Hi there! Went dark for a few days not even so much as logging in or even checking up on here. Needless to say upon return, I'm pleased to see this story already getting so many views in that time. Thanks!
Before we get going with this chapter, I'd like to mention a change. Originally, I said the order of the these next few chapters for who was going to be feature was Luan, Leni, Lori and Lynn. Well, I'm announcing that Lynn's chapter will be moved up and Lori's will come after that. Although I've said that these aren't in chronological order, they are in order of how recently I came up with the story and flashbacks for them. I'm still working out some things for Lori's chapter while I have everything set for Lynn's, so that's why they're being switched around.
Now, as you know based on the order, this one is featuring Luan and the flashbacks here are based on "April Fools Rules", "No Laughing Matter", and "A Fridge Too Far". I will say that the flashback for the last one does change around a couple of things from that episode's events, so there's that.
All right, onward!
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.
A fairly standard day had come and gone at the Loud house. Now at 10:00 PM, things were much more quieter with most everyone finishing up their nightly rituals prior to heading off to bed.
For Lincoln, as he was taking one last look over a few things on his laptop, he had a particularly busy day. However, there was one niggling thing that he couldn't help but ponder over in that time.
All day long, Lincoln interacted thoroughly with everyone in his family, but the one notable exception was Luan. For every brief time he ran into his fourth oldest sister, she would cut short any conversation by saying she was busy with something and never really elaborated as to what she'd been working on. The only extended period she and Lincoln were really around one other was during dinnertime, but still she didn't divulge as to what had been preoccupying her throughout the day.
Nevertheless, even without that mystery solved, Lincoln still got himself ready for bed. He was almost about to shut off his laptop when he heard a light rapping on his bedroom door.
"Hey, Lincoln? You still up?"
He turned in the direction of the door and after hearing that voice, he was surprised to know it was Luan inquiring from the other side.
"Um, yeah..." Lincoln answered after a bit of pause.
"Mind if I come in for a little while?" Luan asked.
"Oh, uh...not at all." Lincoln said, his curiosity rising.
The doorknob turned and the door itself swung open to reveal Luan, who then shut the door behind her in order to give herself and Lincoln maximum privacy.
"So. what's going on, Luan?"
"Well, you've probably been wondering why it seemed like I've been sort of avoiding you most of the day." Luan said, rubbing the back of her neck as she sounded kind of apologetic, "Actually, I don't think that's the best way to word things, but I wouldn't blame you if that's the impression you got."
Lincoln shook his head in disagreement, "Oh, not at all, Luan. I mean, I did find it a little strange, but I wasn't thinking you were trying to stay away from me."
"Well, that's good to hear." Luan said with a sigh of relief, "But to be upfront, the only reason I was spending so little time with you today was because I'd been hard at work on a little surprise that I didn't want to spoil until showing you right now.'
"Oh, really? What kind of surprise?" Lincoln asked, now his curiosity really getting to him.
Having only just now noticing that Luan had one hand behind her back, Lincoln looked on as she brought that very hand around and showed a flash drive within her palm.
"What's that? I mean, I know it's a flash drive obviously, but what's it for?" Lincoln wondered.
"I'll explain in a second." Luan replied while grinning, "First, why don't you bring your laptop over and we'll sit down together in your bed?"
As she proceeded to do her part regarding the latter suggestion, Lincoln went along and took as laptop off his dresser, bringing it with him while taking a seat alongside Luan as he awaited what his sister had in store for him.
"So again, what's the deal here with this flash drive?" Lincoln asked once more.
"All right, so to first explain what I've been doing for the better part of the day, I was putting some comedy props of mine away up in the attic and as I did that, I came across a box containing some old home movies of ours." Luan said, showing off the flash drive more prominently, "So to make a long and complicated story short, I spent the day converting some portions of those home movies on to this flash drive so we can watch them together."
"Huh, so that's what been going on this whole time? And that's why you're here now? Is there some kind of catch to all of this?" Lincoln questioned his sister.
