Hello, and all that stuff in between. I can probably confidently say this is something completely unique that hasn't really been done before I'd think.
To start off, this one has a little something in common with "Meddle Protocol" in that both of these weren't ones I really had planned in uploading. But as you can guess, things have changed and this one's put up there, too. Good thing I never empty the Recycle Bin, as you'll never know when something I might at the time no longer have interest in could suddenly be resurrected and put to good use.
The inspiration for this one is based on a very small scene from "Tricked!", which this story takes place a few days afterward as the summary lays out. The scene is the moment when Lucy assembles those in her family who are taking part in her haunted corn maze, and specifically it's when Lori comes on out and Lucy instructs Fangs to accompany Lori in the maze. For whatever reason, that scene stuck with me every time I saw that episode whenever it was on this past October (and it should be worth pointing out that I didn't become a Loud House fan until just about a year ago, so last October was the time I first saw "Tricked!"), and then little by little, the idea of what it would be like if Lori and Fangs were to strike up a sudden bond came to fruition. I will also say that yes, this is far from the most seasonal of stories, but Halloween itself is hardly the focal point, and if I had to choose between waiting until this coming October to put up there or doing it now, I'll take the risk of going through with the latter.
With all that impressive backstory divulged upon, let's us read on!
The Loud House is the exclusive property of Nickelodeon and Viacom. The usage of the setting, characters and such is based on nothing more than a pure affinity for everything and is not being used for monetary purposes.
It was around 1:00 AM one fall evening at the Loud house where everyone was fast asleep.
Unless one were to exclude the oldest sibling, Lori, that is.
Inside the bedroom shared by her and the second eldest sibling, Leni, Lori was grunting, groaning, tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable. For reasons unclear to her, she was having something of a restless night and would do anything to attain slumber.
In wanting to achieve such means, Lori fumbled around her nightstand for the switch to turn on the lamp, then perhaps head downstairs to grab something worth eating or drinking that'll tire her out. She eventually did find the lamp switch and clicked it on.
When doing that, though, she looked over at the wall adjacent to her bed to see a large, ominous shadow being cast upon.
"AAH!" Lori yelped in fright.
The shadow took her by surprise so much that she rolled to her left and fell straight out of bed. All this commotion caused Leni to scream and rise up from her bed. She lifted up her sleep mask to see what was going on to find Lori laid out on the floor.
"OM-gosh, Lori!" Leni said in a panic, coming down to her sister's side, "Are you okay? What happened? Did you have a nightmare? Did you...oh, hi there, Fangs!"
"Huh, what now?" Lori questioned groggily.
Wondering what Leni was talking about that caused the interruption in her panicked line of questioning, Lori sat up and look over toward the lamp on her nightstand and right there clear as day was the source of the shadow. While the light projected illusion may be huge, the critter that caused it was quite small indeed.
"Literally? This again?!" She growled.
Standing on the lampshade happened to be Fangs, the pet bat belonging to Lori's younger goth sister, Lucy, and as her displeased reaction suggested, this wasn't the first time that the black, winged creature came into her room unexpectedly like this.
During Halloween as few days earlier, Lori had dressed up as a vampire and perhaps as a means to come off as more authentic, Lucy had Fangs accompany Lori on her shoulder during her role in Lucy's haunted corn maze. Since that night, Fangs had become suddenly attached to Lori, something she was mystified over and had grown to get gradually more annoyed by.
"Ugh, get out of here, Fangs!" Lori demanded.
The bat apparently didn't understand that command, instead flying off the lamp and squeaked joyfully while he landed on Lori's head, which she didn't take kindly to.
"No, get off!" She angrily said, "Shoo! Away with you!"
Lori managed to brush Fangs away from her head, only for him to flutter back on over to the lamp. Growling again, she stomped out to the hallway and marched up to the door leading to Lynn and Lucy's room before she banged on it. Seconds after that, she was greeted by a groggy and slightly peeved Lynn.
"Dang it, what's the deal, Lori?" She asked, "You woke me up from a perfectly nice dream of me killing it in rugby against Beaverton."
"My deal is that I need to speak with Lucy right now!" Lori said impatiently.
Lynn looked over to Lucy's bed, which was vacant, "Well, she's apparently not here, so thanks for waking me up for no reason at all."
Lori rolled her eyes, "Still, I need to have a talk with her. You have idea where she might be at this hour?"
"Beats me. I'm her roommate, not her watchdog." Lynn replied, shrugging her shoulders, "I'm sure she's around somewhere."
