It was a typical lazy Sunday afternoon for the Loud House. Having finished their homework for the weekend, the Loud siblings had holed themselves up in their respective rooms, engaging in their favorite pastimes. For Lincoln, it was curling up with a brand new, mint condition comic book… in, of course, nothing but his briefs. Though he usually did it in the privacy of his room, he never thought twice about doing it in plain sight of his sisters.

He was nose-deep in the latest issue of Ace Savvy, when he heard a knock on the door.

Of course, he thought, stifling a groan. He could rarely get through a single issue without one of his sisters bugging him. "Come in," he said with a sigh.

The door opened, and in popped his perky older sister Luan.

"How's it going, Lincoln?" she asked. "Reading a new comic book?"

"Yep," said Lincoln, not even bothering to take his eyes off the page.

"Though I guess in your case, we could call it a comic strip," she said, following up her remark with a cheerful cackle and an obligatory, "Get it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Lincoln muttered, rolling his eyes. "Luan, is there something you want from me?"

"There is, actually. I was wondering if I could check out one of your comics."

Lincoln's face lit up. "R-really?" he asked, barely able to contain his excitement.

"Sure! You always seem to find them so engrossing, and I want to see what all the hubbub's about."

"All right!"

Lincoln leaned over, grabbed a comic book off the top of his nightstand and gingerly handed it to his sister, beaming all the while.

"This is an absolute classic; Muscle Fish #1. Grab a seat and make yourself comfy!"

"Can do!" Luan chirped, setting the comic down on Lincoln's bed. "Just gimme a moment."

Before Lincoln even had time to wonder what she meant by that, she peeled off her shirt and tossed it to the side, and then undid her skirt and let it fall to her ankles. She then grabbed the comic, swiveled around (giving Lincoln a brief view of her panty-clad rear) and let herself fall backward onto his bed, kicking off her shoes as she landed.

By the time she was done, Lincoln's smile had completely faded, replaced by an apprehensive frown. "Um…Luan? What was that?"

"I'm getting comfortable, silly!" said Luan, adjusting her bra. "Don't you always say that this is the best way to read comics?"

"Well, yeah…" Lincoln began. He knew there had to be a "but"; he just couldn't think of what it was.

For the next half hour, the two of them read their comics side by side. The activity was sporadically interrupted by the occasional question from Luan (usually something along the lines of, "Who's that guy?" or, "What are Muscle Fish's powers, exactly?"), or some awkward squirming from Lincoln, who found it difficult to hide his mounting discomfort. By the time Luan was only a quarter done with the issue, Lincoln had reached his breaking point.

"Okay, I'll say it. This is too weird."

Luan looked up from the comic. "What is?" she asked oh-so-innocently.

"Luan, you just stripped down to your underwear in front of me!"

"So? You do it all the time in front of me."

"Well, yeah, but that's just when I get a new comic book."

"And I'm reading a comic right now. So what's the problem, again?"

"W-well, uh…" Lincoln stammered. He instinctively tried to tug at his collar, only to remember that he wasn't wearing one. He wanted to say it was "different for boys," but that was just a cop-out and they both knew it. Plus, he didn't want to come off as sexist.

Suddenly, a wry grin started to spread across Luan's face. "Oh, don't bother answering that," she said. "I think I've already figured it out."

Lincoln gulped. "W-what do you mean?"

Luan leaned towards Lincoln and batted her eyes. "You're bluuuuuushing, Lincoln…"

Lincoln reflexively touched his cheeks, to find that they were, indeed, red hot. He grabbed his comforter, threw it over his body and scooted to the other side of the bed.

"Aw, what's the matter?" Luan cooed. "Is Linky Winky a little shy?"

She started creeping towards her brother on her hands and knees. "Is he embarrassed 'cause he thinks his big sister's cuuuute?"

Lincoln recoiled in horror. "Luan, g-GROSS!" he cried, provoking a giggle from his wily sister.

"Oh, relax," Luan said, giving Lincoln a playful shove. "I'm just messing with you."

"Well, it's not funny."

"Sure it is!" exclaimed Luan. "You just don't get the joke yet!"

Lincoln crossed his arms and shot Luan a half-lidded glare. "Joke, huh? Mind explaining it to me?"

Luan lost her smile. "Lincoln, one of the golden rules of comedy is that you never explain a joke after you tell it. If you have to explain the joke, there is no joke."

Lincoln broke away from Luan's gaze, letting his eyes drop towards the floor. "Oh…" he muttered, embarrassed that he had committed such a faux pas.

"Buuuuuut," Luan added, hopping off the bed, "there is something I want you to take away from this, so I'll make an exception just this once."

Luan stood up straight and started pacing around the room, assuming the demeanor of a college professor.

"Comedy is a powerful tool, Lincoln. It's more than just silly puns and knock-knock jokes. It's about holding a mirror up to the audience and showing them exactly how ridiculous they look. And, well, when you're forced to look into that mirror, sometimes you're not all that pleased with what you see."

Lincoln scratched the back of his head as he mulled over Luan's words. "So the whole reason you pulled this stunt was to make me…"

He looked down at his half-naked body, feeling a twinge of guilt. "…look at myself?"

"Exactly!" said Luan, taking on an excited grin. "It's called flipping the script. I wanted you to realize how goofy you look when you strip down to your undies in front of all your sisters."

"Well, I sure did," said Lincoln, chuckling a little in spite of himself.

"See? Now you get it!"

"Yeah, I guess I do," Lincoln said with another chuckle. "Sorry, by the way."

Luan raised an eyebrow at him. "For what?"

"For, you know, freaking you out with my…um…nakedness… and stuff."

"Don't be!" said Luan, as she picked her skirt up off the floor and refastened it around her waist. "You just needed a bit of a wake-up call, that's all. Truth be told, I never minded it much, personally."

She slipped into her shirt and pulled it tight over her tummy. "And listen, I'm not telling you not to read comics in your underwear ever again. Just, you know, maybe wait until you get to your room first?"

Lincoln sighed. "Yeah, that's fair. From now on, I'll, uh, try to be more modest."

"Glad we could work something out," Luan said, turning towards the door.

"Luan, wait!" Lincoln called.

Luan looked back. "Hmm?"

Lincoln pointed to the copy of Muscle Fish #1 at the other side of the bed, which was still open at page 19. "Don't you want to finish the comic?"

Luan giggled, reached over and gave Lincoln's hair a good tousling. "Oh, all right. For you."

With that, she belly flopped onto the bed, snatched up the comic, and got back to reading. Lincoln smiled and started flipping through his Ace Savvy issue, trying to pick up where he left off, only to be interrupted with a sudden tap on the shoulder.

"Hey, Lincoln? How can Muscle Fish breathe in space?"