"Not in the slightest, Lincoln. We're not marionettes, so there's no strings attached here." Luan answered with her trademark laughter, "Get it? But seriously, all I wanted to do was show these off with you before bed."
Lincoln looked a little confused at first, but eventually he smiled, "Okay, sure, I guess we can do that."
Smiling back at her brother, Luan handed him the flash drive and he plugged it in to his laptop. He opened up the window that popped up once it had been put in and scrolled to a folder titled "Happy Memories with a Pint-Sized Lincoln". He stifled a bemused chuckle and double-clicked the folder which showed to contain three video files.
"Huh, that's not a whole lot." Lincoln observed.
"Just enough for tonight." Luan explained, "I saved a whole lot more on my own laptop, which itself was a lot work."
Before they went any further, Luan pulled up the sleeves of her pajama top and flexed her arms, showing off what little muscles were there.
"Speaking of work, I also had to haul down that box of home movies down from the attic and back up again once I was through. It felt kinda like a workout in a sense. You could say I'm kind of a film buff in that sense." She joked and laughed over.
Lincoln rolled his eyes amusingly, "Let's just hope these videos are more entertaining than those last couple of puns."
With that, he clicked on the first video, titled "Lincoln's First Ever Just Desserts on April Fools' Day."
"Oh, boy..." Lincoln said with a slight hint of dread.
"Ah, come on now. It'll be cute, just like you were at the date of this one!" Luan told him with quick rub of his head.
Lincoln smiled just slightly before he clicked "play" on the video player so he and Luan could begin watching.
In this video, it was set in the living room, where Lincoln at around two-years-old was sitting on the floor playing around with a little ball, rolling it around back and forth and such. Seconds later, Luan entered the frame, and she would've been five-years-old in this case.
"Look, Linky! I got you something!"
Having said that, the younger Luan presented her then toddler brother with some sort of box. Being very excitable and easy to please at that age, Lincoln squealed happily and took it into his hands. He took the lid off and no sooner did that happen did a little pie spring out and hit him right in the face, covering his still babyish features in whipped cream.
"April Fools, Linky!"
While Luan clearly seemed amused with herself in this recording based on how much she was laughing, Lincoln on the other hand wasn't so much on his end as he started crying loudly.
"Luan…!" An annoyed voice could be heard belonging to Rita, who was likely the one recording things hoping to capture a nice moment, only to instead witness the early burgeoning of a prankster.
"Even back then you used me as a target for April Fools Day pranks." Lincoln said so evidently, "If only the five-year-old version of you knew of the things that would materialize in that calculating mind yours in the years to come whenever that day came."
Luan giggled and patted Lincoln's shoulder, "Yeah, but as I once told you before, there's a method to the madness when I do that sort of stuff on the best holiday of the year. I remember one fairly serious talk I had with you after one of my best prank jobs to date..."
"Uh, is this really necessary, Luan?"
"Why not? I think I nose what I'm doing here!"
The squeaking of a clown's nose can be heard shortly after that little pun and some laughter paired along with that.
"Get it? But seriously, it's the least I can do after all you've went through today...or I put you through, rather."
Lincoln groaned, both from the pun, but mainly out of the soreness that coursed throughout his body. He had spent the early part of the day setting off a number of elaborate and painful pranks that Luan had set up all around the house for April Fools Day. He did so upon learning that Ronnie Anne was coming over and he didn't want her to be on the receiving end of such pranks. However, it would end up tricking him out of his original plan of barricading himself in his room for the day, leaving him no choice but to trigger the pranks and take the brunt of their effects.
When Ronnie Anne did arrive, it turned out she was in on things to an extent, too, since it was Luan who brought her over in the first place and was originally going to deliver the coup de grace in the form of a pie in the face to Lincoln. But once she learned the lengths Lincoln went to make sure he set off all the pranks before she arrived and didn't fall victim to them, the dessert projectile was hurtled in Luan's direction instead. Following that, Lincoln and Ronnie Anne set off on having a day out together.
