Chapter 17 Friendly Banter

Pop pop crackle. Listening to popcorn popping was so satisfying; Ludwig was surprised it took him this long to realize that. He kept his eyes on the popcorn bag inside the microwave, feeling like an overjoyed child. The pops of the kernels were random, but it was somewhat reminiscent of music. Perhaps the pops could be replicated with cymbals, being paired with a powerful melody that slowly built to an outstanding crescendo. When he thought about this, his mind started to write that very melody. Like he so often did when brainstorming ideas for music, he hummed the tune taking shape in his head. He made sure to time the notes to the popping of the corn, which made the process so much more engaging and exciting.

"That's a nice tune."

Ludwig smiled and turned to see his girlfriend, Aria Shellcreep, coming into the kitchen. He chuckled as she approached and placed her hands on his shoulders. She rubbed them, which felt so good in so many ways. He let out a content sigh. Placing his hand on top of hers, he soaked in the moment and just allowed himself the opportunity to relax and take everything in.

"You… are… awesome." He took hold of her hand and pulled it downward, away from his shoulders toward his chest. He pressed his hand on top of hers, making her chuckle now that her palm pressed down on his skin. He chuckled along with her.

"I can feel your heartbeat," Aria said. "It's actually kinda soothing."

"Now you know the source of inspiration for most of my music." Speaking of which, the microwave finally beeped. Not wanting to pull away from Aria quite yet, Ludwig opened the door telekinetically, using the same technique to pull out the bag. This had the added benefit of him being able to avoid getting burned, which made him wonder if he should cook with telekinesis more often. Heck, why stop at telekinesis; he could use his pyrokinetic abilities to cook as well.

He opened the bag, and Aria took a deep breath. "Oh, that smells incredible." Her eyes glimmered as Ludwig finally pulled away from her. "You excited for tonight?"

"You know it." Ludwig chuckled. "Are you?"

"Well, I'm here, aren't I?" Ludwig smirked at her, making her laugh even more. "I'm proud of Lemmy."

"Proud? That's a strong word."

"It's the right word is what it is. What he's doing takes guts. There are countless people in the world who haven't taken the step he has. He put himself out there, he decided to show the world what he had to offer. So, yes, I am proud of him."

Ludwig looked at her, looking deep into her violet eyes. Usually, he had trouble with looking people in the eye, but not with Aria. He didn't feel uncomfortable or like he wanted to turn away earlier than was probably acceptable. He just looked at her, swimming in the purple shine. She blinked at him.

"What? What are you looking at?"

"You; who else? And as for why I'm doing that…" He smirked. "I'm not gonna explain myself; you're just gonna have to guess."

Aria let out a mock gasp. "How DARE you! Not explaining your reasoning; that's unforgivable! Only jerks do stuff like that! Are you a jerk, Ludwig?"

"Do you breathe oxygen?" Ludwig laughed as Aria playfully shoved him in the arm. He was just about to speak up again when he heard a voice coming from the kitchen entryway.

"Actually, fun fact; there is more nitrogen in the atmosphere than there is oxygen." Ludwig looked at Iggy, grinning from ear to ear. "In fact, it makes up a total of seventy-eight percent of the atmosphere, with oxygen only making up a mere twenty-one percent. So, a more accurate question is 'do you breathe nitrogen.'"

Ludwig snorted and shook his hand. "Wow, Iggy. You are quite the fountain of knowledge." He snickered. "Too bad that I don't drink knowledge as part of my diet."

"Well, maybe you should," Iggy said without missing a beat. He stepped further into the room. "Anyway, I just came to check on the popcorn."

Ludwig frowned. "The popcorn's fine, Iggy. It doesn't have legs, so it can't run away. I work with fire on a daily basis, so I'm not just gonna let it burn."

Iggy shook his head. "I know, I know." He sighed. "Look, let's just get back to the common room. The second round of the Laugh-Off starts momentarily."

"Alright." Ludwig went right back to smiling as he and Aria followed Iggy out into the hallway. As they walked, Ludwig went right back to humming, this time trying to conjure up a whole new movement in the song he was composing. He must've done this for three minutes before Iggy gave him the side-eye.

"Ludwig, is that necessary?"

"Iggy, is you asking me if this is necessary necessary?" Ludwig stared Iggy down. "Music is my thing, you know this. Why shouldn't I be allowed to do my thing?"

"I don't know; one could say that masturbating is a person's thing and you don't see them doing that out in the opening."

Ludwig's jaw dropped. "Are you seriously comparing my music to MASTURBATING? How dare you! That's low Iggy; really REALLY low!"

"Hey!" Aria said, snapping her fingers to make both of the Koopalings stop fighting and turn to her. She flashed a glare toward Iggy. "Iggy, that was uncalled for. Ludwig wasn't bothering anyone, you don't have to make a big deal out of this. You have your machines, Ludwig has his music; shouldn't both of you be allowed to do those things without the other unnecessarily criticizing you?"

Surprisingly, Iggy's gaze actually softened up when he heard that. "You're right. You're absolutely right, Aria." He turned toward Ludwig. "I apologize, Ludwig. We all have our things; it's not worth getting into a fight over."

"Apology accepted," Ludwig said. "Now, what do you guys say we go watch Lemmy do HIS thing?"

Both koopas smiled, and they all walked back to the common room without another negative word. As they walked, Ludwig wondered what Lemmy had in store for everyone tonight. He was probably going to wow the audience, both those watching him in person and those watching him on the TV It would be especially fitting if he did because he had been gifted a second chance by the fates, and there was no way Lemmy was just going to let that second chance go to waste. Ludwig knew that about his brother; not only did he believe in second chances, but he also believed in taking advantage of them. He was going to put more effort into round two than most people could even fathom.

