celia squinted her eyes. "I'm not spitting in his orange juice Roy. That would get me fired." She leaned down next to him. "I'll water it down instead, does that sound good?"

Roy laughed. "That sounds perfect, thank you."

Celia laughed and made her way back up to the front. She got their drinks just as Connie had finished cleaning Bert's table and made her way back up. The Koopa troopa smiled at the hybrid. "You're approaching your two-year anniversary, aren't you?"

"Mmhm," Celia said as she filled Larry's orange juice with water.

"Nice. Travis and I are also approaching our anniversary; our fifth, as a matter of fact."

"Fifth? Wow." Celia put the drinks on a platter. "Congratulations."

"Thank you. We're going to go to this place called Sheila's Bakery in Sparksville. It's said to have the best Brimstone pie ever."

"Cool." Celia lifted the platter above her head. "Maybe if I get a day off, I can bring Roy there."

"It could be a double date!" said Connie. Celia smiled as she brought the drinks over to the two koopas.

"Hey," said Larry. He glared at Celia. "Did you water down my orange juice?"

"Of course I did. You're eleven; you shouldn't have that much sugar."

"Twelve. I'm twelve!" Larry sighed and drank some of his juice. "Whatever; it tastes better this way anyway."

Celia snickered and turned toward Roy. "Do you guys need a few minutes with the menu?"

"Actually," said Roy. "I was hoping to get a few minutes with you."

Celia's face grew warm. She turned toward Connie at the front, who gave her a thumbs up. She sighed. "Alright. What do you want to talk about?"

"Well," Roy said. "I was wondering if you were enjoying your job?"

Celia thought about this before shrugging. "Yeah. I do."

Larry snickered. "What's with the shrug?"

"Shrug? What shrug?"

"The one you just did."

"I didn't shrug."

"Celia," Roy said sternly. "We saw you shrug. Just tell us what's the matter."

Celia hesitated before sighing. "It's an okay job. Not my dream job, but definitely a good one."

"Dream job?" Larry asked. He leaned back. "What's your dream job?"

Celia hesitated. Really, when she had said "dream job," she meant it as a figure of speech. Like a, "This isn't what I want to be doing forever," sort of thing.

"I…" Celia lowered her head. "I don't know."

"Oh come on, you've gotta have a dream job!" said Roy. "What do you wanna be? Baker?"

"No."

"Construction worker?"

"No."

"How about….ooh, an exotic dancer? Those girls make a lot of money!"

Celia snorted. "Sure, by all the lap dances they give people. No Roy, I don't want to be an exotic dancer."

"Dang it," Roy muttered under his breath. He turned back to her. "Well, if you don't want to be an exotic dancer, what do you want to be?"

"I don't know, okay?" Celia said. "I haven't really thought about it."

"Oh." Roy adorned an obviously dejected expression when he heard this. "Okay." He hesitated. "Well, we're ready to order."

Celia nodded and listened as both Koopalings placed their orders. As she went back up to the front to tell the chefs what they wanted, she sighed.

"Yeah. Haven't really thought about it."