Unfortunately, due to aggravated, reoccurring pain from those pranks, the day was cut short and Lincoln had to be assisted back home. Upon learning the extent of his physical agony, Luan started to feel guilty about what her brother had been through and chose to help out how she can.
Ultimately, most of her "help" was in the form of play acting while clad in her white doctor's coat and clown nose, with the idea being adhering to the classic adage of "laughter being the best medicine". But if Lincoln's less-than-amused disposition while being laid out in bed in his room said anything, it had little effect.
"Luan, I just have to ask: why do you do this?" Lincoln asked.
"I already told you, Lincoln, because it's the least I can do." Luan answered quite innocently.
"No, that's not what I meant." Lincoln said, sighing in annoyance, "I mean, why do you go to such lengths on April Fools Day like you do? It's like there is no rhyme or reason for this, including with what you did today."
Luan arched up her eyebrow, "No rhyme or reason, you say? That's what you really think?"
Her normally upbeat attitude was quickly replaced by that of a more serious posture. She slowly took off her coat and clown nose, put them aside, took the chair sitting near by, spun it around and then sat down on it.
"Lincoln, mind if ask you a few questions?" She asked him.
"Uh...I guess not" Lincoln replied, coming off a little hesitant due to the sudden change in his sister's tone, "But why, though?"
"I think you'll understand in a moment..." Luan said with a small smile, "First, would you go to the lengths you did for Ronnie Anne if she were in actual danger as opposed to being at risk of any pranks of mine?"
"Uh...well, yeah, sure. I wouldn't want to see her hurt." Lincoln answered following a couple seconds of thought, "I would certainly..."
Just then, Lincoln took another moment in pondering what Luan was saying and in due time, it appeared to register in his mind what she was getting at.
"Wait, hold on...are you saying that this whole thing with today's pranks...was nothing more than a test to see how far I'd go to protect Ronnie Anne?" He wondered.
Luan nodded, "Maybe you could say that. Now, would you also do the same for anyone else close to you, like our sisters?"
"Yeah, of course." Lincoln said more assuredly.
"...Including me?"
For a moment, Lincoln was little shocked to hear Luan single herself out like that in her line of questioning, but he seemed to understand what she was trying to have him do.
"Luan, you become some kind of cunning, conniving madwoman of a prankster whenever this particular day comes and I'll admit to becoming a bit scared, perhaps even more than a little miffed in addition when that occurs..." He started out saying.
For her part, Luan chuckled embarrassingly, not really disagreeing with her brother's characterization of her during this time of year, but based how he was building up to things, she smiled and awaited the conclusion of his thought.
"But still, you're my sister and I'd never want to ever see you in real, mortal danger, so yeah, I'd definitely be there should something happen or might be about to happen to you." Lincoln said, smiling with total confidence.
The smile on Luan's face only got bigger when she heard that. She would then reach out and took a hold of Lincoln's hand with her own and patted his with her other hand.
"I'm really glad to hear that, Lincoln." She said proudly, "I know that you're my little brother and usually I'm supposed to be looking out for you, but it means a lot that you'll do the same for me should that ever happen."
"Anytime, Luan." Lincoln said with sincerity, "So, with that being said, was there anything else you going to ask me?"
"Ah, yes, there was." Luan responded as she let go of Lincoln's hand, "I like to know your honest opinion of Ronnie Anne. Do you like her as friend or is there something more going on?"
"Oh, well, um...okay." Lincoln said while nervously chuckling.
He took a deep breath as he tried to materialize the right words in his mind. He hoped whatever he said would be considered an acceptable answer in Luan's estimation.
"Well...I do like her, but really just as a friend right now and nothing more. She can, however, get on my nerves, too. She's sometimes a little too rude, obnoxious and rough for my likening. So...that's what I think. Hope that, you know, doesn't disappoint you, 'cause I know you and our sisters seem so intent on me and her going beyond just being friends." Lincoln expressed directly, though laced with some worry.
