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“Sour Bill!”
A familiar voice that caused a break in Sour Bill’s thoughts. He lifted his gaze (just a little bit) to see King Candy approaching. The royal looked quite agitated and flustered, waving his hands dramatically. His face was very reddened. His step was bouncy, per usual, but seemed jittery. He stamped his foot on the ground with frustration, the tapping of his heels a sharp cracking sound against the tiled floor of the salmon throne room.
“That little glitch is out trying to race again! The donuts caught her at the car factory, TRYING TO BREAK IN! How dare she try? We have a sign on the door that EXPLICITLY says no glitches!” Candy said frantically, waving his hands around even more aggressively.
Sour Bill looked emotionlessly at Candy. “It’s a good thing you caught her then, sir,” he replied dryly in his slow voice.
“I know! If I hadn’t caught her, who KNOWS what could’ve happened!” Candy laughed nervously, which made his eyes widen at different times in an odd, cartoonish way. “She could’ve made her way into the race roster! Players might have chosen her! She might have stolen my-” He paused mid rant, his expression clearing for a moment before he continued. “She might have stolen a coin from someone else! She doesn’t deserve that, she didn’t earn it!”
He became even more animated the longer he spoke. It became almost vicious in nature, the way he clenched his hands and hardened his voice. Incredibly protective of his game and his subjects, it seemed. Sour Bill took this all in, feeling strangely contented that the king seemed to care so deeply about keeping the people safe.
Sour Bill hummed. “Why don’t you sit down, sir. I’ll get something for you to drink so you’ll calm down, so you can think. You need to be able to think to figure out how to deal with this issue.” He was so calm, or perhaps apathetic, about this situation.
“That would be a delight, Bill. It’s a good thing I have you with me!” Candy replied, suddenly jovial again. He giggled indulgently to himself, shaking his hands cheerily. He patted Sour Bill’s head before spinning around and marching to his absurdly tall throne. “Something sweet, please! Like you!”
…
“Sour Bill?”
Sour Bill seemed to break the surface of water as a new, unfamiliar voice spoke to him. He shook his head and lifted his gaze (only a little bit) to Vanellope Von Schweets. Her teal hoodie and dark hair contrasted oddly with the pink throne room. Everything about her did, really.
He had been daydreaming of King Candy. This fact made him feel a little emptier than usual. All he had left of the jolly ruler was memories. After being used to something for fifteen years, he didn’t like the new change. It was disgruntling.
Vanellope looked concerned. Her face was warm and open. She was quite still, which seemed odd to Sour Bill. For a princess, she was very calm. Especially compared to how animated King Candy could be. Sour Bill had kind of expected Vanellope to be just as prone to flair and flurry as the previous ruler. To not have that made him feel like he was missing something.
“Is something the matter? You look like you’ve been staring off into space for a while!” The little girl’s voice cut through his thoughts again.
Sour Bill blinked in confusion. “You’re different than King Candy is,” he said slowly.
Vanellope recoiled a little. “Isn’t that a good thing! Am I nicer? Sweeter? I think I am!” She smiled, which scrunched her cheeks up under her eyes. Her eyes that were hazel and not brown. Her smile that had a tooth gap.
Sour Bill thought for a moment. “He was nice to me.”
Vanellope waved her hands and blew a raspberry. She leaned away from the green sourball, no longer too welcoming. “Well, lucky you then! He wasn’t nice to me.”
Sour Bill said nothing more. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to convince anyone that King Candy could be a nice person. Luckily for both him and Vanellope, they didn’t say anything about it again. They would have to get through their respective struggles on their own.