Feeling Lucky

A Loud House Fanfiction by Professor Pasta

Prompt One: Cherry

Lori Loud disliked a lot of things: her siblings coming into her room uninvited, Leni borrowing her clothes without asking, being reminded of her awkward stage, the way Clyde constantly got nosebleeds around her… the list went on and on.

At the moment though, they all paled in comparison to the burning hatred she presently felt towards her history teacher.

The eldest Loud daughter sat on the living room couch with laptop on her thighs, a sour frown on her face. She tapped away at the keys and ran her finger along the touch-pad, stopped for several seconds as her eyes scanned the screen, then started the process again. With each pause her frown grew deeper, her brow furrowed tighter, and her teeth ground together. After several minutes of this, a low growl bubbled up from her throat, turning into a scream of frustration as she threw her arms up and slammed her palms down on the couch cushions.

"Ugh, this is literally the worst!" Lori groaned, slumping back in her seat. "It's Friday night, for crying out loud. I could be at a movie with the girls or shopping at the mall or video-chatting with my boo-boo-bear, but nooooo! I get do research on the lamest President ever! Thanks a lot Mr. Sunderland, you stuck-up old-"

"Lori?"

"Gah!"

Lori jumped with a yelp, her arms flailing as she grabbed her laptop before it could slide off of her legs. She frantically whipped her head around, stopping when her gaze settled on a familiar figure in black.

"Oh Lucy, it's just you," Lori said, breathing rapidly. She put a hand to her breast, feeling her heart slam against her rib-cage. "Man, we've gotta put a bell on you or something."

If the eight-year-old was insulted by such a statement, she didn't let it show. Lucy simply stared at Lori with her hands clasped behind her back, her expression unreadable per the norm.

"I could hear you yelling from my room," Lucy said, glancing at Lori's laptop to see a web page opened to an article of some sort. "Is everything okay?"

Lori sighed, putting an elbow on her thigh and rested her chin in her palm. "Eh, it's just this stupid homework assignment. I have until Monday to write a five-page report on a President. I have to summarize his life, his years in office, and discuss the long-term effects of his policies."

Lucy tilted her head ever-so-slightly. "That doesn't sound so hard."

"Yeah, except my stupid teacher decided to assign us each a President instead of letting us pick our own." Lori rolled her eyes. "Said he didn't want the whole class to pick an 'easy' President like Washington or Lincoln. Know who I got? Freaking William Henry Harrison."

Lori scowled and scrolled to the top of the article, displaying a picture of an old man with short gray hair. "Apparently this guy was elected in 1840, gave his inauguration speech in a snowstorm, caught pneumonia and died in a month. That's literally it! How the heck am I supposed to stretch that over five pages?"

Lucy gave a small shrug. "Well, you could always talk about what happened after he died."

Lori arched an eyebrow. "Beg pardon?"

"While it's true Harrison didn't live long enough to do any governing, he was the first President to die in office. It raised the question of whether the Vice President serves out the President's remaining term, or is just a placeholder while the country holds a special election. It sparked a huge debate on the line of succession, and John Tyler being inaugurated set the precedent for what happens when President dies."

Lori's eyes slowly widened throughout Lucy's speech, glancing back and forth between her and the laptop.

"That's… not a bad idea, actually," she finally said. "How did you know all of that?"

Lucy shrugged again. "What can I say? I like learning what happened when famous historical figures died, not to mention how they died." A small smile graced her features. "Wanna hear about how Catherine the Great allegedly died?"

"Uh no thanks," Lori said, opening up a blank document and beginning to type away. "Thanks for advice though. I owe you one, Lucy."

"Funny you should say that..."

Lori paused, looking up with a curious expression. Lucy was looking away, the fainest hint of a blush splashed across her pale cheeks.

"I… need your help with something," she finally said. "Remember how you promised to drive me and Rocky to the park tomorrow?"

"Of course! I wouldn't forget something like that." Lori smirked and leaned towards her. "Does my spooky little sister need some romantic advice?"