"No, it's okay. I asked for your honest opinion of her and you delivered on that." Luan assured him, "And even I'll admit that we've probably pressured you too hard in having you kiss her at first, so if it turns out you just stay friends, that's fine, certainly with me at least. That should be your decision, not ours. It might take longer for someone like Lori perhaps to accept that, since she seems to act like her own relationship with Bobby is heavily dependent on you and Ronnie Anne being on good terms."
Lincoln laughed, "Yeah, it kind of looks like that. She went absolutely nuts on me that one time when she found out I said some nasty things about Ronnie Anne behind her back which lead Bobby to temporarily break up with her."
"That was when she made you go on that double date afterwards, wasn't it?" Luan asked.
"Yeah, it was. I admit to not liking that arrangement too much at the time and even still now, but I guess it had to be done at least so that Lori could no longer be enraged at me and sad for not being with Bobby." Lincoln said.
"I bet it was difficult to go through. Sometimes I think Lori is like a geyser in that she's calm and dormant one minute, the next she'll erupt at a moment's notice." Luan said with a little laugh, "But anyway, the fact you still went along with everything just to make her feel better shows what a good, selfless heart you have, Lincoln, on top of what you did triggering most of the pranks before Ronnie Anne arrived and the fact that you would come to her aid if she really were in danger, as well as for me or our sisters, too."
Lincoln smiled big time in satisfaction and in spite of a sudden jolt in pain that came over him as he shifted his positioning a little. For all her faults during this dreaded holiday, Luan showed that at least on this particular instance, she did appear to have a broader point she wanted to prove to Lincoln in association with her pranks. She can be cunning and conniving like he already described her as, but she was also incredibly insightful and that's something Lincoln can never take away from her.
"Thanks, Luan." He said appreciatively, "I have to say that while your little doctor's act didn't really do much for me, having this talk of ours does seem to make me feel kind of better, if not physically at least on the inside."
Luan grinned as she reached over to pat her brother's shoulder, "I can certainly take that as progress, and with that, I should let you get some rest. Hope you'll get better soon."
She sat up from the chair and put it back next to the wall. Next, she gathered up her clown nose and doctor's coat, the latter of which she slung over her shoulder and with everything at had, she began to leave, but she turned back over to Lincoln before stepping out the door.
"Oh, before I go, Lincoln, I'm gonna let you ponder over this. Ronnie Anne knew a heck of a lot more about all that went on today than just me telling her to come on over. I'll let you figure out just how much she knew." Luan addressed her brother with some parting tittering.
As she closed the door and let him be, Lincoln looked on in confusion, but still couldn't help but chuckle a tiny bit.
"Wow, she really does go above and beyond on this day, huh?"
"You know, since it's been brought up, did any of our sisters know about anything that occurred that day?" Lincoln asked.
Luan chuckled derisively, "No, of course not! They'd be too scared to find out and even if they weren't, and with that one exception with Ronnie Anne in that case, I never let anyone in on what I'm planning, not a peep. Or even a quack, since I want to keep all my ducks in a row!"
"All right, all right, enough meditations over April Fools Day stuff. How we just move on to that next home movie clip of yours?" Lincoln suggested after a sigh.
"Fine by me." Luan replied with a shrug, "Ooh, this one's gonna be good!"
Taking a look at the title of the next video file, which was "Beginnings of a Stand-Up Genius", Lincoln laughed with a scoff added in.
"Not exactly the most humble of titles there." He said ever so pointedly.
"What? Nothing wrong with a little embellishment." Luan countered with while playfully smiling.
With another humorous roll of his eyes, Lincoln clicked on the file and it began playing.
Here, the setting was now the backyard, as Luan, being seven-years-old in this instance, was standing on top of a makeshift stage holding a hairbrush like a microphone. Watching on in the foreground were her family, specifically Lori, Leni, Luna, Lynn, Lincoln and even a little one-year-old Lucy sitting in the lap of Rita, which deduced that Lynn Sr. was the one recording this time around.
Throughout the video, Luan was doing what amounted to one of her earliest known stand-up acts. Even for her age at the time, she demonstrated an ability to set up jokes and deliver punch lines quite well. Not every joke landed as to be expected, and some of her sisters weren't exactly shy in engaging in booing and other forms of displeasure, namely Lori, Luna and Lynn. But one little fellow didn't like what he was hearing.
