LoudRisque: I'd recommend you watch the episode. It's a damn good one…
JRC1700: I won't show too much of her past, but yeah, we will get glimpses and flashbacks and whatnot.
Guest: I'm more of a Haiku guy, but I'll keep Tabby in mind for something I got going on later.
Luan's eyelids fluttered open, and the young girl gave an almost silent moan as she rose from her bed. She rubbed her right eye with a balled fist and gave a small sniffle before she turned her head to check the clock hung on the wall.
5:16 AM
"It's sad to be awake this early. You could almost say I'm in 'morning,'" Luan chuckled at her own joke, before a frown grew on her face. "But seriously... I don't wake up this early. What woke me…"
Her question was answered when a pained groan filled the air. Luan paused for a moment, sighing with exasperation. "Luna… right, I forgot what it was like to have a roommate."
She glanced over to the other bunk, craning her neck as she watched her older sister hiss sharply and toss and turn in her bed. Luan watched with interest as Luna seemed to dance with her blanket, a pained expression etched on her freckled face. Every once in a while, a soft cry would escape her lips, or a whimper along the lines of "No, I don't want to talk to them," or "It's not my fault, I did my best."
Despite her anger, Luan couldn't help but feel sympathy for the rocker. Luan climbed down the ladder attaching their bunks and hit the ground with a soft thud, before shaking Luna softly. "Luna, wake up."
The punk slapped her hand away, and Luan was suddenly reminded of her anger.
"WAKE UP!" she screamed, pulling the girl so hard that Luna fell on top of her. They both fell to the floor, Luna's bottom on Luan's stomach as the sleeping musician finally awoke.
"What the… who…" her head darted from side to side, until she heard a wheeze coming from beneath her. Looking down at the suffocating comedienne, Luna blushed as she shot upright and listened to Luan gasp and breath for air, her budding breasts rising and falling with every gulp of air. "Luan! I'm so sor- Wait, no I'm not. Why did you scream in my ear?" Luna demanded.
"And good morning to you too," Luan grumbled in a low voice.
"What? You're not going to make a stupid joke?"
"I already did. But fine… why do Italians always drink coffee in the morning?"
"Why?"
"Because they like to espresso themselves," Luan grinned.
Needless to say, the two of them stayed away from each other the rest of that day.
When Lincoln awoke later that morning, he had barely opened his eyes when he noticed a pleasurable feeling in his mind. An enjoyable trace of euphoria, tingling in his brain… which only meant…
"Oh no," he groaned, checking his pants and patting the general area around his crotch. "Dang it… I hate wet dreams."
He scowled as he did his usual procedure; changed into a towel (bad idea, because it was cold) and snuck around with his dirty clothes in his arms, slinking around his sisters. The last thing he needed was Lynn seeing him with his soiled pants and laughing her ass off.
Once the clothes were safely disposed off, the white haired young man quickly rushed to the shower, desperate to make it their before any of his sister's got the last drops of hot water. "Ah, this is the life," Lincoln said to himself as the shower head poured warm water on his body. He slouched with a dazed, relaxed look on his face. As he scrubbed his body and genitals down, he began thinking back to what exactly he dreamed about. In the shock of having blasted off in his pants, he didn't really remember too many details. "That's strange… I know there was a girl there," he muttered, "And she was taller than me... I think she had red head? Or was it brown?"
Lincoln mulled over the question for a few more seconds. The bar of soap slipped out of his hands, and Lincoln completely forgot the question as he dropped to grab it. The rest of the shower was filled with the usual bizarre shower thoughts. Lincoln would post one of these to reddit later.
"Morning, bro," Lynn greeted him as he walked into the kitchen, still pulling his famous orange shirt over his head. "Want some chow?"
"Sure," he said, glancing over to the frying pan Lynn was making eggs in. She plopped a spatula full of eggs onto a plate, and handed it to the young man. "Thanks Lynn."
"No p, Stinkoln. Get your protein, because later today… we're doing lucha libre," the jock gave him a shark-like smile, but Lincoln, to her surprise, simply smirked.
"You're going to have to find another partner, Lynn. Me and Luna are going around town today."
"Aw, dang it," she said with disappointment, before shrugging. "Well, at least you're spending time with her. Something tells me that one of the ladies isn't planning on that sometime soon, and boy does she look sad enough as is."