Finally, Ludwig, Aria, and Iggy arrived at the common room. The other Koopalings and Celia were already there, looking at the TV. Stealing a glance at it allowed Ludwig to see that a Bob-omb was currently on stage, giving a stand-up routine. Lemmy was more than likely going on after him, and if so… oh gosh, Ludwig had to wait through an entire stand-up skit just to see his brother? Talk about unfair.

Oh well; at least he and his family could eat snacks while they waited. "Hey, everyone! Got some Bronzestein popcorn!"

"Nice!" Wendy went up and took the bag. "Bronzestein is the best brand." She reached into the bag and stuffed some popcorn into her mouth. As she chewed, she looked at Ludwig. "Now, do you happen to have…"

"Flavor powders? Never make popcorn without them." Ludwig reached into his hammerspace, pulling out the different flavor powders. Nacho cheese, parmesan, spicy, and white cheddar were available, and the eyes of everyone in the room lit up when they saw them.

"Sweet! Thanks, Ludwig!" Wendy took the flavor powders and walked back over to her seat on the floor. Iggy joined her, while Ludwig and Aria took a seat beside Roy and Celia on the couch. The former was leaning into Roy, smiling at the TV as Roy held her tight.

"Who's the guy on stage right now?" Aria asked.

"Apparently, his name is Chester Court," Larry said from his spot at the table. "He's a stand-up comedian, like pretty much everyone else in this competition."

"Everyone else except Lemmy," Roy said. He grinned. "Which I like; it makes Lemmy unique."

Celia frowned and sat up. "You know… there could be a possibility that that is why Lemmy lost the last round. Maybe the audience was weirded out by him having an act that was so drastically different from the other competitors."

Larry smirked. "You're overthinking things, Cee."

"Actually," Aria spoke up, wearing a furrowed brow as she did. "I don't think that's too far off. I mean, perhaps the people in the audience are primarily those who enjoy stand-up acts. Seeing a clown act when they're expecting their usual bread and butter was probably off-putting to a lot of them."

"Yeah, exactly," Celia said. She adjusted her position in her seat, whimpering as she looked at the TV. "So… honestly, I don't really have high hopes about how round two is going to treat Lemmy."

Roy seemed to consider this before smiling and patting his girlfriend on the shoulder. "Well, even if that's true, it doesn't mean Lemmy is out of the game. He's probably going to do everything in his power to make sure things go his way."

"Knowing Lemmy, I think that's exactly what he's going to do," Morton said. He took a bite of popcorn before licking his lips. "Mmm, I should've tried the white cheddar powder a long time ago; it's really good."

The Koopalings didn't talk for a little while after that. Instead, they their eyes on the TV while Chester Court went through his act. Honestly, Ludwig wasn't interested in Chester at all. That wasn't meant to insult the guy; he was probably hysterical. The little bit Ludwig heard of him making fun of names for animal groups was pretty funny. But Ludwig came here for Lemmy and Lemmy alone. Ludwig wasn't going to leave this room until he saw his brother. If for some godforsaken reason the power somehow went out in Bowser's Castle, and it didn't come back on until three thirty in the morning, then Ludwig would wait through all of those grueling hours so he could see Lemmy on stage. Sure, the likelihood of that happening was pretty slim, but that wasn't the point.

Iggy sighed and drummed his fingers against the floor as Chester told another joke. "Oh man, this is so passe. Why should I watch this when I could be watching Rouge Albertine instead? The Laugh-Off would be much more engaging if she could do some of her own stand-up bits, even if they rehash her specials."

Ludwig raised an eyebrow. "You do realize that would be wildly unfair, right? These guys are mostly amateurs. Rouge is a trained professional. Also, I don't think I need to point this out, but… you REALLY need to stop kissing Rouge's butt."

Iggy turned to glare at him as his face turned pink. "I'm not kissing Rouge's butt!"

"Ehh… you're kissing Rouge's butt," Wendy said. She chuckled. "You will not SHUT UP about her! I think the last time you talked my ear off this drastically was when you were going over how Galaxium interacts with other elements in Mushroom Kingdom power-ups."

"Oh God," Larry said. "Don't bring that stuff up. That was Yawn City!"

Iggy huffed. "Well… is it so bad that I appreciate Rouge and her work? Is that really such an unpardonable sin?"

Ludwig frowned. No, not because he necessarily disagreed with Iggy, but rather… well, something about Rouge rubbed him the wrong way. He had done some research on her since Lemmy got admitted into the competition, and… he didn't even really know how to describe it. There was something about her, something in her eyes. She kinda had this vibe to her that there was something more going on than meets-the-eye. Ludwig could be insane for thinking that; he wasn't denying that possibility. But still, Rouge was off. He just couldn't put his finger on how.

"I suppose not, Iggy," Ludwig said, frowning as he did. "But it's still weird."

Iggy huffed. "Hmph. Well, perhaps that is another one of my things that doesn't deserve to be criticized."

"Ooh!" Wendy exclaimed, thankfully preventing a fight from breaking out. "Chester's finished! You know what that means!"

Ludwig perked up. Putting his suspicions about Rouge to the side for a minute, he kept his eyes glued on the TV as the funny lady in question walked up on stage. "Well! That was certainly something! And now, for our next contestant… Lemmy Koopa!"

The Koopalings all laughed and cheered. Oh, this was going to be awesome!