"Hey, stop being mean to her!"
Standing up and turning to his sisters, four-year-old Lincoln shot a glare at them, something he wasn't typically accustomed in doing at the time.
"Now, now, Lincoln…" Lynn Sr. could be heard telling his only son, "I'm sure your sisters aren't trying to be mean or anything like that. Besides, if Luan really wants to be a comedienne someday, she has to learn that not everyone will find everything she says to be funny. Better to hear that from us in order to get her used to it than from total strangers."
While Lincoln didn't like hearing that, he still sat back down and let Luan finish up with her set. As soon as the performance wrapped up, he sprang back up to his feet and clapped enthusiastically.
"Yay!"
Back in the present, Luan went into a brief giggle fit at the four-year-old version of Lincoln's cheeriness.
"No matter what I said or did back then, I always managed to get a laugh out of you." She said, patting her brother on the back, "I don't know if it's simply because you were so much younger at that point and were easier to please, but it made me happy that you loved much of my material then. But times sure have changed in the years to come..."
Lincoln laughed and smiled a little smugly, "Hey, when I get older, that means you have to work harder to earn those laughs. Still, you do manage get some out of me and that should tell you how talented and funny you really are."
"Aw, that means a lot, Lincoln." Luan said as she put an arm around him and lightly squeezed him affectionately, "I'm always glad whenever someone tells me when I'm funny. That's all I ever want to hear and knowing that means I'm doing my job in bringing laughs and smiles to whomever I'm around, including those who I care about the most. To think there was ever a time that I doubted myself that I wasn't able to be funny."
"Oh no, I think I know what you're referencing..." Lincoln expressed uneasily, "I know I played a role in that unfortunate moment in your life, and our sisters, too."
Luan brought her brother a little closer to her, "Hey, don't worry too much about it. I know you or everyone else didn't mean to sound so harsh. But I was glad you all helped me regain my confidence in comedy again. Speaking of playing your part, you did more than any in helping out, even if you didn't mean it in the manner you did as you told me later on..."
One afternoon, Lincoln was strolling along the hallway upstairs, when he heard some very hysterical laughter.
He stopped near where the laughter was coming from. Taking a peek inside Luna and Luan's room since the door was barely left open, he saw Luan in her bed looking through what appeared to be one of her joke notebooks.
"Luan?" Lincoln inquired to her, poking his head through the door.
"Oh, hey Lincoln." Luan responded, taking a second to recoup with a deep breath, "Sorry, was I bothering you with my laughing?"
Lincoln shook his head, "No, not at all. But since I'm here, mind if I come in for a moment?"
"Sure, come right on in." Luan affirmed, waving him in.
Having permission granted, Lincoln walked inside and took a seat on his sister's bed.
"So, what were you laughing about just now?" He asked.
"Oh, I was looking over on one of my joke notebooks." Luan said, holding up that notebook in question. "Man, this one in particular has plenty of zingers! I can't believe I nearly got rid of these and all my other comedy props and such, too."
Coincidentally enough, that was in relation to something Lincoln wished to briefly talk about. Days earlier, Luan all but completely gave up on comedy after she overhead her siblings complaining about how annoying she had gotten in the time leading up to her big performance at the Chortle Portal for the Junior Comedian's Contest. Upon learning this and that she wasn't going to perform at all, Lincoln rallied his sisters in getting Luan to realize she was actually funny. After a few failed attempts, it took Lincoln bungling up badly himself at the Chortle Portal for Luan to regain her confidence and return to her comedic form, even winning the contest along the way.
"Good to hear you having a hearty laugh, Luan. Better that than for you to ever question your comedic prowess." Lincoln told his sister with a confident smile.
"Aw, thanks." Luan expressed admirably as she sat up and moved closer to her brother, "And since you brought it up, I want to thank you again for stinking on purpose that one night at the Chortle Portal. Had you not done that, I might've never been able to return to the comedy game at all."