"Yeah," Lincoln remarked with a small frown. "I just want her to feel welcome here. She may have left us, but all the good memories she gave me… I want to help her make new ones. Help carry her on."
"It's like they say; The service you do for others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth."
Lincoln's eyes widened with surprise at Lynn's eloquence, and Lynn smirked. "Muhammad Ali… more than a pretty face. Now go eat your grub, asshole."
Lincoln took his plate and walked to the table, finding his two older sisters Luna and Leni talking. "Good morning," he chirped to both of them with a sweet smile, and the two older girls returned the greeting. Lincoln glanced around the table, and hummed to himself. "Hey Luna, have you seen Luan?"
The sour look of his sister's face was all he needed as an answer.
"Okay," he muttered quietly.
"So you still up for our day on the town, bro?" Luna asked, and Lincoln nodded with a mouthful of yolk. "Uf coorse," he choked out, as Luna laughed and offered him a glass of milk.
"Oh, are you and Linky going to go to the mall? I totes need some new needles and…"
"Actually, Leni, I was hoping it could just be the two of us," Lincoln admitted, and the blonde deflated slightly.
"Oh… okay."
She brightened up as an idea hit her. "I'll just ask Lisa to time travel me to the mall."
"That's not how it works, Leni," he called after her, but Leni had already begun her way up the stairs. Luna gave her brother a confused look. "Wait… Lis has a time machine now?"
"She actually had a prototype while you were around. She just never told anyone," he shrugged.
"Huh… rad way for reeling in the years…"
"Yuuuuuuuuuuuup," Lincoln added awkwardly.
The brother and sister sat there for a little while, scooping up spoonfuls and forkfuls of eggs. They were joined by a few of their sisters, and Lana enjoyed opening her mouth and screaming "See Food!" Lincoln and Luna chuckled while Lucy growled with disgust. Somehow, despite being the firsts to the table, the snow haired boy and the musician found themselves to be the last left sitting. They gave each other uneasy smiles, not entirely sure why said smiles were so uneasy.
"You done with your food, little bro?" Luna asked.
A loud burp, followed by "That answer your question?"
Luna bit down on her lip to keep from smiling. "Lincoln, table manners," she scolded lightly.
"Sorry, Luna," he said earnestly. And while Luna finished her coffee, Lincoln felt… a deep shame for burping like that in front of Luna. There's no way a girl that sweet and beautiful and…
Wait, what? Lincoln caught himself mid-thought. Beautiful?
He scanned her over with his eyes, trying to see where such an idea would come from. He wasn't… wrong, per se. Even without her usual make-up on, and the added disservice of the physical discomfort she had built up over the past year, Luna was still an incredible attractive woman. Her hair was short yet feminine, her body was smooth and slender, with tall legs and breasts larger than Lincoln remembered. And her perfumey scent filled the room with the smell of lavender…
But to Lincoln, her most beautiful quality was her smile. It was an energetic, playful smile, full of life and possibility. At least, it was before. He wasn't sure that Luna had even smiled that same way, only little smirks and grins. For a moment, there was a burning desire in his heart to be the one that returns her smile…
"Dang it, Linc, what are you even thinking?" Lincoln muttered. His cheeks burned softly as the image of Luna was firmly imprinted in his mind's eye, and he smacked himself aggressively to banish it.
"Uh, you alright little dude?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he quickly answered his confused sister. The young woman simply shrugged, before standing up from her chair. "If you say so… are you ready to head out?"
The middle child nodded his head. "Ready when you are."
Luna's lips thinly curled. "Ready when I am, huh… those are words I haven't heard in a long while.."
"So you still don't know how to drive, huh?" Lori asked Luna as she and Lincoln settled in the back of Vanzilla.
"Nah, dude. My people wouldn't let me. Too many things to do. Besides, I had people to drive me around, no need to learn myself."
"Your time as Lulu literally handicapped you, Luna," Lori said with a sympathetic frown. The rocker hung her head with shame, so Lincoln decided to change the topic.
"Hey, Luna, did we even decide where we wanted to go?"
"Don't think we did. That's weird… though it is kinda nice to have everything scheduled…"
"Wherever you need me to drive you guys, I'll go," Lori said as she started the engine with the turn of a key. "Bowling alley, guitar store, the fucking grocery store for all I care."
"You know, the grocery store actually sounds pretty nice right about now," Luna said as she scratched her chin.
"Seriously? Luna, I was joking… I literally thought you were going ask me to take you to a record store or something."
