Future | Koopalings

15 | Back on Our Feet

"I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me, little man," My lips curled into a frown.

"I don't. That's right. But I'm over here because I want to," I shot him a concerned look as I hopped off. "Let me know,"

I headed over to the table. I grabbed a plastic tray of food because we all had the same thing. I choked my food down hungrily.

Once I finished, I shrugged on a pair of slides I found at the door. They legitimately could be anyones. I went out into the hallway. The door shut behind me but reopened quickly.

The door shut as I turned behind me.

"Morton?" I waited for him to catch up to me.

"Where you going?" He asked. "Coffee," I started. "My mouth's dry," I said. "It's free, right?" He asked. "Duh, I couldn't get any if it wasn't," I said. He frowned, pulling me close to him as we got into the elevator.

I was one of the only 4 that didn't keep a safe. I paid the price for that. Literally.

$1,500 down the drain. Whoop-Dee-Doo!

"Walk across the street with me," He said as the elevator stopped. I walked through the lobby and over to the coffee machine. "Sure, where do you need to go?"

"I know it isn't on everyone's mind, but papa needs a new phone," he pointed to himself.

I shrugged, taking my coffee and walking with him. He stopped at the front door, pointing at some sunglasses. "These would look good on you," he smiled. "Yeah," I returned it, walking out of the sliding glass door. I marveled at the incredible skyscrapers and how clean this place was compared to America. I couldn't find a single lick of litter even if I tried.

Morton came out with a bag in one hand, coffee in the other, cheesing dramatically.

He handed me the bag, it had an expensive branding melded onto it. "Morton!" I hissed. He laughed in response. "Put them on!" He said. I pulled out the glasses and put them on my head because it wasn't too bright out.

"What do you think of dad's new car?" I asked as we crossed the street. We traversed down the sidewalk as excited onlookers gathered to take pictures. With these sunglasses on and a bag around my wrist with the coffee in my hand, I felt like a supermodel.

We turned into a store, you guessed it; a phone store. Common US brands like Apple and Samsung lined the aisles, but companies I never heard of were on display as well. Morton walked over to the Samsung display and grabbed an S20 Ultra.

"Dude!" I whisper-yelled, whacking him in his chest. "What?" He seemed genuinely confused. I waved my hand in dismissal. I walked with him to check out and he suddenly stopped.

"Where's your phone?" He asked me. "Where our house used to be," I deadpanned.

He turned to me and motioned for me to pick one. I instantly disagreed. We whisper battled for a few minutes before he quite literally shoved me in the direction of the phones.

I grabbed a 13 Pro Max from under the display and he nodded in satisfaction.

We walked up to checkout. He grabbed himself a case and motioned for me to get one. He snagged a charger from the Apple accessories under the Apple cases as I grabbed a MagSafe.

"How you are guys doing today?" The cashier asked. It was a grey fox. He smiled at us as he rang up the items. 'Timby' was printed across his nametag. It was colorful and beautifully customized.

Morton held up a finger at me and came back with two small white boxes. "You like music?" He asked. I squinted my eyes at the bo-

Oh hell no.