Chapter 16 Feeling Heard

The sounds of Seawell had that special quality, the same quality that soothed the soul. Roy had to admit, he wanted to move here. Sure, he had never been the biggest fan of the beach personally, but the calming noise could inspire him to change his mind. He could already imagine himself falling asleep to this noise, with the chattering of the town folks and the ocean engaged in a rhythmic dance with the shore.

Of course, the Morton's voice and the constant words he said accompanied these sounds. One could argue that talking detracted from the experience, but Roy was inclined to disagree. Maybe this was because Roy was feeling thankful that Morton was choosing to speak at all. After all, he always seemed to fly under the radar at home. His words were hardly ever loud enough to be heard amongst the much louder Koopalings, and the times where they were were incredibly spaced out. Roy didn't know if he would call this Morton talking 'refreshing' necessarily, but… well, there was something about it. Something that made Roy feel extra good.

That being said, Morton's chatter would ultimately be meaningless if he didn't have something worth saying. Thankfully, he did. He definitely did. While they walked through Seawell, the Morton talked about all sorts of different topics. He was clearly fully engaged in everything he was saying, but there was one topic in particular that stood out amongst the pack.

"You really like Rainbow Mare, huh?" Roy asked.

Morton gawked at him. "Are you kidding?" He chuckled. "It's… it's an amazing show. I would say it's up there as one of if not my single favorite piece of media of all time."

"All time?" Roy laughed. "Wow, that's a high honor."

"It is; I fully agree. But trust me Roy; that's not something I assign willy-nilly. No, I've actually put a lot of thought into it." He wore a smile, one reminiscent of the smiles the geeky kinds of people wore when they talked about their interests. "There are very few pieces of media that I would say changed my life. Honestly, under most circumstances, I don't even get attached enough to anything, so more often than not, fictional works don't even get the chance to change my life." He sighed, the sound light and dreamy. "But Rainbow Mare is the exception. The wonderful, amazing exception that I will cherish for the rest of time."

Roy nodded. Honestly, he felt strange about this, because he didn't even know how such a stereotypically girly show could leave such an impact on his brother. Of course, he wasn't judging Morton, as he was happy that his little bro had something that he loved so much. But still, it just seemed so unlikely that Morty would have such a niche interest.

"What's your favorite episode of Rainbow Mare?" Roy asked, hoping that question would help him get a better understanding.

Morton laughed. "Oh, there are too many for me to pick just one." He beamed as he looked right at Roy, which he found more cute than anything else. "There's the one where Rainbow Mare and her friends find the Crystal Cup, which contains the elixir to revive Queen Luminous. That episode was epic; they had to fight a chimera to get the treasure, and as a result, most of the episode was more or less one big fight scene. And it was a really well-animated fight scene too; it all flowed smoothly and naturally!" He let out a breath. "Of course, that episode doesn't really have as much emotional resonance with me as some of the other ones do. Like the one where Rainbow Mare fell into despair after losing her chance to save her true love. Everything about that episode was just so… raw. For a brief second, I actually worried that Rainbow Mare was going to stay stuck in that state forever. So, all I can say is thank goodness for Silver Patch." He chuckled. "He's one of her friends. He helped her find the resolve to keep fighting, to hold her head high despite all the increasingly harrowing circumstances." To Roy's surprise, Morton actually sniffled. "That episode really spoke to me personally."

"Really? How so?"

Morton paused, even going so far as to stop walking. He hesitated, with Roy not tearing his interested gaze away from him. "Umm… well, I could really relate with Rainbow Mare. I saw some of my own struggles in her. So, the fact that she was able to find a way to pick herself back up (with the help of a friend, of course) was really special." He sniffled again. "Honestly, I can't remember seeing another work that helped me feel so validated, so… seen."

Roy felt a pang. He bit his lip, unsure if he wanted to ask this next question. "I take it that you don't normally feel like that?"

A pause hung in the air. While the sounds of Seawell were still there, they went completely unnoticed by Roy as he waited for his brother's answer. Although, he debated if he even wanted to know the answer at all, because there was something about Morton's face. Something so fearful, something so lost and hurt. Roy couldn't remember ever seeing his little bro wear a face like this. Heck, he couldn't remember seeing anyone wearing a face like this.

"Umm… well… no." It looked as though Morton was squirming. "I… I can't say I do."

Roy felt his heart hurt. "I see." The two stood still for a little bit, neither one of them moving. That is, until Roy put his hand on Morton's shoulder. "Let's keep walking, okay?"

Morton nodded, and they resumed their stroll. All the while, Roy refused to take his hand off his brother's shoulder. He would keep it there for the rest of time if he had to. He would do even more than that if he could, do anything to help Morton feel as though he had a voice despite what his worries and emotions told him.

"Tell me more," Roy said once they reached the beach.

Morton blinked. "More about what? Rainbow Mare?"

"Well, if that's what you want to talk about, sure. However, I was hoping you could tell me more about your own life?" Morton shuddered when that was said, the action so strong that it caused Roy to pull back. "I mean… if that's what you want to do. I don't want you to feel pressured and I definitely don't want you to feel uncomfortable."

