Interpersonal communication is not just verbal cues and signifiers but nonverbal ones as well. Nonverbal signifiers could be something like body language, how you present yourself, or fun little pieces of clipart you download from the internet. Lincoln does enjoy using clipart a great deal and has an extensive catalog enclosed in a 4 gb flash drive he keeps in his wallet.
He's very picky about his clipart, only uses lossless png files and will not use anything that isn't properly made transparent. In another universe he might like to grow up to be a graphic designer who specializes in clipart, but according to Lisa's sources this particular iteration of Lincoln Loud does not go into graphic design. We apologize for this spoiler.
The timeline diagnostic machine that Lisa created has given this particular universe the designation of "NKTN-0205". Lisa has deduced a 20.16 percent deviation from "normality" due to the entropy diagnostic computations the TDM has given her. After talking to her peers she has discovered that the mere invention of the TDM adds a 17 percent deviation from "normalcy", they have opted to call this unit of measuring deviations of standardized entropy as "canon deviation". This isn't particularly important to the events unfolding currently, but it gives context for the words being written here.
The TDM that Lisa utilizes is pretty much ignored by every sibling in the house besides Lincoln and Lucy. Lincoln thinks it's kinda cool, but sorta scary. Lucy thinks it's an abomination to the natural disorder of things and wishes that it was never constructed. Lisa is pretty ambivalent about the whole contraption and doesn't really see what the big deal is. In her mind it's just as useful as a weatherman: not that useful at all if you didn't plan on going outside anyways.
"I understand that this is an emergency meeting," Lisa held up a clipboard, "But would you like me to go over the minutes of the last sibling meeting?"
Lincoln took a seat on the white bureau and motioned for her to continue. Lisa hesitated, Lynn shot Lincoln a look of confusion. "Listen, sure there is some stuff going on," Lincoln placated, "But let's just treat this like another day. No point in running around with our heads cut off."
Lily sighed and visibly relaxed, retrieving a lollipop from her smock she shifted into a more comfortable position on the floor. Lana sniffed and squinted her eyes before shrugging her shoulders and loudly popped open a can of diet Krebstar Cola. Lola calmly poured licorice tea into two teacups and handed one to Lucy. Lucy calmly sipped her cup and nodded. Lynn rolled her eyes and kneaded Leni's pillow into a more comfortable shape before lying against the wall.
Lisa adjusted her glasses and waited for the movements to cease before continuing, "Last Sibling Meeting took place on the Tuesday of last week. A followup discussion was held over Luan and Benny's upcoming anniversary dinner. Lynn started a motion to pool money for a group ticket to Dairy Land's upcoming water park addition "Dairy Spring's", we are currently sitting at 120 dollars, 50 percent to our goal. Leni made an appearance to let us know that she passed her first round of finals with flying colors at Darbymouth Design School. We made plans to celebrate Lincoln's graduation from middle school on the Tuesday after graduation, 3 days from today. We are still deciding the status of Luna's graduation party. Thus ends the minutes of last meeting."
"Does anyone have anything to add concerning the stuff brought up last meeting?" Lincoln asked the crowd.
"I was thinking about starting up a lawn care business over the summer," Lana announced, "Anyone who helps out takes a cut of the profits and we throw a cut of it into the pot to get into Dairy Springs."
"Splendid idea," Lisa nodded her head, "I can program some lawncare functionalities into Darebot… but I doubt he would have the finesse to handle more detail oriented work. We still need more hands on deck besides us two."
"I can handle passing out fliers at work when I'm on at the restaurant," Lincoln added, "I'm thinking 40 dollars per lawn, we'll each take 10 bucks and throw 10 into the pot. Probably be able to handle 4 to 6 lawns a day if we wake up early enough…"
"You guys handle that," Lynn said as she stretched out to lay down on the bed, "I'll see about picking up some shifts at the restaurant since you guys are being good team-players."
"If you are having money problems, Lincoln. Please talk to me after the meeting." Lisa addressed to Lincoln.
Lincoln cocked his eyebrow, "I wasn't aware of any problems with my finances, but okay. Sure."
"I seemed to have confused your lack of comprehension towards your finances with frugality, for that I apologize. With your salary you'd be able to bankroll something as trivial as this with a snap of your fingers," Lisa sounded a bit worried, "Have you not taken a look into your bank account?"
"Oh, I was saving up my money for college… maybe a car or something when I hit 16 so I haven't been checking so I don't get tempted…" Lincoln's confusion deepened, "Do you think that's like a pipe dream of something?"
"Negative." Lisa announced. Lincoln shifted uncomfortably on the desk and was perturbed by the implications of actually having money.
"Ohhhhh, that's perfect!" Lola announced with a smile before pulling out her tablet, "Now concerning Lincoln's graduation party we had a venue in mind besides using the boring old house..."
Lucy slammed the power button on a projector and Lana dimmed the lights. Lincoln was startled out of his daze and his eyes took a bit to adjust to the darkness.
Shown on the wall was a photo of the Royal Woods Hotel.
"Next." Lynn announced.
"H-hey, what gives?" Lola moaned, "I spent like 2 hours trying to figure out how to use this ding dang powerpoint thing!"
Lincoln wiped a tear from his eye. His little sister made a PowerPoint! He was so proud of her. "At least let her show us what she made, Lynn." Lincoln snapped at Lynn.
