Chapter 21.07 Extra Sparkly Clean

Standing on top of a step stool that he had bought alongside the toothbrushes, Ludwig brushed away at his brother's teeth. All the while, Lemmy stood in the bathroom doorway, observing the scene. Ludwig kept his eye on him through the mirror, as if to say "Watch carefully so you know how I do things." He didn't take his gaze off of him until he spit into the sink and cleaned the new toothbrush under the water.

"Well." Ludwig cleared his throat and turned toward Lemmy. "To give you a look…" He smiled. No, not in the way that Lemmy usually smiled, with an expression so giddy it could make one sick. It was just… well, it was just showing the teeth. The word "smile" probably didn't really apply to it.

"Woah," Lemmy said as he stepped forward. "That looks…" he smiled, and with him it actually fit the definition of one. "That looks pretty good!"

Ludwig sniffed and closed his mouth. "Yeah, it tastes good too." He snorted. "I will take toothpaste with the strongest mint flavor in the universe over… whatever the hell your mouth's default setting is."

Lemmy nodded. "I see." His face rose back up again. "So… we're done right?"

"ERR ERR, NOPE!" Lemmy blinked and pulled away slowly. "You may be done, but I…" he looked back into the mirror, cringing and wrinkling his nose as he looked at Lemmy's mohawk. "I have to turn this disaster zone into something at least… twenty-five percent passable." He took a deep breath. "HOO BOY do I have my work cut out for me!"

Lemmy chuckled sheepishly. "Well, whatever you do, don't go too crazy." Ludwig raised an eyebrow and turned toward him. "I still want to look like me when I'm done."

Ludwig sniffed. He was tempted to say something snarky but bit his tongue (HARD). So, he considered what to say for a solid twenty seconds before deciding on something that wasn't… COMPLETELY silver-tongued.

"Well, I'm not gonna uproot the very core of your appearance, if that makes you feel any better." He thought about this. "Think of it like… makeup. I'm here to enhance your appearance, not do something so gaudy and colorful that it distracts from your… for lack of a better term, beauty."

Lemmy snickered. "Well, okay." He backed up out of the doorway. "You got this Ludwig. I trust you."

With that, the door closed and Ludwig was alone in the room. He looked back into the mirror, biting his lip as he did. "Well, I certainly hope I can trust myself too." He cringed, plucking the mohawk's front strand. It felt stiffer than a tree trunk. "Goodness gracious did I get the short end of the stick…"

…

Despite Ludwig's doubts, when he came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around Lemmy's hair, he couldn't help but smile. He puffed out his chest, preparing to pat himself on the back in three… two… one.

"I DID IT! I ACTUALLY DID IT!" He laughed as Lemmy got up from his bed and came over. "I scaled the highest mountain, I crossed the largest sea." He opened his eyes and looked into Lemmy's excited ones. The look of anticipation he saw in Lemmy's… or, his own eyes made him chuckle. "I took the flimsiest framework available to me and built a house that's… at least somewhat livable."

By this point, Lemmy was practically jumping up and down. "Well, let's see!" Ludwig smirked and pulled the towel off his head, causing Lemmy's jaw to drop. "Holy heck…!" His face rose. "Jewels! I have jewels on my head; they're bright and shiny!" He looked into Ludwig's eyes. "Ludwig… I don't know how you did it, but you made me look FANTASTIC!"

Ludwig chuckled. "Thanks." He shrugged. "I mean, I didn't do anything too crazy. I just used my regular shampoo and conditioner on your hair." He snorted. "See, this is why you don't go for the cheap stuff. Like store brands." He narrowed his gaze at Lemmy. "Or bar soap."

Lemmy scratched the back of his head. "Well, if this is anything to go by, I'm never using bar soap again." His eyes glittered. "You look amazing, Ludwig!"

"I feel amazing too, if you can believe it." Ludwig walked further into the room. "I almost feel like myself again!" His face fell. "I mean, I'm still short enough to be mistaken for a toddler, but hey, I'm not gonna worry about that!" He laughed. "I know how to look fabulous no matter what body I happen to be in."

"Couldn't agree more!" Lemmy let out a breath as Ludwig turned around. "So… I guess we're all set huh?"

"HA! All set?" Ludwig shook his head. "No no no. I managed to take care of one disaster zone. Now…" he gestured toward Lemmy's side of the room. "Now we focus on the other one."

Lemmy blinked. "Wait. You want to clean my side of the room?"

"Is that even a question?"

Lemmy looked a little uncomfortable. "I don't… I don't know. I mean, I don't hate cleaning, but…" He cringed. "It's not exactly the most fun activity for me."

