Gifts given graciously Chapter 4: Flagg's gift, a loud house fanfic

Christmas gift for Flagg. I only hope this meets his standards, as this isn't the type of thing I usually write. Though, a little challenge never hurts... Unless you fail the challenge to juggle thirty chainsaws.

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Oh this was balderdash! Pardon her language… Not that anyone could hear her when she wasn't speaking out loud, but why did Lily and her beloved have to sleep in different beds? She huffed in annoyance, her hands on her hips as she looked across the provided room. If she'd had it her way, she and her lovely Lincoln would be sleeping together on one wide bed. She wasn't the one to design the ship however, and wasn't that a positively amusing thought. A woman designing a boat! Oh, it left her in a fit. Giggles shook her frame.

Granted, her older sister might have been able to do it. An educated girl. The question was if anyone would let her.

Hmm, still, she hadn't designed the boat. Maybe she could push the beds together? Ah! But not right now. She'd a date to keep with her beloved, who was undoubtedly waiting outside the door like the perfect gentleman she'd fallen in love with. She slipped into her dress for the evening. Doing up everything she could before reaching the snag. The corset would only tighten from the back, and as much as she might wish it, her hands simply couldn't reach.

"Darling!" She sang through the closed door, giving it a proper knock to grab his attention. "Could you come in and help a flower out with the back of her dress?"

Stepping back from the portal as her beloved slipped in. Her gaze sweeping fondly over his slightly ruffled visage. Well off he might have been, he always seemed a little uncomfortable in the presence of riches and finery. Ever since they were children. He'd learned to be more confident as he grew older, but she didn't think he'd ever be more comfortable cavorting at parties than he would be hiking in the woods. Still, he cleaned up well, and despite all that, he was an excellent dancer.

"I don't see how you can stand this." He closed the door in his wake, and moved to help her with her dress. "It doesn't look very comfortable."

"Hmm," She grunted quietly when he tightened up the straps. She could barely breath, though she'd been told that the secret was to take quick, shallow, breaths. "Well you're right about that, but it's not meant to be comfortable. You don't like wearing your suits, but you still do." She pointed out, breathing out sharply through her nose as another strap was tightened to match the first. "These are for special occasions. To look good for the rabble, and show off to the bee."

"I don't believe that our situations are quite the same." He did up another strap, causing her to grunt once more. "Are you okay?"

Awww, he was so precious when he was concerned for her. Some husbands kept their wives just to show off. Not her Lincoln though. It warmed her heart to know he cared so much. A benefit of having been child hood friends, she supposed. Though, in this situation it might be warranted. She felt as though her ribs were being crushed into her lungs.

"It might be that the last strap was just a pinch too much." She managed to breath out, gasping in relief when he loosened it again. Not too much though. It was still quite tight. A balance had to be struck between looking good and feeling good. She'd most likely hit that balance now. "Thank you Darling." She turned around and pressed her lips lightly against his.

She pulled away before the kiss could go on too long. Though they weren't in the company of others, they were about to be, and it wouldn't due to lose themselves and their sense of discretion. Loose lips sunk ships after all… Ooh… That didn't feel good to say, given their location. She didn't consider herself a superstitious girl, but one could never be too careful.

Though she was also fairly certain she'd not used the phrase correctly. She'd once heard her older sister use it, but Lisa was an educated woman. Lily was not.

Still, she looped her arm through Lincoln's and lead him from their room, that brought her back to the beds. Most likely as a consequence of growing up with four elder siblings, and being childhood friends with Lincoln who had five older sisters of his own, she'd never seen the point in sleeping in separate beds. Decency in public was all well and good, but it all felt a bit silly. The fad among the wealthy to pretend that they'd never partake of the flesh of another. Most of them had children. Did they want to pretend they'd all been immaculate conceptions? Besides, it felt a bit frigid to forbid a couple from simply sleeping together.

The sound of orchestral music echoed off the walls and down the halls from the hustle and bustle of the glass ceilinged ball room. Lily led her Darling up the curving stairs, and into the fray. The lights and the sounds hitting them both like a wave.

Maybe they could push the beds together?

"Oh, Lily, Lincoln, there you are!" A voice, joined by a body, pulled them further into the boodle, and Lily quickly discarded her train of thought for later consideration.

Pulled along by the arm, she found herself swept into a conversation with her fellow ladies. Meaningless, but dreadfully amusing, chatter about the latest gossip, the newest news.

"Oh, did you hear the latest about Damien Summers?"

"Do tell."

"Apparently he was caught with the maid. Out of wedlock, and not with his fiancé besides."

"The Lord and Lady must have had conniptions!"

Positively droll, though it was, Lily still found herself drawn away. At some point during the night she'd been separated from her beloved, and she intended the find him. This was a dance after all, and she intended to make the most of it. There was no point otherwise. Why put on the dress and come up here if she didn't get to live a little. She could converse with the ladies any time. First though, she slipped through the crowd to the refreshment table. A stiff drink never hurt anybody.

Drink in hand the search was on. though not particularly long. Lincoln wasn't hard to find. His blond, almost white, hair, in a sea of dark. Even had he not that identifying characteristic he'd not be difficult to find. Poor deer had never been comfortable mingling among the wealthy. She'd almost think he was new money, if she'd not known him her entire life. Lincoln had always been more comfortable in the rough and tumble wilderness. Camping, horseback riding, hiking and such.