Just as Lynn had finished speaking, the sounds of footsteps reaching the top of the stairway showed Lucy returning.
"Well, there you go, mystery solved." Lynn gestured to Lori over toward their younger sister, "Now if you'll excuse me, I've gotta go back to whomping Beaverton in my dreams."
As Lynn walked back to her bed, Lori approached Lucy.
"There you are, Lucy. Listen, I need you for a moment." Lori said.
"Uh, for what?" Lucy asked.
The eldest Loud sister guided the goth girl over to the entrance of her and Leni's room.
"That!" She shouted, pointing in the distance.
Lucy stepped inside to see Fangs standing on the lamp on Lori's nightstand while at the same time he was being scratched and petted by Leni.
"Aw, you're such a cutie!" Leni cooed sweetly, also making some kissy noises at him as well.
"Leni, quit that!" Lori chided the fashionista, then turned to the goth, "Lucy, would you mind taking Fangs back to your room where he literally belongs? Again?"
"Sigh. Fine." Lucy said.
Stepping past both her two oldest sisters, Lucy approached her bat and tried waving him over to her.
"Come, Fangs, we've been through this before. You must leave Lori alone at this time." She explained.
The bat seemed hesitant in following his master's command, seemingly preferring to stay put.
"Fangs..." Lucy told him more sternly.
Finally, with a reluctant squeak, Fangs obeyed and flapped over onto Lucy's shoulder.
"Sorry for this happening again, Lori." She said, looking up at her oldest sister, "I'm not sure what's gotten into him."
"Well, you better find out, because I'm not going to stand for this anymore! He's such a nuisance!" Lori exasperatedly stated.
In any event, Lucy walked back over to her room with Fangs beside her while Lori closed the door shut and tried getting back to sleep on her own, forgoing whatever she initially planned in finding something to pacify her restlessness.
"Ugh, how does that little flying rat keep getting in here?" Lori wondered out loud.
"EW! A rat? And it can fly?! Where?!" Leni shouted in terror.
The ditz of the family was so revolted by such a thought that she leaped clear on over to her sister's bed and clutched onto her, which hardly helped in the latter's mood of annoyance.
"No, Leni, I'm talking about Fangs!" Lori clarified following a groan.
"Oh..." Leni uttered, sheepishly releasing her sudden grip on Lori and returning to her bed, "Well, I think he's kind of cute."
"Of course you do..." Lori muttered under her breath.
Letting out a sigh, Lori settled back down into her bed, turned off the lamp and attempted again at attaining sleep, but not before one nervous inquiry came from Leni.
"Lori, do flying rats really exist?"
"If you mean actual rodents with skinny tails literally with wings, then no, of course not." Lori answered half annoyed, half reassuring.
Leni breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh, okay, good."
Later on that morning, Lori, Luan, Lincoln and Lana were in the kitchen having their breakfast in between Lori complaining about Fangs.
"I don't get it. How does he keep getting into my room? This is the fourth time this week I've woken in the middle of the night to find him literally just standing on the lampshade looking over at me. He's driving me nuts!" She said very much irritated.
"Actually, wouldn't you say he's driving you batty instead?" Luan joked around and laughed, "Get it?"
Lori narrowed her eyes towards the resident comedienne, "Not in the mood, Luan."
"Hey, no need to be such a grouse. In fact, speaking of lamps, you should really lighten up, sis!" Luan said joyfully.
All Lori could do was roll her eyes and groan.
"You know, maybe the reason Fangs has been coming to your room is because he's grown to like you since Halloween." Lincoln suggested.
"Well, the feeling is hardly mutual from my end of things to him, Lincoln." Lori said, following up with sigh, "I mean, what does he see in me specifically?"
"I'm not sure why you're complaining. He's come to my room before and I've never had any problems with that. I even let him stay with me in bed a few times!" Lana said.
Lori looked over at Lana dismissively, "Well, of course you of all people have no problem with that, the girl who also doesn't mind occasionally having a frog, a lizard, a snake and a rat sleeping in the same bed with her."
Lana shrugged, "Hey, I'll let whatever critter friends of mine come stay with me in bed if they like, thank you very much."
Lori rolled her eyes once again, shaking her head as well.
"If you ask me, Lori, you should try giving Fangs a chance." Lincoln said, "I mean, outside of Lucy and occasionally Lana as you just heard from, he rarely interacts with anyone else among us. Perhaps he's trying to broaden his horizons and wants to make a new friend in you."