Lucy's blushed deepened. "No no, it's just… Well, I had this idea that I could bake something, but I'm not allowed to use the oven. Could you maybe-"

Lucy yelped as Lori tossed her laptop to the side and enveloped Lucy in a big hug, lifting her in the air with a squeal of joy.

"Why didn't you say so?!" Lori asked as she marched through the dining room and towards the kitchen with an enormous grin on her face and a flustered Lucy in her arms. "Baking something sweet for your sweetie? That is literally the cutest thing ever!"

"I-I didn't mean right this second," Lucy stammered, looking over Lori's shoulder towards the living room. "Don't you have a report or something?"

"Screw William Henry Harrison! He's been dead for two-hundred years, he's not going anywhere!"

They reached the kitchen and Lori plopped Lucy down in a chair before throwing the fridge open.

"So what are we baking?" She asked as she gathered milk, eggs, butter and the like. "Cookies? Cupcakes? Talk to me, Lucy!"

Lucy drummed her fingers on the table, still a little shocked at Lori's eagerness. "Well… you're probably gonna think this is silly..."

It was a perfect spring afternoon in Royal Woods. The sun shone brightly in a cloudless blue sky, the heat offset by a pleasantly cool breeze. At a location known to residents as Crowley Park, children of all ages laughed and shrieked joyfully as they scampered and climbed on the expansive plastic playground, their parents and guardians supervising from the surrounding benches.

A fair distance away, Lucy sat at a picnic table with her crush and best friend, Rocky Spokes, an open cooler on the table in front of them. The red-haired eight-year-old held a curiously-shaped pastry in his hand, a small bite missing with red filling leaking out.

"So, what do you think?" Lucy asked, relying on years of practicing her neutral expression to keep her worry from showing. "Do you like it?"

Rocky finished chewing, swallowed… and a big smile spread across his freckled face.

"It's delicious!" He said, taking another big bite.

Lucy smiled, feeling her heart flutter in her chest. "Really?"

"It's probably the best danish I've ever had," Rocky said after swallowing. He paused and shrugged. "Not that I've had a lot of danishes, but it's still really good."

"Thanks Rocky," Lucy said as she reached into the cooler, pulling out a treat for herself. "I'm glad you like it."

Rocky looked down at Lucy's whole danish. It was molded into a roughly human shape and drizzled with frosting, an ":O" of terror carved into the frosting on its tiny head. "Where'd you get the idea to shape them like people?"

"Nowhere in particular," Lucy admitted. "The other day I saw my sister Lana eating a doughnut with cherry filling. She was being super messy, I thought the filling looked kind of like blood, and well..."

Lucy smiled and bit the "head" off her danish person, cherry filling blood leaking out of the ragged stump of its neck. Rocky laughed and bit the legs off his own treat, filling dripping down his chin and onto his shirt.

"You did a great job, Lucy," Rocky said.

"Well, I had a little help," Lucy admitted.

Nearby, Lori leaned against a tree, phone in her hand as she snapped picture after picture of Lucy and Rocky as they smiled and laughed.

"Hmm… I'm thinking a summer wedding," Lori mused with a smile. "Lucy will probably insist on a black gown… Maybe purple for the bridesmaids? Or a dark blue…"

Author's Note: I've said it before and I'll say it again: there aren't nearly enough Lucy/Rocky fics. And you know how the old saying goes: if you want something done right, pay someone to do it for you. But I'm flat broke, so I guess I'll do it myself.

I was inspired start this by other shipping anthologies like Weavillian's "Alphabet Soup" and the gamemann's "Me and My Spooky." My purpose in starting this is two-fold; to get more Lucy/Rocky stories up (and hopefully inspiring others to write their own) and get myself back into the habit of writing regularly. Each week I'll try to post a short little Lucy/Rocky oneshot based on a single-word prompt. Some of them will be original flavor like this week's chapter, others will be AU, some might evolve into multi-chapter stories… It all depends on where my muse takes me. I hope you enjoyed this week's installment, and I hope to see you again next week.

Until next time, this is Professor Pasta signing off.

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