Lincoln laughed nervously and ultimately sighed, "Well, you see, that's something I've been meaning to talk to you about. Truthfully, I wasn't actually stinking on purpose that night. In fact, I was really trying to do my best at my own stand-up routine, but I got so nervous the moment I went on stage that I was flubbing things up left and right. Had you not come up onstage and took over, I probably would've faced the wrath of a none too pleased contingent of Royal Woods comedy lovers."
"Wait, really?" Luan wondered in surprise, "Then again, come to think of it, you did look sort of out of it when you were on stage. But no matter what was going on, you being up there did allow me to summon the courage to get up on there myself and return to form, so again, thanks."
She scooted over just a little closer to Lincoln and put an arm around him, which he did the same around her waist.
"Glad to have helped regardless." He said with a smile, "And speaking of being on stage and such, I do have to ask you something. How do you manage to be up there and not get, you know, super nervous or fearful over how the crowd reacts?"
Luan stroked her chin for a second before responding, "You know, the simplest way I can answer that is that it takes a lot of practice in getting used to everything. Yeah, it can be a little intimidating to have so many people watching your every move and waiting to react, but once you get that first big laugh, everything seems to go upward from there. You might remember that I used to practice in front of our family quite a bit when I was younger, then little by little I worked bigger crowds until it became second nature to me. So yeah, from my perspective, it's all a matter of just working small and going up the ladder to the bigger gigs."
"Oh...I guess I can see that. For a moment I thought you were going to bring up the old cliché about imagining everyone in their underwear." Lincoln said, chuckling lightly.
"Nah, that doesn't work for me. If anything, that makes things much more awkward. But of course, leave it to the boy who reads comics in his undies to think that's what I'd do." Luan teasingly stated, jabbing her brother playfully in the ribs with her elbow.
"Hey, it's freeing, that's what it is!" Lincoln happily shot back.
Luan engaged in a playful roll of her eyes, "Sure, whatever you say, little brother."
A quick share of grins and a pair of chortles overlapping, Luan reached over and resumed perusing her joke notebook, which Lincoln took a signal that he should be on his way. He stood up and made his way to the door.
"Actually, hold on a second, Lincoln." Luan said to him.
He paused and looked back over at her.
"I got something of my own to ask and it's kinda related to what we were just talking about." She started off innocently, "What are you eating under there?"
Lincoln was perplexed, "Huh, eating under where? I don't-"
That thought wouldn't be complete due to Luan bursting into another round of uproarious laughter.
"I just got you to admit you're eating underwear! Get it?!"
It took a few seconds, but Lincoln registered everything with a facepalm, a shake of his head, a sigh and a stifled chuckle.
"You are unbelievable..." He said before smiling in his sister's direction, "But you know what, don't ever stop being that."
"Even if some of your puns can kinda...out there, and can also be uninspired, I'd never want you to change because of what others might think." Lincoln said.
"Aw, shucks, get outta here." Luan replied in teasing embarrassment, "But hey, not every joke has to land. That's why I put myself undie pressure to keep myself at the top of my game!"
Lincoln scoffed humorously, "Case in point..."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, why don't we save the comedy critique for another time and check out this last video?" Luan suggested, mussing around Lincoln's hair.
"Suit yourself." He said.
Lincoln turned his attention back to his laptop and scrolled to the last of the videos that Luan had to offer. This final one had a more simpler title compared to the other two: "Sharing is Caring."
"Huh, what could this one be about?" He asked.
"Just play it and see." Luan implored to him, "This is actually my favorite one of tonight's offerings."
His curiosity growing by the second, Lincoln did just that and initiated in playing of this last video.
This time around, the park was where events were taking place. The first few seconds showed various combinations of the siblings playing and hanging around together before panning over to a nine-year-old Luan and six-year-old Lincoln sitting on a bench while Rita approached them with a pair of ice cream cones, handing one to each.
At first, all seemed fine until a breeze startled Lincoln and resulted in him dropping his ice cream cone to the ground. Fewer things for a boy of his age at the time are as upsetting as that, so he started to cry. After getting assurances to get him another, Rita went back over to the ice cream vendor to do that.