"Again, Lincoln, I don't feel that way for him, so what's the point?" Lori questioned.
"Maybe Fangs isn't the only one whose horizons need broadening..." Luan suggested, a big grin soon forming, "Because after all, you could very well end up having a fang-tastic time together!"
Thrice in a short time span, Lori showcased much irritation toward Luan, so much so that she stood up, coffee mug at hand, and departed.
Later on in the day, Lori was alone in her room laying in bed with her phone at hand. She had been in the middle of texting session with some of her friends. Once that was concluded, she switched over to having one of her frequent marathon phone conversation with Bobby, who she'd been missing ever since he and his family had moved away to Great Lakes City and relished any moment in talking with him. The talk lasted a good half an hour before it had come to an end.
"Okay, well, bye-bye, Bobby. Talk to you soon. Love you, too. Bye." She said.
No sooner did that call end did Lori get a notification from one of the many apps on her phone. Out of curiosity, she checked it out, but curiosity quickly changed to choler.
Said notification was a status update and picture from Carol Pingrey, Lori's one-sided rival, since the animosity largely stemmed from the latter.
"No, Carol, I do not need to know about every little insignificant thing that's going on in your life. I thought I blocked you on this app!" Lori grumbled.
She was about to do just that when she was startled by an all too familiar squeaking sound to her side. Sure enough, there was Fangs, once again on the lampshade. She'd likely been so glued to her phone that she didn't realize he may have been there for quite some time.
"Dang it, Fangs! Why are you here?! Why do you keep coming here?! Why...oh, forget it..."
Lori cut off her tangent and sighed heavily. It seemed like there was no point at this rate in getting so worked up over the bat's intrusions. He's been doing this now five times and no matter what, nothing appears to be dissuading him otherwise. Plus, there were other things more upsetting than this at the moment.
Lori sighed again, then turned to face Fangs, "Okay, this is literally going to be kind of insane for me to do… but I need to vent right now and you might as well listen in."
She sat up from her bed and hugged her legs.
"There's been a whole lot going on in my life recently. From having ten siblings to keep check on that can get kind of tiring at times, to missing my Bobby and even my obsession over Carol, which I'm able to admit can be unhealthy at times. Add on top of that with college coming in about a year from now and how much I'll miss my family when that time comes, there's a lot weighing on me and sometimes I just want to, you know..."
Lori buried her face into her knees and let out a muffled scream that tempered off into a soft pair of whimpers.
She stayed in position like that for a moment until she winced over a sensation of something digging into her shoulder. She raised her head and looked just to her right to notice that Fangs was right there taking position on her shoulder. She would've normally said something in objection to this, but that wouldn't occur as he softly nuzzled himself against her cheek.
In short order, Lori felt a suddenness of calming taking over her. Much to her astonishment, allowing herself to vent in this little critter's presence made her feel a lot better and his small act of affection couldn't help but make her smile.
"Huh...I can't believe I'm saying this, but...thanks, Fangs." Lori said appreciatively, "I have no clue if you literally understood a thing I said, but it was nice for once to have someone, or something rather, let me have a chance to vent without judgment."
Fangs squeaked delightfully, which only increased in octave when Lori reached over with her left hand and briefly scratched his chin with her index finger.
"You know, maybe Leni was right. You actually are kind of cute." She admitted, "And Lincoln's probably right, too. Maybe I should give you a chance. It's the least I can do after you being there and listening to me vent out my worries."
The bat moved slightly to his right, causing Lori to wince again as his claws gripped onto her shoulder.
"Well, if this is going to work, looks like I'll have to start wearing shirts with actual sleeves on them." She said with a small laugh.
Later on, Lincoln was heading up to his room to gather up a few things for a day out with some of his friends. He arrived at the top of the stairs right as he can hear Lori inside her room.
"I know, right?" She was saying while laughing.
Lincoln paid no mind to it, assuming his oldest sister was talking on the phone with Bobby or one of her friends. He shrugged as he went inside his room.
After a couple of minutes, Lincoln reemerged from his room with his backpack of things and was about to go on downstairs until he heard Lori laughing again a bit harder, but one other detail caught his attention. He also could hear what kind of sounded like laughter coming from another source, but it had a very squeaky texture to it. His curiosity got to him, so he stepped up to the door leading to Lori's room and knocked on it.
"Hey, Lori?" Lincoln said.
"It's open." Lori answered from the other side between laughter.
Lincoln grabbed the doorknob, pushed it open and peered inside the room, where he saw an unexpected, but nevertheless pleasant sight.