Morton's body language loosened up when he heard that. He stayed silent though, which was weird to Roy considering how vibrantly this trait had talked before.

"My life…" Morton frowned. Based on his expression, he seemed to be trying to grasp something within his mind, but couldn't for whatever reason. "My life…" he paused, his face changing to sport a look of extreme emotional pain. "I… well, first off, I don't really remember much about it. Heck, I don't think I remember much of anything before a little while ago."

Roy's heart sank. "I see." He supposed that made sense. And now that it was being told to him, he reasoned that he probably should've figured that out beforehand. So, he resumed walking. He might not be getting the answers that he wanted, but that didn't mean he was going to let Morton remain still and sad.

"However," Morton eventually said, surprising Roy. "There are some things I remember." The shades-wearing Koopaling stopped, stepping closer so as to not miss a word of what Morton said next. "Not so much an event, but more like a feeling. I… there's this heavy sensation. It rests on top of me, refusing to let me get up. It pushes down on me, as if it doesn't want me around. This feeling is keeping me chained up, locked away. There's…" the Morton paused. "There's also this other feeling. It's different from the first one, but it's still related. And…" Morton paused again. When he spoke this time, it sounded as though his voice was about to break. "It's… it's so dark. It's like despair, but worse. It's so strong, and it's not about to go away any time soon. It…" Morton put his hand to his throat. "Oh man, it's suffocating me!" Roy almost gasped when he saw Morton tremble. "It's… it's trying to kill me! It's… it's trying to…" he stopped talking. All he could do at this point was tremble and hyperventilate, and neither one of those actions helped him at all. Just based on the way he looked now, Roy thought that if he was just left all by himself, he was surely going to die.

So, he went up and put his hand on his shoulder again. This time, he squeezed too. "It's okay," he whispered. He patted Morton's shoulder. "Deep breaths. Take deep breaths." He continued patting, hoping to give his brother some sort of anchor. "Deep breath in, deep breath out." He did the exercise himself. The Morton didn't follow his example for a little bit, but eventually, he started to. His breaths were still shallow, but they deepened with time. Roy could also feel his trembles recede.

Eventually and thankfully, Morton recovered. He stood still for a second before looking at Roy. So many emotions were contained within that face, possibly infinite emotions. "Th… thank you, Roy."

"Sure thing, buddy." Roy smiled. "I'm here for you if you need me."

The Morton sniffled and smiled. "You have no idea how happy I am to hear that." He pulled away, but Roy could tell it wasn't out of malice. "People… people aren't usually there for me, I feel. Mostly because nobody really stops to… know me."

Roy nodded. "I see." There was a pause. "Well, I'm always here if you want to talk. I might not have a lot of the answers… well, I might not have any answers, but I can at the very least be present and listen." He frowned and scratched the back of his head. "Hopefully that'll be enough…"

Morton chuckled. "Roy, in my book, that's more than enough." His smile… didn't grow bigger per se, but it did get deeper. More stable and much more warm. "You're the first person to ever be this nice to me. And…" he stopped. "I feel like I know you." He looked him right in the eye. "You seem so familiar. I can almost place you, but…" his face fell. "I'm sorry; that probably sounds weird."

"It's not." Roy smiled. "It's perfectly normal, based on everything that you've told me." He laughed. "You are as far from weird as a koopa could possibly get."

Morton laughed. "Well, that's good. I always assumed that people would be weirded out by what I had to say."

"Nope! No way!" The two laughed together for a little bit. When they finished, they stood silently for a little bit before Roy cleared his throat. "Anyway, I was wondering about something." Morton raised an eyebrow as Roy spoke. "I want to keep helping you, so what do you say about me taking you back to my home?" He smiled. "It's a very comfy home, and there are a lot of good people there. They'd be able to help you even more. And hey, maybe you could tell them about Rainbow Mare too! They'd love to hear about such an interesting show."

Morton blinked. "You really think so?" When Roy nodded, he did a double take. "Huh. Well, it would be nice to talk to someone about Rainbow Mare, and if they're willing to listen…" a smile slowly grew on his face. "I'll come with you."

"Awesome!" Roy patted Morton on the back before getting out his phone and texting Lemmy. Lemmy, come on. I got the Morton to want to come home with us.

Really? Lemmy responded almost right away. How? How in the world did you do that? There was a pause before Lemmy's next message. You know what, it doesn't matter. Thank you so much Roy; you have no idea how happy I am that you did it!

Me too. Roy was about to put his phone away before a thought crossed his mind. Say, Morton told me about this show he likes to watch. It's called Rainbow Mare. I think he would like to tell us more about it, if that's okay with you.

There was about a thirty-second wait. Um, sure! If that's what Morton needs.

Roy smiled. He texted Lemmy thanks, put his phone away, and started guiding Morton's trait. Things were starting to look up. Hopefully, they would continue to do so when they got back to the castle.