Tipping back the last of her drink, she felt the pleasant lightness of the bubbly tip her off her feet. Lifting her as though a balloon were attempting to drag her skyward. She tittered, finding the sensation most agreeable. Though she'd be careful not to have another. One was enough to spice up the party. Too many and she'd send her stomach in revolt.

She glanced over the boodle for her Darlings distinctive crown and set through the masses when she found him.

Then she was off her feet. Funny, she hadn't thought she was corned enough to begin losing her sense of balance. Was the world around her always so shaky? Was it just her?

"Lily!" Lincoln was in front of her. She'd been distracted. "Are you alright?"

Maybe it wasn't just her. A couple people around her had fallen down as well.

"W-what was that?" She steadied herself against his solid frame.

"I don't know." Lincoln looked serious. A silence had fallen on the crowd. Everyone looking at everyone else in hushed askance. "Let's go ask someone." He took her hand, drawing her along behind him as he pushed his way towards the stairs to the top deck.

A crackle and squawk sounded from a few of the speakers in the room, stoping him and grabbing everyone else's attention. Static buzzing for a second or two, before someone starting speaking. "Attention passengers, we've run into some difficulties. Nothing to worry about, but we'd ask that you calmly make your way to the deck." Another squawk, and the speaker cut off, only to be replaced by the curious murmuring of an anxious and puzzled crowd.

Lily straightened herself, walking in step with Lincoln, as he started forward again. Making their way up the steps with a portion of the rest of the people in the room. Though some stayed behind. She could overheard snippets of chatter.

"They said there was nothing to worry about." One particularly liquored madam giggled, a flush to her face and a horn of wine in her hand. "I'm sure everything's fine."

Though they'd said that there was nothing to worry about, Lily couldn't help think those who stayed behind a bit daft. As the ship lurched, and she stumbled forward a bit, her worry and certainty only grew.

The sight that met them when the came out onto the deck sent her heart reeling up to her throat. Beating painfully and making it hard to swallow, even as her mouth dried at the sight of water flooding onto the lower decks.

Before she had the opportunity to really focus on the sight, she found herself being directed by some sailors garbed in life vests. Some holding floatation devices. Lily forced herself to calm down. Everything was fine. They were at the front of the crowd, and those behind them hadn't begun to panic yet. This was good, and no doubt the sailors intention when telling them there wasn't anything to worry about. As long as she and Lincoln could find their way onto a lifeboat before the rush started they'd be fine.

Then a sailor attempted to separate her from her beloved, and she wasn't fine anymore.

"Women and children first." They said.

But Lily understood what they really meant. They were leaving the men on the ship to die.

A hand on her back joined the hand on her arm, attempting to separate her from Lincoln, and she wrenched away. Turning around to find the hand on her back had belonged to Lincoln himself.

"Go on." He looked calm, but she could see past the facade. Beneath it he was grimly serious and deathly afraid. "I'm sure they have enough life boats for everyone. I'll join up with you later, on shore."

"I'm not leaving you."

"Lily." He cupped her cheek in one hand. "I'll be fine. We're just going to be in different life boats."

"I'm not blind Lincoln. I may not be educated like my sister, but I can see what's going on here." She stared into his eyes deeply. "They don't expect you to live through this."

Closing his eyes, he sighed heavily. "That's even more reason for you to go."

"I Won't." She stood firm.

"It doesn't make sense for both of us to die Lily!" He pulled her into a hug. "One of us has to go home and tell our families what happened."

"There are others for that."

"You're going to die if you stay with me!" He pleaded with her a final time.

"I know."

He gave a deep shuttering sigh. "Fine." Squeezing her even tighter. "Then we'll have to find a life jacket, and some floatation devices."

He pulled her to a nearby sailor, who was himself just barely holding it together. Asking for directions to where they stored such necessities. To get a hold of one, before it was too late. They grabbed a pair of each for both of them, and were met with a decision. Step off into the waters now, and fight the freezing temperatures for longer, or wait until the ship had sunk more into the water. By then, people would have realized what was happening. They would panic. Some might try to steal their means of salvation.

Taking a deep breath, they made their way down to the lower decks. They'd wait, but only until people started to panic, and then they'd push off and take their chances with the chilling depths.

Lily held her beloved close to her. Drinking in his warm and steady presence, even as the foaming water grew ever closer to them. Then the screams started, and it was time to go.

A shock ran through her body on contact with the water. Chilling her to her bones in an instant. She heard Lincoln stifle a groan at her side, and she pulled him closer. Wading into the brine, and pushing away from the ship. The icy drink set her to shivering. Her breath fogged thick when she breathed out and she closed her eyes. Trusting her beloved to guide her. Her dress soaked through, felt as though it were attempting the drag her to her grave. But she kept her eyes closed. She couldn't see anything, and she didn't want to see anything. She heard the screams, and the fighting. She heard the creaking and the groaning of the ship. She heard children crying and mothers screaming. She heard a crash. Through it all, she kept her eyes closed. She could pretend that way. Pretend that this wasn't happening. Pretend that this was all a bad dream. Pretend that they were still on the ship. they'd pushed the beds together, and Lincoln was here to guide her through her nightmares. The water wasn't there. The cold didn't exist. Everything was fine. Even as her body numbed, and her mind fogged over, she held tightly to her beloved. And just before everything went dark, she felt him move. Pulling her through the water. And she thought she was a flash of light through her eyelids. But she didn't open them. They were too heavy.

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I figured it would be funny to include an alternate, less tragic, ending. You can find it just below this note. I'll take it out if Flagg doesn't like it though.

Alternate ending: