Chapter Ten
An uncomfortable topic among the Loud family was the presence of Leni. Though she was eighteen and was old enough to go to college, her bad grades made it impossible. That wouldn't be the end of it, as there were plenty of colleges that accepted students with bad grades, but those were out situated some distance away from Royal Woods and the idea of being away from family was too much for the soft-hearted youth. So, instead of seeking higher education, and because Rita was worried about Leni's likelihood of holding down a job, Leni had ended up as a stay at home slacker. She didn't intend to live her life this way, but that's simply how things had turned out.
Lynn Loud Sr, wasn't worried. He told Rita that Leni would always be safest at home and that would always be what was most important. This did a lot to reassure Rita, Leni had always had a habit of miscommunication followed by disappearing for hours on end. Yet, it didn't change that fact that Leni was now constantly at home and that put some strain on the family.
Leni wasn't someone that could be left on her own, previously Lori had always looked after her. But with Lori gone, the responsibility rotated amongst the older Loud children. Today it had ended up being Lincoln's turn to look after Leni. "Are you hungry, Lincy?" She asked, as the two sat on the couch watching a cooking show.
"I wasn't until you asked." Lincoln replied, not taking his eyes off of the T.V.
"So, does that mean you are hungry?" The blonde asked and Lincoln could only sigh in response.
"Come on, let's go get something to eat." Lincoln said, taking Leni by the hand.
In the kitchen, Lincoln watched Leni as she dug through all of the cupboards. "Do you even know what you want?" Lincoln asked as a pile of food grew upon the counter.
"No, so I thought I'd just take everything out first." Leni answered back as she threw ice cream and herbs on the counter.
"Leni, most of what you're pulling out isn't even edible by itself." Lincoln told her and started sorting through the piles of food.
"Let me sort this out." He then added.
"No, I totes got this. Just leave it to me." Leni told Lincoln, making a mess as she also started to move food around.
"Leni, you're making things worse." Lincoln cried out in frustration.
"Just let me do this!" Leni snapped. Surprising both of them. Leni breathed harshly, shaking as she tensed up. After taking a moment to ponder, Lincoln asked.
"What is this really about?" Leni's reply wasn't immediate and, when it came, it was soft and fragile.
"I don't know." It was clear that Leni was confused and very emotionally frustrated. No one could rightly ignore her in such a state. So, Lincoln wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight. The blonde inhaled sharply, but soon reciprocated the hug. Nearly crushing Lincoln's bones in the process.
"How should I know?" Was Lynn's answer, when Lincoln asked if she had any ideas about Leni. When night came, as usual, Lynn had crept into Lincoln's room and they discussed the recent events. "Anyway, forget Leni for now. I want to know more about Luna and Luan." Lynn added, acting as if she was not the least bit invested in Leni's emotional turmoil. "Luna and Luan are fine, Leni isn't." Lincoln answered back, which made Lynn clench her fists tightly.
"Well, what do you expect me to do about it? I tend not to understand Leni at the best of times and Lori was always the one who looked after Leni." Lynn forced through gritted teeth. "Well, Lori's not here now. So, it's up to us." Lincoln hissed in response. Lynn folded her arms and closed her eyes.
"Fine." Lynn finally said. "You're not the only one who hates the idea of Leni being upset. I just don't know what we can do to make her happy."
"We just have to be there for her." Lincoln replied.
The next day, Lincoln and Lynn stood outside Leni's door while they waited for her. "This is taking forever." Lynn grumbled, tapping her foot against the floor in frustration.
"You should have been there for when we were in the clothing store. That! Took forever." Came Lincoln's response as he leaned against the wall adjacent to the bedroom door. "I know we haven't always seen eye to eye, especially of late; but, you have to admit, I've never bothered you when it comes to fashion."
"No, you just steal my jeans." Was Lincoln's reply to Lynn's snark, but it didn't have the bite necessary to shut her up.
"Jeans are your every-pants, pants for every situation. Plus, I like it when they get all squidgy after they get wet.
"Fine." Lincoln replied, starting to feel himself give in to Lynn. But, as a final act of defience, he asked. "But, do you have to steal mine? Go and buy your own."
"I don't need to, when I've already got yours." Came Lynn's cheeky jab and, with it, the last vestiges of Lincoln's will to argue, or even care, vanished. Thankfully, Leni's cheery disposition brought some levity to the exchange. As she burst out of her room, crying out. "Vi-ola!" Lincoln's jaw dropped. Leni was dressed like an Oktoberfest maid, complete with braided hair and breasts on show. Lincoln was so captivated, that Lynn had to reach over and push his jaw back into place. "What do you think?" Leni asked with a sunny smile. Receiving two wide-eyed stares in return.