He could see Lori sitting on her bed while Fangs was perched on the lampshade like she had previously described him doing a number of times recently, only unlike those instances of recollection, she appeared to be in a happier mood.
"Lori?" Lincoln said, catching her attention.
"Oh, hey there, Lincoln." Lori addressed him with a smile, then turning back over to Fangs.
He stepped inside further and approached his sister while she was doting the bat much to his delight, and Lincoln's for that matter, where a little grin was forming on the boy's face.
"Wow, if I didn't know any better, looks like you and Fangs are actually bonding." He observed.
"Yeah, you can certainly say that." Lori admitted to.
"May I inquire how this turned out?" Lincoln wondered, taking a seat next to her.
Lori turned back over and faced her brother, "It's kind of funny, actually. Here I was glued to my phone as I often am and there he was again on the lampshade, which I still literally have no idea how he's been coming here in the first place, but whatever. I was going to try getting him out again, but I had become so stressed about a bunch of other stuff, so I thought 'what the heck', I'll just take a moment to vent while Fangs was around. Before you know it, I've been talking and hanging out with him for, gosh, the last hour or so."
Fangs let out a delighted squeak, apparently affirming what Lori had said or at least her upbeat demeanor.
"You know..." She continued speaking, gesturing in Fangs' direction, "I've wondered if he actually understands much of what I've been saying, which I don't know the answer to, but he does seem to pick up on my mood. Plus, if anything else, he is a terrific listener."
The small grin on Lincoln's face had grown wider as he watched on. He felt happy over over the fact that Lori seemingly took his advice from earlier about giving Fangs a chance.
"Well, I love to stick around, but I must get going now." Lincoln said, standing up from the bed, "Got a nice little day out with some friends of mine."
"I suppose that explains the backpack?" Lori mentioned.
"Yeah, it's full of things I'm bringing with me." He said in response.
He began walking out of Lori's room and right as he arrived at the doorway, he glanced back over at his sister and Fangs. It was then that he noticed another detail just now with regards to her attire.
"Uh, what's with the long-sleeved shirt you're wearing?" Lincoln asked.
"Oh, it's because Fangs planted himself on my shoulder earlier and dug into the skin, so I decided to put something on that gives me the slightest bit of protection." Lori answered, "Plus it is getting chillier outside, so it works on that front, too."
"Ah, that makes sense." Lincoln acknowledged while nodding, "Well, you two keep having fun now."
With that, Lincoln left Lori and Fangs be while he made his way down the stairs. Upon reaching the bottom, he heard a voice that got him a sudden, though predicable startle.
"Hey, Lincoln."
"AAH!" He shouted, turning to see Lucy to his right, "Oh, hi there, Lucy."
"Where are you off to?" Lucy curiously wondered.
"To hang with some friends for a little while." He responded, approaching the front door and opening it, but then addressed his younger sister again, "Hey, why don't you check out Lori and Leni's room?"
"Huh, why?" Lucy said confused.
"You'll see." Lincoln told her rather playfully.
As he stepped out and closed the front door, Lucy was left puzzled as to what her brother was inferring to. Wanting to find out, she heeded his words and headed upstairs, turned to her left and stood in front door leading the bedroom belonging to her two oldest sisters. She knocked on it and waited for a response.
"Come in." Lori said from the other side.
Lucy opened the door and looked inside.
"Hey, Lori..." She began saying, "Lincoln told me there was something..."
She paused once she saw Fangs inside and once again assumed the worst.
"Oh dear, is Fangs bothering you again? Sigh, I'll take care of it." Lucy said with a touch of vexation.
"Oh, there's no need for that, Luce." Lori told her younger sister with a smile.
"No worries, I can get-" Lucy was saying, only to stop herself upon what she heard, "Wait, what?"
"Like I said, there's no need for you to take him back, because as crazy as this may sound, Fangs and I have actually been getting along." Lori explained.
Lucy was genuinely surprised by that, "Really? You have? How so?"
"I just allowed him to listen to me venting some frustrations and worries of mine, and then...well, things went from there, I guess." Lori responded, shrugging her shoulders at the end.
To say Lucy was taken aback by this development was an understatement. Out of all her siblings, Lori was perhaps the one she'd never expect to see forming a bond with Fangs. Still, it did make her feel good in the end to see someone else doing so anyway.
"Oh, well, uh..." Lucy tried to say, but was interrupted when Fangs fluttered over onto her head.