"I like the grocery store. Nice and quiet… plus, I can help out around the house," Luna said with a beaming smile, which only made Lincoln more worried.
Since when does Luna like quiet?
His eyes glanced to the side and met Lori's. From the look on her face, she was thinking the exact same thing.
"I-I guess we have some things we need. Eggs, milk, juice, peanut butter… are you okay with that, Lincoln?" the blonde woman asked him.
"Sure," he said. "You said we needed peanut butter, and I do like my PB and sauerkraut."
"You still eat those?" Luna asked with a mix of surprise and nausea.
"It's actually really good if you guys let me give you some," Lincoln protested, as Lori rolled her eyes up front and backed slowly out of the driveway. And until Lori found a free spot in the parking lot in front of the store, the two Loud sisters were bombarded with Lincoln's meandering stories about the best ways to enjoy his bizarre sandwiches.
"We're here~" Lori sang to cut her brother's babble. The doors of the monstrous vehicle swung open as the younger siblings left Vanzilla, hopping into the parking lot. Lincoln bumped slightly into Luna, his face pressing against her large chest, which made him profusely blush and apologize.
"Alright, I have to get going now," Lori began explaining, "so just call me when you're done. You guys have money?"
Luna opened her mouth to say 'yes' but Lincoln burst out with "No, I think we might need a little more."
Lori rolled her eyes with a frown, but still reached into her purse to hand the young man a ten dollar bill. "It's not much, but it's literally all I'm willing to spot you."
"Thanks, Lori," he said as he stuffed the bill into his pocket.
Lori raised the window on her side and made her way out of the lot, driving back on to the main road. Luna glared down at Lincoln, and he sheepishly shrugged. "Lynn and Lucy pull that one on Dad all the time. I thought I'd give it a shot."
She grinned lightly, a mischievous glint returning to her eye, and ruffled her brother's colorless hair. "You're a tricky dude, dude."
When the two entered the grocery store, the first thing that Luna paid attention to was the music playing from the speakers above their heads. It was a dull, lifeless melody, picking up with the occasional jingle or pitch change. No words accompanied the music, and the musically inclined girl felt her mind slow and slow just by listening to it.
She smiled, however.
This was exactly what she wanted.
Lincoln dragged a shopping cart to her, complaining under his breath about the shakey wheel that seemed omnipresent in carts. "Do you still remember your way around here, Luna?"
"Don't think so… a lot has changed. Like, wasn't the cereal right there?" Luna asked as she pointed to one of the aisles before them, which now stacked ketchup and mayonnaise. Lincoln chuckled, grabbing her arm and pointing it towards the far right of the store. "Down there," he corrected.
"Thanks," she muttered, and for a quick second her mind seemed hyper-focused on the softness of his hand, and the nice warmth she felt as it wrapped around her arm.
But just for a second, as she snapped out of it with a quick shake of her head. "Well… let's get going, little dude."
"Alright," Lincoln said as he reached into his pocket to pull out a list Lori had scribbled down for them at a red light. "Do you want to get the juice or the…"
"Let's just go clockwise, brah. We can pick off things from Lori's stupid list as we stroll," Luna said. She had to admit, the soulless music above was putting her mind at ease.
Lincoln nodded, and turned the cart to the right, pushing it along as Luna walked besides him. As they walked together, Lincoln began to notice something; a lot of people in the store had their eyes trained on them.
Wait, no… they're all looking at Luna…
Lincoln felt like kicking himself; he should've realized a celebrity like Lulu/Luna/whatever she was called would get some attention, especially in the town of her birth.
He felt like tapping her shoulder to let her know, but the brunette was humming to herself with a calm look on her face. She was clearly unaware of everyone else, or maybe doing a good job of pretending. Lincoln gave an uneasy sigh and decide to just let the crowd stare. As long as no one tried to bother them, it should've been fine…
"L-Luna? Luna Loud?"
A soft feminine voice, filled with confusion, drew Lincoln and Luna's gazes. They both turned their head to see who had called for them.
She was a young woman, about Luna's age, dressed in a white shirt, a blue jacket and a pair of jeans tore at the knees. Her eyes were painted and her eyelashes were long, but it wasn't until Luna's eyes reached a navy colored streak in her blonde hair that her jaw dropped.
"S-Sam?" she said the name in a disbelieving gasp.
Sam smiled slightly, giving a little wave.
"It's, uh, good to see you again."