AN: Hey guys. I just wanted to let you know that today is NJRioluX birthday (she mentions this on her profile), and I wanted to acknowledge that. I hope you all like this chapter, and NJ... happy birthday :)

Chapter 2 International Worker Day

After Ludwig finished straightening up, the two Koopalings made their way down to the dining hall. As they walked through the second-floor hallway, they didn't talk, which was a little unusual as the two brothers loved conversing. Some of their most animated conversations were on the morning walk to the dining hall. As such, Lemmy couldn't help but feel as though he SHOULD be talking, that he should be saying something to Ludwig to fill in the silence. Maybe that was an irrational worry, as Ludwig didn't seem to mind, but… eh, whatever. Lemmy didn't know what they could talk about. The only thing on his mind was his dream, which he wasn't open to discussing.

But speaking of said dream, he thought about it a lot. He remembered a conversation he had with Iggy a WHILE back, all the way back when they were kids. Iggy had been taking a Psychology course for college, and the current unit at that time was dreams. As a result, he shared all the information he had about dreams with EVERYONE (which wasn't that far off from how Iggy acted in the present, now that he thought about it). One thing he said that stuck with Lemmy from that time, even now as an adult, was the discussion on the meaning of dreams. "Dreams tell you what is on your mind," Iggy said. "They give you a picture of what is going on in your own head, sometimes without you even realizing what that something is." Which begged the question; what did this dream point to for Lemmy?

Honestly, that was more of a rhetorical question than anything else, as Lemmy had an answer. Or, at the very least, he had a working theory. Over the last couple weeks, he had felt… dissatisfied with his life. No, not the fact that he lived in a castle and had a lot of friends and family; he would always be grateful for that. But… well…

"Lemmy?"

Lemmy blinked, coming to a stop as he did. He looked up at Ludwig, who gave him a furrowed brow. Lemmy tried to think back, wondering if he accidentally made a noise that would ignite Ludwig's concern. He felt a little squirmy as a result.

"Lemmy, are you alright? You seem a little… out of it."

Lemmy snorted. "Out of it? You make it sound like I'm on drugs."

Ludwig shook his head while smirking at him. "Fine then, Mr. Ignatius Magnolia Koopa, I will use words that are more in tune with your intellect." He took a deep breath as Lemmy began giggling. "You are blase, you are apathetic, you are dismal, despondent, depressed, downtrodden!" His eyes sparkled as he smiled at the laughing Lemmy. "Do those words do a good job of satisfying you, my Great and Gracious Lord?"

By now, Lemmy was laughing so hard his sides hurt. "Yeah, you're good!" He laughed some more, putting one hand on his belly and another on his hip. "That… I needed a laugh like that; thanks."

"You're welcome." Ludwig stepped closer. "But seriously, are you alright?"

"Umm…" Lemmy bit his lip. "Well… I'm not awful. I mean, I'm up and walking about, aren't I? If I was awful, I would be lying in bed groaning, right?"

Now Ludwig was the one who snorted. "Suuure…" He smirked. "I suppose you got me there." His brow furrowed again. "But you're also really quiet."

Lemmy giggled. "Maybe I decided to play the Quiet Game." He wiggled his eyebrows at his older brother. "And hey, since you were the first one to talk, that means that I won!"

"Won? WON? Get out of here!" Ludwig playfully shoved Lemmy. "It's not called winning if you don't reveal the game is even being played. If anything, it's called cheating!"

Lemmy gasped and put his hand to his heart. "Cheating? How dare you!"

"It's true! That's, like, Waluigi levels of cheating! Cheatsy Koopa levels of cheating!"

The two brothers laughed together, and much to Lemmy's delight, he felt a lot better. Maybe this whole conversation was what he needed to officially put his dream behind him. Maybe all he really needed was to get out of his head and into the real world. His dream had entirely been in his head, after all.

"Well, Ludwig, while I was feeling a little iffy before, I feel a lot better now." He beamed at his older brother. "And you are the one responsible for that, so thank you very much."

Ludwig beamed right back at him. "You're welcome, Lems." He chuckled as he resumed his walk to the dining hall. "Wow, who knew that making your brother feel good felt so nice? Maybe I should become a comedian like you Lemmy!"