Ludwig stepped closer. "You want to know a secret Lems? It's not for me either. But nevertheless, it's important. I mean… look at me." He gestured toward himself. "I'm not Ludwig von Koopa right now, I'm Lemmy Koopa. Which means that THAT…" He once again gestured toward the side of the room. "That is currently a direct reflection of me. And I don't know about you Lems, but I think it's easier for a shiny clean mirror to show a good reflection as opposed to one covered in grime and stains." He smirked. "And besides, have you ever actually HAD a clean room? Because believe me when I say it's underrated. At least, that's the term you'd probably use." His nose wrinkled. "Plus… come on, we're royalty. Royalty doesn't live in condemnable environments."

Lemmy still looked uncertain, but he managed to nod. "I get what you're saying." He paused. "And… we're gonna work together to clean the room, right Ludwig?"

"Yep. I'll be with you every step of the way. Every dirty, muddy, nasty step."

Lemmy giggled. "Sounds good to me! So… where do we start?"

"Well, first things first…" Ludwig pulled a trash bag out of his hammerspace, causing Lemmy to blink. Ludwig smirked at him. "Didn't think you had a trash bag in your shell, did ya?" Lemmy shook his head, and Ludwig snorted. "Yeah, me neither." He opened the bag and went over. "Now come on. There's only so many hours in the day."

Lemmy nodded and came over. Ludwig stepped over the items in the room. "First, we need to figure out what to keep and what we trash." He picked up a rock with purple polka dots and googly eyes and turned back to Lemmy with a raised eyebrow. "What the hell is this?"

"Oh, that's a pet rock I made when I was nine!" Lemmy laughed as Ludwig gawked at him. "I named him Rory. I wanted to go with Rocky, but even as a kid I thought that was too easy." He stopped, blinked, and put his hand to his chin. "Man, I should've gone with Rocky though; that would've been the perfect pun."

Ludwig snorted. "Well, considering how I feel about your puns, I think Rory should be happy that he isn't named Rocky. Because if he WAS… yeah, it would be Trash City for him."

Lemmy chuckled. "Huh. Who knew that a decision I made as a kid would save a pet rock's life?"

Ludwig shook his head and started digging as Lemmy giggled some more. "Okay, let's see… what the?" His eyes grew wide as he pulled an item out of the rubble. He did a double-take before turning to Lemmy. "Lemmy, are these fireworks?"

"Oh! Yes, they are!" He reached out and took them. "I've actually been wondering where these were!"

Ludwig's jaw dropped. "You keep FIREWORKS in our room? Lemmy!" He was now fully turned toward his brother. "Lemmy, for crying out loud, I have pyrokinesis! If something goes wrong with my powers, and those fireworks are activated, then it's BOOM! Bye bye us!" He looked back at the fireworks. "I mean, yeesh Lems, why not keep uranium under your bed while you're at it!"

Lemmy smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, you're right. I'll get rid of these." He stepped toward the pile. "Okay, now…" he pulled items out of the pile. "Keep, keep, keep, keep… Ooh, I was just about to buy a new one of these; keep!"

Ludwig frowned at his brother. "Oh God. You're gonna want to keep everything, won't you? I thought you were a clown, not a hoarder."

"I'm not a hoarder!" Lemmy proclaimed. "I can depart with some of this stuff! Like… like…" he looked back at the pile. "Well, I can't see anything I want to give up on a first glance, but I'm sure there's something in here!"

Ludwig sniffed. "Well, for the sake of my sanity, I certainly hope there is…"

…

It took hours, but eventually… well, Lemmy's part of the room was more or less unrecognizable. Ludwig and Lemmy stood back to admire their handiwork, Ludwig with a proud smirk and Lemmy with a giddy grin.

"Man, Ludwig," Lemmy said. "You cleaned my teeth, my body, and my side of the room… you are a cleaning machine!"

Ludwig smiled. "Thank you!"

"Yeah! I guess you could say you're on… fire!"

And just like that, Ludwig's face fell as Lemmy laughed. "Yes, ha ha ha, you're so funny." He looked out the window. "Wow, holy shit, we've been working on this so long that it's dark out." He made his way back over to the bed. "We should probably go to bed."

"Yeah. I'm looking forward to going to bed, considering this is the first time in a while I'm sleeping in a made one!" He squeed and jumped onto the bed, practically sinking into his huge pile of neatly organized sock monkeys. "Have a good night, Ludwig!"

"Yep, you too." Ludwig got into bed and turned off the light. He stayed still for a little bit before sighing. "Hopefully Iggy's at least somewhat closer to finding the duplighost in the morning.

AN: Hey everyone! Man, I had fun writing this chapter, especially when it came to Ludwig's dialogue! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it!

Also, next chapter is the last chapter of this side story, and... that is going to be the REAL meat and potatoes of this whole endeavor. Are you looking forward to it; I know I am. Sure, it took close to three years to get to it, but... hopefully it'll be worth it in the end.