Even though Royal Woods was nowhere near Germany, a few money savvy locals had smelt opportunity and had decided to host a mini-Oktoberfest of their own with a Royal Woods spin. The Royal Woods Oktoberfest was a fusion of German and Indian beer culture and it, like many other fusion-style restaurants/events, was a big success. The mix was just as slapdash as breadsticks in Chinese takeaway cartons, as served by the local Italian-Chinese restaurant, and featured plastic beer tankers in the shape of tiger's heads; curry and sausages, locally made short films, baumkuchen with kheer in the center and, of course, lots of German and Indian beer.
There were some positives to this, Royal Woods now had a place for young filmmakers to show their love of the craft and most locals weren't even aware that the Indians made beer. It was a learning experience for many. Leni in particular found the event to be a learning experience, as the young fashionista hadn't yet made a German style dress. There was, of course, a first time for everything, but Leni's first time was simply stunning. Even as they arrived at the fair, Lincoln still found himself unable to keep his eyes off of his blonde sister. Much to Lynn's annoyance.
"Okay, so, what do you think we should do first?" The happy-go-lucky blonde asked.
"Well, the big attraction is beer." Lynn answered.
"But, Lynn, we're not old enough to drink beer yet." Replied Leni, only for Lynn to be snarky and say,
"Then, we probably shouldn't be here. Let's go home." Her words fell flat on Leni, however, as the blonde simply chastised her.
"I'm sure there's plenty to do, Lynn. So, come on already." After she said this, Leni grabbed Lynn and Lincoln and practically dragged them into the center of the fair. As she led her two younger siblings around, they were assaulted with a chorus of, "what's this" and "what's that." It was immediately apparent, that even though she looked the part, Leni was very much out of place and every stall owner took the opportunity to take advantage of this; as they called out to her and gave her incentive to visit their stall over others. Only adding haste to her already exuberant pace.
The joyful nature of Leni was really quite infective, as eventually a crowd formed her and Lynn and Lincoln were quickly pushed out. It quickly became apparent that the folks at the fair had turned her into part of the attraction. "This will be bad, if we leave her alone." Lynn said, her voice filled with worry.
"Right, I'll chase after her. You go around and see if you can cut her off." After Lincoln gave out the plan, he received a nod from Lynn and the two ran off. With Lynn, being the fastest, doing her best to overtake the crowd with Leni in the center. It was only a minute before they caught up to the crowd, but they underestimated their opponent. Said crowd wasn't made up of people that had formed around where the excitement was happening, the stall owners had unwittingly drawn attention to a vulnerable beauty and had earned her the attention of less than reputable youths. Youths who were apparently used to this sort of thing, as they moved to block Lynn and Lincoln from making their way towards Leni. Lynn, however, wasn't the kind to lie down and take this and she stomped on a man with crocs and a sleeveless hoodie. Causing him to howl in pain. His girlfriend, a young woman with bright dyed hair and a fake tan, immediately rounded on Lynn, only to pushed into the crowd; opening a gap for Lynn to pull Leni out of the crowd. Lincoln leaped over the tangled mess of bodies and hurried up to his two sisters, helping them make their getaway.
The younger siblings panted, now that they were on the edge of the fair, whilst the oldest stumbled about on the spot. "Er, Leni, are you feeling okay?" Lincoln asked, as he managed to shake off his fatigue. "Never better, ahuh." Leni giggled and burped and showed the telltale signs of being inebriated.
"Great, we'll never find which stall is to blame!" Lynn growled as she grinded her feet into the floor. She then sighed and said. "Let's just go home."
"Wait!" The blonde screeched, making her two companions jump. "We don't have anything to remember this day by." She explained. Making Lynn facepalm. She walked to the nearest stall, cracked her knuckles, looked at Lincoln expectantly, and, after he gave the stall owner a dollar note, she picked up a ball and hurled it with all of her strength. The challenge, in question, was knocking down the bottles with a ball; but, as they had been glued together, Lynn instead dug a hole straight through the bottles, and the tent itself, as the ball blasted out the other end. "What, you can't-" Lynn ignored the stall owner's quiet denial and snagged a large pink teddy bear, before throwing it over to Leni. "Now can we go?" Lynn asked, but she didn't wait for a reply and made her way back home. Expecting the others to follow. Leni, who was completely flushed, couldn't be expected to walk on her own. So, Lincoln put his hand around Leni's waist, biting his lips nervously when he touched her waist, and led her after Lynn.
After they got out of the fair, Lynn had slowed down greatly, which Lincoln greatly appreciated, as walking with Leni was slowing him down tremendously. "Fairs, man. They attract predators like flies, whatever happened to good sportsmanship." Lynn complained as they slowly made their back home.
"Yeah, I have no idea what you're talking about." Lincoln replied, as he guided Leni around a pothole.
"Courting's kind of like a sport, don't you think?" Lynn asked, momentarily confusing Lincoln, until he made the connection.
"I didn't know you were old fashioned, thinking of things that way. Leniii, stop it." Lincoln's answer was interrupted by Leni playing with his white hair.
"All sports are old-fashioned and were at the best in the past. The sportsman of today don't know how to play properly." Lynn explained, with Lincoln chiming in.