And just like that, Lemmy was back to square one. "Yeah." He directed his gaze down toward the floor. All the happiness vanished as he thought about his dream, as he thought about his life, as he thought about his goals. Honestly… he had been wanting all his life to leave an amazing impact on people. He had seen multiple clowns and performers who had impacted HIM in meaningful ways, so the fact that he hadn't made much of a dent with anyone himself just… felt wrong. It felt oh so wrong, and he bet if he brought this up to Ludwig, he wouldn't understand. He would probably tell Lemmy that he had made an impact, that he had reached people. That may be true from a certain point of view, but the real question was… had Lemmy reached ENOUGH people?

He didn't know, and he supposed there was no way to, but even still… yeah, this was turning into one of the worst mornings ever. It wasn't THE worst; it probably didn't even crack the top fifteen. But even still, the feeling that all the effort and time he put into his dream hadn't been worth it just made him feel… awful. Yes, he had told Ludwig that he didn't feel awful before, but after taking the time to consider that statement… yeah, that was a lie.

But maybe this feeling would pass. No one could stay one hundred percent joyful one hundred percent of the time, not even Lemonade Natalie Koopa. Maybe this was just a one-time thing, an instance where he needed to sit back, relax, eat some good food, and try to gather his bearings. He had a feeling that when he got some food into his system, everything would seem much more manageable. The same could be said if he interacted with his other family members; he KNEW that talking to the nine people he loved most in the world (the other Koopalings, Bowser, Bowser Jr, and Kamek) would be sure to brighten his day.

So, despite everything, he smiled as he and Ludwig continued their walk to the dining hall. They passed by multiple koopa troopa servants, and Lemmy smiled and greeted them too. After all, the term "fake it til you make it" had been coined for a reason. He was the number one endorser of that phrase, and this time was no exception. As a result, he felt at least semi-decent when he got to the dining hall. He smiled as he saw his other family members, all sitting around and munching away on… ooh, crepes! Lemmy LOVED crepes, he was OBSESSED with them! They didn't have them for breakfast in the castle very often, but when they did… mmm mmm mmm!

"Morning everyone!" Lemmy exclaimed. He ran over to his usual seat, and a servant came out to place a crepe plate in front of him almost immediately. He took in the smell; oh goodness gracious, he would never get tired of this smell! He would never get tired of this dish either; if he was stuck on a desert island and had the option of eating only one food for the rest of his life, it would probably be these crepes. He picked up his fork and immediately went to town on them, chowing down on their perfectly flavored exteriors and beautifully creamy filling.

"Woah, Lemmy!" Bowser, the big bulky Koopa King, said from the head of the table. "Slow down, it's not like the crepes are gonna walk away!"

"Yeah," Larry, his youngest blue-haired brother, said from across the table. "Take it from someone who can't taste food anymore; you need to stop and enjoy your meals while you can."

Lemmy paused and swallowed the bite of crepe in his mouth. "Right, you guys are right." The next few bites he took were slower and more deliberate. His family made a good point, especially considering his current mood. Enjoying his food would probably help him better than shoving it down his throat at top speed.

As he chewed slowly on an especially tasty bite, Bowser cleared his throat and looked toward everyone. "Well, I'm glad that all of you are here." He smiled and reached to his right side, where Bowser Jr was sitting. He ruffled Junior's hair, making the Koopalings's youngest brother purr like a kitten (koopas could purr, although they didn't do it very often). "I have a good feeling about today, let me tell you guys!"

Lemmy seized up. Statements like that usually proceeded Bowser expressing his plans and hopes for a Princess Peach kidnapping mission. Lemmy didn't want to deal with that now, ESPECIALLY since… oh, wait a minute! Bowser and Princess Peach had established a Peace Treaty a while back where Bowser didn't need to kidnap her! Lemmy had no reason to worry! Realizing this, Lemmy giggled to himself. He was amazed that he had forgotten about the Peace Treaty (and just as amazed at the fact that Bowser hadn't. Seriously, one had to give Bowser credit; he had displayed incredible self-control since that day).

"I have a good feeling about this day too, Bowser!" Lemmy said. This was partly because he genuinely believed that and partly because he was TRYING to make himself believe it. "The world is our oyster and life is tasting sweet!"