In the meantime, Luan looked at her saddened brother and back over to her own ice cream cone, then an idea came to mind.
"Here, you can have mine, Lincoln."
The boy turned over to his sister, tears coating his little cheeks, as she presented her own cone to him. At first glance, he wasn't sure in accepting this most generous of offers.
"But...but...that's yours..."
"It's okay. I'll tell Mom to give me the new one she's getting you."
For the young six-year-old, this was a level of generosity he hadn't seen much of from Luan at this point in his life. At her insistence, he accepted the cone as he smiled appreciatively at her.
"Thank you, Luan!"
As that video wrapped up, Luan put her arm around Lincoln again.
"Give me credit, I can be a total softy when I want to be." She said.
Lincoln breathed a little happy sigh, "Yeah, you can be. Plus, seeing this does remind me that it wouldn't be the last time we shared food of some kind. Granted, the moment I'm thinking of did appear to only come about due to something really stupid I did to you..."
"Of all the things he had to do…"
Luan was most certainly not in a good mood right now. Currently, she was sitting on the couch with her foot wrapped up in a cast and propped up on the coffee table with a pillow underneath and a pair of crutches to her right side. This after Lincoln made her the victim of a booby trap where he rigged a watermelon to fall onto her foot when she tried to snatch up one of the mac and cheese bites he'd been saving up. The trap came about after he found out someone had pilfered one of them already, most likely Lana when she belched after trying to deny any hypothetical culpability on her part.
As Luan sat by in her state of injury, Lincoln was in the kitchen and looked inside the refrigerator.
"Ah, now with no more vulturous sisters in my way..."
He retrieved the plastic container which housed the two remaining mac and cheese bites and was about to dive in to them.
Except, however, a sudden pang of guilt occurred within him. Though he was at the time quite peeved upon finding one of the bites being taken, Lincoln now wondered if he had been a little too selfish in trying to claim the remnants just only for himself. The words from Lori a while ago about how you can't expect to save every last scrap of food for yourself played back in his head. Thought he hated to admit it, she was likely right about that, and when he added the extreme lengths he went to preserve them and the fact he seriously harmed one of his sisters in the process, remorse was really occupying up space in him.
Feeling like he had to make things right to Luan, assuming she'll even give him that chance, Lincoln made a route to the living room, carrying with him the one thing he hoped could increase his chances for forgiveness in tow.
Arriving in the living room, Lincoln approached Luan, and the moment he entered her sight, she shot him a glare.
"Hey, uh…how are you, Luan?" Lincoln asked with an embarrassed chuckle.
Immediately, Luan folded her arms and averted her gaze away from him.
"Well, I don't really blame for being like this if I'm being honest..." Lincoln said in concession.
He sat down next to his sister, something that she sensed even with directly looking at him and if she really had a choice weren't not for her lack of mobility, she'd want to leave and not have anything to do with the brother who crushed her foot for the next while.
"Listen, Luan, I understand that you're mad at me and again, I don't blame you one bit for being like that." Lincoln started out with, "I was selfish, short-sighted and irresponsible for what I did to you and I'm sorry. I know apologies might not be enough to make up for everything, so..."
He pulled out the plastic container and popped the lid open, a sound that did cause Luan to revert her sights back to Lincoln. He presented the container to her.
"Here, you can have both of the mac and cheese bites that are remaining. Note that I said 'the', not 'my', since it's selfish of me to claim them solely for myself."
Luan was little taken off guard by Lincoln's willingness to give away what he was so possessive of not too long ago. Nonetheless, she took the container into her own hands and stared at the contents within. She looked back over at her brother as he gave her an approving smile.
However, it would be Lincoln's turn to be surprised when Luan claimed only one of the mac and cheese bites before handing the container back to him.
"Huh? But I said you can have them both." He said confusedly and tried to hand the container over to her again, "Seriously, I insist."
