Lori slowly opened the converted closet's door, careful to not make a sound with the usually creaky floor and doors of the house. She sighed silently, shaking her head as she saw Lincoln in his underwear, holding a flashlight as he read a comic book in the dark.
"Don't you have school tomorrow, twerp?" The boy yelped as she spoke, too engrossed by his comic book to notice his sister's sudden appearance.
Lincoln held up his comic and pointed the flashlight at it, as if trying to convince her of the importance of the book. "B-but Lori-" He stuttered, holding the comic close to his chest.
Lori crossed her arms and leaned on the doorway, staring at her little brother. "No buts, Lincoln. You know I literally won't wait for you if you wake up late for school." She pointed out sternly, glaring at him. Her gaze softened, however, as she saw the crestfallen expression on Lincoln's face, and she sighed again, uncrossing her arms. "You can finish your comic tomorrow, you know?"
Lincoln sighed, defeated. "Yeah, yeah..." He said in the grumpiest tone he could muster as he put the comic book and the flashlight on the dresser, a resigned expression etched on his face. He sighed again, exaggeratedly, as he pulled up the covers and got ready for bed.
Lori rolled her eyes at her brother's childishness, and she turned back to the corridor as she shut the door behind her. She stopped before closing it completely however, and peeked into the room again. "Goodnight, Linky." She said, softly.
She stood there for a bit, waiting for Lincoln to reply. As he didn't seem to respond, Lori looked down, disappointed, before closing the door again. She stopped, though, as she heard Lincoln sigh again. "Goodnight, Lori." He said, his voice tired from staying up so late past his bedtime. Lori smiled softly as she heard that, and she slowly shut the door behind her, careful not to make a sound.
She waited outside his room for a minute, and as she didn't notice any light coming from under the door, Lori assumed that Lincoln had gone to bed for real this time. She then quietly walked down the silent corridor, checking on each one of her siblings' rooms, just like she did every night (a feat made easier by the fact that hers was the only room with a lock). As everyone seemed to be sleeping soundly, Lori finally went into her own room, ready to go to bed herself.
She chuckled quietly, a hand covering her mouth, as she noticed Leni in deep sleep, snoring softly with an arm hanging outside the bed and with her sleeping mask askew on her face, leaving a closed eye exposed. Lori carefully brought Leni's arm back up to the bed and straightened her eye mask before flopping into her own bed, exhausted.
Lori got under her covers and stared at the ceiling for a minute or two, before deciding to pick up her phone from her nightstand. She smiled tiredly as she read the last text she had received: Three full lines of different heart emojis from Bobby, the last one in a sequence of texts filled with sappy goodnight messages that Bobby knew she loved.
Lori reread the texts once more, smiling the whole time, before she yawned and checked the time. "11:57 p.m..." She muttered, voice heavy with sleepiness. Lori was tired. She wasn't just physically tired, but exhausted in every way. With her studies, siblings, long distance relationship, part time job, and constant worrying about her future career, it seemed as if Lori could never get a moment's rest, and it showed. She was constantly stressed, and it was truly a miracle that she didn't have white hair and bags under her eyes like Lincoln by now.
Lori took a deep breath before letting out a tired sigh. She was tired, yes. Stressed too. But, as she listened to her younger sister sleep peacefully, as she thought about all her siblings sleeping safe and sound, as she stared at the hearts her lover had sent her, Lori decided that she wouldn't trade it for the world and, with that, she smiled softly before finally letting herself fall asleep.
What was supposed to be a short, at least ten sentences long example writing piece for a RP group, became a short, twelve paragraphs long ficlet. Since I was pretty satisfied with how this turned out, I decided to just post this here. So here, have a little story about the best sister! (jk, there's no best sister. They are all great and I can't choose a favorite.)