"I see, I get you. I see the connection you're trying to make now."
"Right?" Lynn inquired with her characteristic grin.
"Right, now can we please find a bench, Leni's falling asleep on me."
Once again, after yet another disastrous day out, Lincoln founded himself at a bench in a random park. He felt that, in the future, he may as well skip the day out and go find a park bench. To make things worse, on one side he had Leni falling on top of him, her tall body and hourglass figure making supporting her difficult, and, on the other side, he had Lynn who was silently kicking her legs back and forth. "Today's been a complete bust." Lynn finally said, as she stomped on the ground with both feet, kicking up dust. "What do you mean?" Lincoln asked, a little worried that Leni's breasts might spill out of her top.
"Leni might be happy now, but the problem's still there, Lincoln and we don't even know what that problem is."
"We just have to keep trying." Was Lincoln's response to Lynn's little tirade. But she didn't take it well.
"Yeah, and look where that got us, we had to save Leni from a bunch of slimeballs." Lynn snapped.
"If we give up now, then we really will have completely wasted today." Lincoln argued and Lynn couldn't find an appropriate response, so she stayed quiet instead. For about ten seconds.
"Lincoln?" Lynn called out.
"What's up?" Was his absent-minded response, but he quickly became intensely focused as Lynn climbed onto his lap. "Lynn-" Lincoln tried to speak, but Lynn grabbed him by a shoulder and clasped her other hand around his mouth. "There's one way, to know for sure, that this day hasn't been a total waste." She told him. She then grinded into him, her crotch rubbing into his. Stimulating him, as she built up his arousal with each grind. Lincoln shivered as sensation took over, fear tried to force Lincoln to act, but Lynn was stronger and she responded by putting more force into pinning Lincoln to the bench. In the midst of all of this, Leni's head was still resting against Lincoln's and she was inches away from the action. Not that Lynn cared as she picked up pace and started to pant, giving herself over to desire and pleasure. As Lincoln became more excited; he felt the warmth of his breath in the palm of Lynn's hand, noticed every bead of sweat on Lynn and smelt her arousal. Eventually, Lincoln's voice was freed after Lynn removed her hand, only to be trapped again, after Lynn forced her lips against his and pulled him into a deep long kiss. She couldn't maneuver as well in this position, so she simply pressed into his crotch as hard as she could.
"What?" A voice interrupted them both, out of the corner of their eyes, they saw that, though Leni hadn't moved, she had opened her eyes and saw them both in the act. She was also dangerously close to them and that only added to the shock. After the initial surprise, Leni was simply stunned and nobody dared move. A million thoughts raced through Lincoln's mind and not one of them could help him. It didn't help that Lynn was still pinning him down, with her lips on his. Lynn was the first to act, she slowly pulled herself from Lincoln and whispered. "Lucha Libre?" Leni lurched upright and pulled away from the two, tucking herself into the corner of the bench. Lincoln, momentarily, thought about denying his involvement in what had transpired. But, he knew he'd be partially lying and he didn't want to throw Lynn in front of a bus. So, Lincoln sat frozen. Lynn, however, for better or for worse, was a woman of action and, against her better judgement, she leaned in and once again locked her lips with Lincoln. Watching Leni as she did so. Lincoln, his mind now overloaded, could only sit and take the affection being laid on him. As Lynn continued, she became more primal, digging her nails into Lincoln's shoulder and pushing herself into him. With her free hand, she snatched ahold of one of Leni's, who didn't resist, and tightly clenched it. This continued for a full minute, until Lynn finally pulled back gasping. This, however, didn't solve anything. In fact, it made things worse, much worse. There was no explaining this away now, Lynn had made sure of that and, in her heart of hearts, she had genuinely wanted this. No matter what she might say later. But, there would be consequences for her actions. This was made abundantly clear, after Leni finally made a break for it, breaking free of Lynn's tight hold, and ran home.
When Lynn and Lincoln got home, they found that the other siblings weren't happy. "It's bad enough that you did what you did, but to come home acting sheepish!?" Luna growled, with Luan giving a fierce look of disdain. "We-" Lincoln began, only for Lola to interrupt him.
"Ah, ah, ah, we don't know and we don't care. Just go up to Leni's room and apologise." Lincoln nearly let a sigh of relief escape, Leni hadn't said a word to them, but he managed to catch it and hide his relief by running up the stairs. Lynn, feeling that she had already done enough damage, tried to back out of the house. But, Lana was immediately on top of her. "You too, sporty." She said, and with a grimace, Lynn hurried after Lincoln.
In Leni's room, Leni was sprawled out on her bed and crying into her pillow. On entry, the melancholy immediately filled Lincoln from head to toe and he his empathetic side drove him to quietly sit down next to Leni and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at Lincoln, only to cough and then press her head back down into the pillow, sobbing as she did so. Without a word, Lynn came in, paused to observe, and then came in and sat down on Leni's opposite side. She put a hand on Leni's spare shoulder and the two siblings gently poured their sympathies into their older sister.