"Huh, I guess he wants to be with his owner again." Lori said with a chuckle, "No problem. I've literally got some other business to attend to anyway."
With a happy sigh, the eldest Loud sibling stood up from her bed and left her room, but not before giving Fangs a quick pat on the head.
"See you later, Fangs." She said to him in a cutesy little voice.
As her older sister walked past her, Lucy looked up at Fangs and had a small smile creak across her lips.
"I did not expect this at all, Fangs...but I'm glad things between you and Lori are now more positive."
At 1:00 PM, Lincoln returned home from his day out and right away, he was greeted by Lori.
"Hey, Lincoln. How was your day?" She asked him.
"Fine." Lincoln simply stated.
He saw that his oldest sister was on the couch relaxing, and she wasn't alone, either. Once again, Fangs was accompanying her and this time around, he was neatly nestled within Lori's hair.
"I see Fangs is still getting rather cozy with you, figuratively and literally." Lincoln observed with a grin.
Lori let out a laugh, "It's true. I've been guessing this is one of the reasons he's been wanting to hang around with me this whole time. Guess my hair acts like a nest for him or something."
Chuckling a little, Lincoln placed his backpack near the front door for the time being and then he joined in with his sister over at the couch.
"Well, he seems to really like it." He commented, "Though I have to ask if it bothers you in any way."
"Truth be told, at first it sort of did." Lori admitted, "Not because it's uncomfortable or anything, but I was concerned he would literally leave, well, some...unwanted surprises, if you will. But after having a talk with Lucy, she claims he does nothing of the sort. Guess he's either naturally well behaved in that respect or Lucy's done a good job training him. But regardless, I'll still probably have to wash my hair extra good whenever I shower."
While she showed off a smile, Lori reached over and mussed her brother's hair.
"I have to really give this one to you, Lincoln." She said proudly, "By taking your advice from earlier this morning, I have indeed made a new...well, I was just about to say 'friend', but that might be too strong of a word this early on. For now, I'll settle for 'newly acquired acquaintance'."
Lincoln grinned while shrugging his shoulders, "Hey, whatever works. I'm just glad you're not going totally batty or anything. Oh jeez, Luan's got me doing it right now!"
"Don't you mean literally batty?" Lori corrected him.
Both shared a hearty laugh, which Fangs also joined in on with what would constitute as laughter from him.
"Okay, I think I'll take my leave. See you around, Lori." Lincoln said once his laughing settled down.
"Sure thing. See you, Lincoln." Lori said back.
As dusk had approached Royal Woods, Lori was milling about with her business while coming down the stairs. Midway through, she could hear a conversation going on between her parents and Lucy in the kitchen.
"I'm sorry, Lucy, but we can't allow you to do this anymore." Rita said.
"But you never said anything before. Why now?" Lucy asked.
"We admit that we don't have the best answer for that, Luce." Lynn Sr. answered with a sigh, "But still, we worry about what could happen to you. Maybe once you're older we'll let you do this again."
"Sigh. Fine, if you say so." Lucy said in a defeated tone.
Lori had no idea as to what Lucy was told she couldn't do, but whatever it was, it made her sound quite sad.
Upon seeing Lucy coming around from the dining room, complete with Fangs on her head, Lori arrived at the bottom of the stairs and wanted to see what was going on.
"Hey, is there something wrong, Lucy?" She asked.
"It's nothing, Lori. Don't worry about it." Lucy answered, sulking past her oldest sister.
"Are you sure? You do look kind of sad, though. Maybe you can tell me about it. Please?"
"Sigh. Okay, if you want me to."
Lucy went over to sit on the couch in the living room, with Lori following suit.
"I was just about to go on one of my nighttime walks with Fangs like I sometimes do, but Mom and Dad told me that I can't anymore until I'm older." Lucy explained.
"Really? Well, I'm sorry to hear that, Lucy." Lori said while putting a hand on her sister's shoulder, "Though I will admit, and not that I'm trying to literally taking sides or anything, but I can understand why they're preventing you from heading out around this time of day. Not many kids your age would normally do such a thing."
"I guess that's true." Lucy admitted, hugging her knees, "But it's not like I'm going out seeking trouble or anything like that. All I'm doing is going on walks with Fangs. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"
While she did admit to understanding the point of their parents that they were making sure Lucy was safe, Lori did also get what her sister was saying. Looking at how upset she was, and Fangs for that matter, she had an idea.
"I think I know something that can work out. Wait right here, Lucy."