Roy, the pink-headed Koopaling who always wore shades, laughed. "That's such a weird saying, you know. What's so great about oysters anyway; they're just some snot living in a rock!"

Iggy, the plant-haired genius who always wore glasses, gawked at Roy. "Snot living in a rock… what planet have you been living on?" He adjusted his spectacles. "Oysters are members of the Mollusk family! In fact, they are considered bivalve mollusks because they have a shell that splits into two parts!" Iggy's eyes shimmered, which was NEVER a good sign. "In fact, they aren't the only bivalve mollusks, there are a ton more…"

And with that, the train was officially on the track. Some might say this was out of character for him, but Lemmy wasn't afraid to admit that he sighed in frustration as Iggy launched into his tirade. Leaning forward in his seat, Lemmy did his best to drown Iggy out. With how horrible he had felt thanks to his dream, a lecture from his younger brother was the last thing he needed.

Thankfully, Wendy, the only female Koopaling, seemed to agree. "Okay, okay Iggy, we get it!" Iggy stopped and glared at her. She glared back at him before turning back to Roy. "And Roy, that phrase is probably a thing because oysters make pearls. Saying 'the world is your oyster' means that there are a ton of possibilities, including a particularly fabulous one." Roy still looked confused, so she sighed. "Like finding a pearl."

Roy still appeared like he didn't get it. "Uh… um…" he scratched his head. "I don't… I don't think that makes a ton of sense…"

Morton, the only dark-skinned Koopaling, patted Roy on the back from his spot right beside him. "Don't worry about it, Buddy; the only thing that you need to know is that it's a saying and people use it."

That actually got Lemmy to chuckle. Now feeling at least a tiny bit less annoyed due to Iggy being quiet, he resumed eating his crepes. He appreciated the flavor a lot as he chewed, and he couldn't help but feel grateful. Seriously, after such an awful dream, this was the exact kind of pick-me-up he needed.

And things only looked even better as Bowser spoke up. "Okay guys, I actually have somethings I want to talk about." Lemmy and the rest of the Koopalings turned their attention to him. "Today is actually a very special day." Everyone at the table looked confused, prompting Bowser to chuckle. "Do you guys know why?"

"Uh…" Ludwig drummed his fingers on the table. "Is it an anniversary?"

"Is it someone's birthday?" Wendy asked.

"Is it Give Your Sibling A Noogie Day?" Larry laughed. "I ALWAYS look forward to that day!"

Bowser laughed. "No, you sillyheads, it's International Worker Appreciation Day!" That got all the Koopalings even more confused, making Bowser chuckle. "Come on, are you guys telling me you've never heard of International Worker Appreciation Day?"

Lemmy shrugged. "Uh… I'm afraid so."

"Yeah," said Larry. "I never heard of that day either. I always thought it was workplace policy for most companies to mistreat their workers. Dedicating a day to them would kinda be counterproductive."

Bowser gave him a look. "Well, I am NOT some crappy workplace, so I am actually interested in celebrating it." He looked at all the Koopalings. "All the Koopa Troopa servants put their all into making sure that this castle is run smoothly. We need to acknowledge that."

Lemmy blinked. "Y… yeah." He smiled. "Yeah, we do! I think that sounds like an awesome thing to do, Bowser!"

Bowser gave him a warm smile. "Thank you, Lemmy." He looked back toward the others. "However, I don't know exactly how to do that, so… anyone have any suggestions?"

The Koopalings immediately chimed in with their ideas. "We could bake them a nice meal!" said Morton.

"We could make some cards for them!" said Roy.

"We could buy all of them something really expensive!" said Wendy.

"We could play video games with them!" Junior chimed in.

Bowser smiled. "Those are all good ideas. There's no way I can pick my favorite." He grinned from ear to ear. "How about this; we each do our own thing for the servants. We each put our individual talents to good use to do something special."

Lemmy felt warm and tingly all over. Especially because he realized something cool, something that made him gasp out loud.

"Ooh! If we're doing our own things… Oh, I could put on a show! I could make them all laugh with a clown act!"

"Yep!" Bowser said with a nod. "That sounds like a great idea, Lemmy!"

Lemmy beamed. Great idea it was indeed! Maybe, if he put on a clown show, he could put his dream behind him. Maybe going back into his element and showing others how much he appreciated them would help him feel better about everything!