Luan pushed the container away from her and shook her head, grinning very lightly in the process. The signal that appeared to be clearly given out was that one was satisfactory enough for her and that Lincoln can lay claim to the final bite for himself.
As Luan began eating the mac and cheese bite in her possession, Lincoln eventually did take the last one and did the same.
"Well, I should perhaps leave you alone now." Lincoln said once he finished eating.
He took the container and its lid as he prepared to depart, but not before Luan suddenly spoke up.
"Actually, wait a moment, Lincoln." She said.
Lincoln turned back around, "Hmm?"
"I know you were just there, but can you do me a favor and go back over to the fridge?" Luan requested, "There was a brownie I was hoping to call for myself assuming no one else has done so already. Mind if you bring it to me?"
"Oh, uh...all right then. Sure, I can get it for you." Lincoln responded.
With that, Lincoln returned to the kitchen where he first put away the plastic container and then looked inside the refrigerator. After a quick scan, he saw a rectangular shape covered in a white wrapper which he presumed was the brownie that Luan requested. He took it and came back over to the living room.
"Is this it?" Lincoln asked his sister.
Luan nodded, "Indeed it is. Thank you, Lincoln. Now why don't you take a seat again?"
Lincoln was somewhat perplexed by that request, but nevertheless followed along. He sat back down while he watched Luan peel apart the wrapper to show off the brownie within. She broke it off into two halves and much to Lincoln's surprise, she handed one of them to him.
"Whoa...why are you…?" Lincoln attempted saying.
"Hey, you let me have one of your mac and cheese bites, so I should in return let you have some of my brownie, too." Luan said while smiling, "After all, sharing is caring."
Smiling back at her, Lincoln accepted the half of the brownie his sister offered him as both of them noshed away. Afterward, Lincoln shifted closer over to Luan so he could pat her on the shoulder. Likewise, she returned the favor by drawing him to her into a brief hug.
"Yes, if you're wondering, I think I can say that I forgive you right about now." She told him.
"I think the takeaway from that if you ask me is this: never underestimate the power that the sharing of snacks can have in earning one's forgiveness." Luan said.
Lincoln laughed, "And that watermelons shouldn't be dropped on your sister's foot to protect scraps of food that you know won't be the last time you'll ever have them."
"That's also true. Though I do wonder where you got the inspiration to pull off something like that. Water you believe made you think of that?" Luan asked with a teasing wink.
"Beats me." Lincoln said in mock innocence, "Whomever it may have been, their deviousness must've rubbed off onto me."
Both shared a brief giggle fit and then sighed.
"But seriously, to borrow a saying from a certain comedienne, thanks for sharing those videos, Luan. They were nice to see." Lincoln said appreciatively, "I know I asked this already, but are you sure there wasn't some kind of catch to this?"
"No, not at all, Lincoln." Luan answered, giving her him a rub of his back, "All I ever wanted to do was share in a moment of late night bonding with the only little brother I'll ever have."
She reached out and wrapped up said only little brother into a hug, something that Lincoln welcomed and gave back willingly.
"Thanks again, Luan." He said.
Once they parted, Lincoln closed the window on his laptop, went through the "proper" manner in ejecting Luan's flash drive before handing it over to her and shutting down the laptop.
"Thanks, Lincoln. Here, why don't I put this away for you?" Luan offered.
With the flash drive in her hand, Luan also took Lincoln's laptop and placed it back on his dresser. At the same time, Lincoln let out a little yawn as he crawled under the covers and got comfortable. Once he was all situated, Luan returned over by his side to give him a quick little kiss on his forehead.
"Good night, Lincoln." She said.
"Good night, Luan." Lincoln said in return.
Both shared a smile and then Luan left her brother be. While he began drifting to sleep, he had one last thought over the complexities that encapsulated his fourth oldest sister. Sure, she can be equal parts funny, tiring and cunning. But above all else, she was also truly a sweet, caring and insightful girl that he was grateful to have as one of his many sisters.
And with that, two are done! Who knows? Maybe another one will be done and up here as soon as tomorrow...and with that sense of intrigue, seen you soon!