Lori stood up and went to the kitchen where her parents were. Lucy didn't know what her older sister had in mind, but did wait like she was told until she would come back.
A couple of minutes later, Lori returned over to Lucy and had a grin on her face.
"So, I just got done talking with Mom and Dad, and they said that you can go out on your walk, provided that I come along with you." Lori explained.
"Really? They said that? And you'd do that for me?" Lucy questioned.
"Sure I will, and not because I feel obligated to, but because I want to!" Lori said happily, then she looked up towards Fangs, "And maybe also it's an excuse to hang around with this little guy some more."
Fangs squeaked out his approval, flying off Lucy's head and nestling into Lori's hair again, making her chuckle.
"He seems to like that idea, so how about you, Luce?" Lori asked.
Lucy looked up at Lori and gave her a little smile, "Yeah. Thanks, Lori."
With that settled, Lucy stepped off from the couch and joined Lori and Fangs out the front door.
For the next several days, Lori continued to bond with Fangs in a multitude of ways and she enjoyed just about every minute of it. However, there began to be a few snags along the way.
Because of both the amount of time he'd been around Lori and her own enjoyment of it, Fangs interpreted this as meaning that he had a free pass to basically be around her whenever he wanted to, and slowly but surely, that's when things began turning more sour on Lori's end and close to the bad old days of her being annoyed by the bat's constant presence.
One particular incident that stood out as crossing a line with Lori came one morning when she was getting ready for school. As she was midway through her shower, she was gobsmacked when she witnessed Fangs having somehow gotten inside and perched along the shower curtain pole. This complete invasion of privacy caused a startle and made her to slip and fall in the shower, and at that point she had never been more furious at him, thus all but wrecking whatever goodwill and what could be called friendship from Lori's side of things.
Later on that same afternoon, Lori was coming back home from school later than usual. As she was approaching her home, Fangs was waiting right on the front porch and fluttered over to her excitedly when she came closer.
"Ugh, get away from me, Fangs!" Lori said irritably.
Like in the early stages of him being around her, Fangs completely ignored Lori's demand and flew around her in circles while squeaking joyfully.
"Fangs, I mean it!" Lori reiterated more forcefully.
The bat still didn't pay attention to her, even as she waved her hands around in trying to shoo him away. She got so annoyed that she wound up and swung one of her hands wildly.
But what she didn't expect was to make contact and also hear a little "thwap" in the process.
In the immediate aftermath, Lori looked around and didn't see Fangs fluttering in the air, but instead laying back first on the porch and inches away from the front wall of the house. Her mind put two and two together and realized he must have hit the wall right after likely being struck by Lori.
And then came one of the saddest sounds she'd ever heard in the form of a whimpering, almost crying like squeak.
Instantly, all the irritation disappeared in Lori within a heartbeat, and things wouldn't get that much better for her as just as she knelt down to the bat's side, the front door opened up and Lucy showed up.
"Oh, hey Lori. I'm just looking for Fangs and thought he-"
But she cut herself off when she looked over and saw her beloved winged friend laid out and in pain, rushing to his side just like her sister was.
"Gasp...are you okay, Fangs?" Lucy said, complete with a tone of worry that she rarely used.
She ever so gently scooped him into her hands as he still kept up his heartrending whimpering squeaking. She needed answers right away.
"Lori, do you know what happened?" Lucy asked worriedly.
Lori's eyes began shimmering, "Lucy...I'm so sorry...I didn't mean to, but I-"
Even admitting the slightest amount of guilt and without even having to see her younger sister's eyes through her bangs, Lori can sense that Lucy's posture and attitude changed quickly, including giving her older sister something of a death glare.
"Wait, you did this?" Lucy said in growing wrath unlike she'd perhaps ever expressed before.
"I swear to you it was just an accident!" Lori emphasized desperately, "He came flying over to me and he's been getting on my nerves again recently as well, so I tried shooing him, but I accidentally hit him and I think he slammed against the wall, but-"
That sealed it for Lucy. No matter what the explanation given, she promptly stood up and began leaving Lori behind, but not before delivering one last cutting, pointed message.
"You...monster. And to think I trusted you with and hoped you accepted him."
The next hour or so provided mixed feelings for Lucy. On one spot of good news, Fangs turned out to not be that seriously hurt at all, though still for his betterment, he was resting on a small throw pillow placed on Lucy's bed. But the lack of severe injury on his part didn't change the feeling of resentment Lucy held against Lori for the albeit inadvertent causation of whatever amount of pain he did experience. Like she said to her sister in the moment, Lucy felt like she lost the trust that she assumed in Lori when she became the only other sibling that in any way really connected with Fangs and even with the accidental nature that was alleged, forgiveness may not be readily attained at the moment.
In the meantime, Lucy hadn't really left the side of Fangs ever since then, sort of becoming overprotective of him and being somewhat on edge over any sound or sudden movement, such as when she heard the bedroom door being knocked.
"Hey, uh...Lucy? Can I come in for a moment?"
That voice belonging to Lincoln, Lucy hesitated for several seconds, but relented and granted her brother's request.
"I guess you can."
She watched on as the door open and Lincoln showed himself in. He joined alongside Lucy on her bed, but in a curious move, she put herself between him and Fangs. Not that she was under any impression in the slightest that Lincoln could ever mean harm to her bat, but it was nonetheless a reflexive act based on her aforementioned overprotective nature that had since developed.
"So, I've since heard about what's happened with Fangs. Is he doing okay?" Lincoln asked.
Lucy remained a little mum, but did eventually answer, "Yeah, I believe so. How did you find out?"
"From Lori." Lincoln answered simply.
The second their oldest sister's name was enunciated, Lucy hissed, as if to say that name should not be uttered in her presence for what was done to Fangs.
"Whoa, hold on, Lucy..." Lincoln said to her in an attempt to have her settle down, "I won't totally blame you for being upset, but you're making it sound like Lori went out of her way to harm him. That's not the impression I got at all from talking with her just a minute ago."
"Doesn't matter. She still should've known better. He can be very delicate and luck alone might explain why he isn't hurt any worse." Lucy bitterly responded.
Lincoln sighed and moved closer to his younger sister, "Maybe Lori should've know better that to react the way she did. But again, I don't think there were any real bad intentions on her part and I do think if given the chance, you should hear her out. Wouldn't you agree, Lori?"
Why he referenced Lori by name out loud like she was within their vicinity made for a confusing moment for Lucy. But she got a better understanding as to why when Lori gently made her presence known by entering the room.
"What are you doing here?" Lucy inquired to her disdainfully.
"Easy now, Lucy. I asked her to come along because I really do think the two of you need to talk it out. It's best you do that sooner rather than later or for her to be steeped in guilt and you to hold a grudge for too long." Lincoln explained.
With that, he left both his sisters be to hopefully hash things out, though he did remain just outside the door frame of Lucy's room to strike a balance between giving her and Lori privacy and being there just in case things were to go south.
At first, awkward, tense silence filled the room while Lucy maintained her protective posture around Fangs, the latter of which squeaked fearfully when Lori set a concerned gaze in his direction and making the elder sister feel just that bit worse about what had transpired earlier.
"If Lincoln wasn't trying to set this up, I'd be demanding you leave right now." Lucy plainly stated.
"I get that, Luce, I really do..." Lori said dolefully, "At the same time, just give me this opportunity and I'll try my best to again explain everything."
She hesitantly reached over and placed a hand on her younger sister's back. There was a small flinch from Lucy, but otherwise she remained in place.
"Lucy, I'm sorry again for hurting Fangs, but you've got to understand it was literally nothing more than an accident. All I was trying to do was shooing him away from me and I never intending in causing him harm. But something else you must understand is that he really has been getting on my nerves again, including this morning when he caught me in the shower." Lori said.
That took Lucy by surprise, "Wait, he did?"
The goth girl looked over to the bat.
"Fangs...if that's even remotely true, that was a very bad thing you did. Not that it excuses Lori for her misdeeds in any way, yet still I would hope you knew better than to violate someone's privacy like that."
If the guilty look Fangs showed on his face meant anything, he got the message and understood his own mistake.
"Sigh..." Lucy uttered, turning back over to her older sister, "All right, maybe I was too hard on you, Lori."
"No, I understand how you felt. Even though it was totally an accident, you had every right to be upset at me for being so careless towards Fangs." Lori admitted, leaning over to again lay eyes on him, "And in addition to hoping he's doing better, he'll be willing to forgive me just as much as you'll do the same eventually, too."
At the end of saying that, Lori sighed, gave her sister a soft ruffle of the hair and chose to leave her and Fangs alone. As she was leaving, she happened upon Lincoln nearby and gave him a weak smile.
"Well...here's hoping things go up from there..." She said.
Lincoln smiled back, "I think they will."
Later on in the evening, Lori was in her room busy on her phone. A minute later, a knocking on the door would interrupt things.
"Who is it?" She asked out loud.
"It's me."
To her surprise and delight, Lori knew that it was Lucy on the other side.
"Oh, come right on in."
After be granted permission for entry, Lucy came inside, where she curiously did her best to keep her hands behind her back while coming over to her oldest sister's bedside.
"What's going on, Lucy?" Lori curiously asked.
Lucy smiled very lightly, "Just thought you might want to get a visit from someone before you went to sleep."
She brought both her hands out to show none other than Fangs, who appeared to be in a better mood at least compared to earlier based on a happy little squeak he made. And speaking of better moods…
"Well, hi there, Fangs!" Lori said delightfully.
"I also thought he could be with you for just a moment as I take care of all my bathroom needs before I too head off for bed. Is that okay?" Lucy asked.
Lori smiled, "Sure, of course!"
She reached her own hands out and Lucy handed Fangs over to Lori before departing for the bathroom. Meanwhile, Lori placed him right over her chest and chuckled.
"I'm guessing you're still a little sore, which could explain why Lucy carried you in her hands as opposed to you riding along on her head or shoulder, or even you flying on over by yourself, right?" She inquired, frowning a little afterward, "And speaking of which, I'm so sorry once more for what I did to you when I came back home, Fangs. Yes, I was very displeased over what you did this morning and how you kept pestering me before that. However, that was literally no excuse to try in harming you. Hopefully we're on good terms again?"
Lori brought the bat into her hands again and appeared to get an answer when Fangs nuzzled her cheek right as he was in close contact with her face. Also, if she didn't know any better, he seemingly tried his own attempt at what could be sort of described as a little peck on that same cheek.
"Glad to know." Lori said, returning the affection with a couple of pats to his head.
A little more doting between the two occurred until Lucy returned to reclaim Fangs. As she did, she uttered the combination of words her older sister were hoping to hear soon.
"Lori...I forgive you."
Holding her bat in one hand, she leaned over and put her free arm around Lori, who was all too willing to embrace her younger sister back.
"Thanks, Lucy. I'll be sure to treat my new little friend much better from now on." Lori promised.
"Friend". That new six-letter designation for Fangs beyond being only originally labeled simply as an acquaintance by Lori made Lucy's heart flutter, which turns that she does in fact have one of those despite her mostly exaggerated claims to the contrary.
Once they ended their embrace, Lucy headed off back to toward her room with Fangs. Along the way, she ran across Lincoln coming out of his room and chose to show similar affection to him like she just did to Lori.
"Guessing you and Lori are all good?" Lincoln asked after being taken ever so slightly off guard by her actions.
"Yes, we are. Thank you, Lincoln." Lucy responded gratefully.
She ended her simple embrace of her brother almost as quickly as it began before finally going to her room for the evening.
Meanwhile, Lincoln decided to pay a quick visit to Lori's room to hear personally how she's doing.
"Hey, Lori." He said after knocking and letting himself in, "Sounds like you and Lucy are doing okay."
"Yes, that's indeed literally the case." Lori affirmed with a smile, "And I owe it to you for that...and for the fact I've officially made a new friend, too."
Lincoln grinned as well, "Well, that's nice to hear. Anyway, good night, Lori."
"You too, Lincoln, and thanks again." Lori expressed in appreciation.
As Lincoln closed the door, Lori chose to turn in for the evening a little early. While she dozed off, she grinned while thinking over the events that had transpired in the past several days. To think in the beginning the idea of having Fangs accompany her at the behest of Lucy would somehow lead to them actually becoming friends seemed insane on the onset. Yet following the conclusion of the day, she was proud to say that's how everything turned out. But like most human friendships, some unpleasant bumps on the road came along and harmed things and yet also like those friendships of the human variety, all was forgiven, mended and made better.
But not only did this newfound bond with Fangs come about, it also helped Lori become closer with Lucy as well, and anytime anyone in the family had strengthen their bonds on top of that is and always will be seen as a bonus worth striving for and achieving.
There we go! A new friendship and reaffirmed familial bonds make for a most sweet combo indeed.
Before I let you go, this actually won't be the last story with a mild, downplayed Halloween theme posted well beyond the fact I've got planned. However, in sharp contrast to the sweetness of what you just read, that other one is considerably darker, creepier, bloodier...and yet it'll still end in a pretty sweet manner in any event, so be on the lookout for that one in the coming days.
With that in mind, thank you as always for taking the time to read anything I put out there and in due time, more is to come!