Lynn's eyebrows raised and she held up her hands, "Whoa, dude. Don't know why you're so upset, but like- aren't we banned from Royal Woods Hotel?"
"Uh, we were just there last week to visit Myrtle's sissy…" Lily rebutted.
"Oh yeah, it was cool meeting Reba- But wait, didn't we start an electrical fire and almost burn the place down?" Lynn replied.
"Nah, we left before the pigs show-." Lynn recounted.
"Annnnywaaaays," Lola interrupted, "Ahem, as you all know the Royal Woods Hotel and Spa boasts a beautiful banquet hall decorated in French Second Empire furnishings."
Lola advanced the slide and Lincoln's eyes lit up as he saw the slide starwipe into a tasteful and evenly formatted collection of pictures Lola took with her cellphone camera of the locale. Lola felt a wave of pride wash over her as she misinterpreted Lincoln's transfixation towards the powerpoint as his approval of Lola's refined tastes.
"Oooo," Lucy cooed, "You had me at Second Empire."
"Oh, Lucy…" Lola giggled, "This isn't for us, but for our dearest brother Lincoln. With a venue of this size we will be able to host a large number of friends and family. The hall boasts a bespoke turn of the century styled indoor amphitheater that can accentuate the party with tasteful live music- and also provide a wonderful stage for speeches and a presentation that we have produced to celebrate our much loved Lincoln."
Lincoln could care less about whatever Lola had planned for his graduation- not that he thinks that the transition between middle schooler to highschooler isn't the most important moment of a freshly minted teenager. Because it is. That is objective fact and nobody would ever attempt to dispute this. The only "transition" Lincoln gives a flying hoot about right now is the incredibly tasteful half a second dissolve into the next slide showing the amphitheater. Lola even provided a short paragraph of background that detailed the architect who built the banquet hall and designed the amphitheater stage. The words bounced along the screen before coming to a halt, Lola made sure to properly space the paragraph out to not overlap over the images she provided. A rookie mistake he was glad she did not make.
"Wonderful…" Lincoln's mouth was agape as his eyes traced the bouncing words.
"Yeah, it does look really pretty, Lola," Lily admitted, "But can we really afford this?"
Lisa slammed some numbers into a calculator and adjusted her glasses, "He can afford this easily."
Lincoln's words spilled out of his mouth in excitement, "What theme did you use? 'Yosemite Cadence', right? It looks like you made a custom color palate… very tasteful, Lola."
"Y- yes. Thank you, Lincoln," Lola was flattered, but she couldn't help think that perhaps Lincoln was focused on something other than the subject of her presentation, "But what do you think of the banquet hall, Lincoln?"
Lola's concluding slide featured a still from a series of commercials Lily starred in, Lily waving to the camera covered in mud. "An emotional appeal at the end to tie it all together, you are a natural, Lola." Lincoln mumbled to himself before getting serious, "Well to tell you the truth: I could care less about where the party is happening."
Lana turned on the lights as Lincoln deftly slipped from his seat, his feet landing on the floor with a hefty thud, "But after a presentation like this, I have changed my mind," Lincoln announced, "You've obviously spent a lot of time thinking about this, and your hard work has reached me. If I really can afford to drop the cash on something like this, then: sure. Let's throw that graduation party there."
Lola stood up and curtsied, "Thank you for the opportunity, Lincoln. I- uh," Lola scratched the back of her head in embarrassment, "Kinda like throwing parties."
The siblings gave her a tasteful round of golf claps. Lola felt pretty good about it and some of the other siblings took note. If anyone wants something for Lincoln all they'd have to do is make a powerpoint and he'd probably just roll over.
"Now," Lola's voice regained some composure, "I'm sending you the guest list, I've already gotten a good number of Definitely Going's from people on friendbook. It probably wouldn't be feasible to throw the party at the house with all these people, so this comes at a great relief."
"The least I can do is take care of the financial aspect of this party," Lisa announced, "I'll send you an itemized bill- and I promise you that I will execute affairs with fiscal discipline in mind."
"Oh! This party is going to be so cool!" Lily shouted, "I wonder if we can start a fire like last time!"
"Hehe, that'd be co-" Lana stopped herself in a rare moment of maturity, "N- no, Lily! No fires! Let's not ruin Lincoln's big day… he deserves to have at least one day out of the year where we don't stress him out."
"-Hey, you guys don't stress me out that much," Lincoln placated, he was met with blank stares, "Okay, well, at least not every day…"
Lucy cleared her throat, "Ahem, with this out of the way are we ready to discuss the reason for the emergency meeting?"
Lincoln checked his watch, a good half an hour until dinner. He looked around to see that everyone was at full attention, Lynn gave him a nod.
Lincoln calmly opened his mouth, "Luna and Sam have broken up."
"Gasp!" Lucy gasped.
Lincoln learned in history class that people back in the past divided up personalities into 4 different types. The ancient people of Italy believed that these personalities manifested in a person due to an abundance of "juices" in their bodies, they called these juices "humors". Lincoln thought the ancient peoples called them humors as some kind of inside joke about how silly the idea is, but they didn't even invent clothes back then and everyone wore white shower curtains so maybe they were being serious.
The four temperaments, according to Lincoln's fuzzy recollections are; "choleric", "melancholic", "the third one", and "double scorpion". Lucy falls under the melancholic temperament, she is melancholy. She is very introverted and spends a lot of her time inside her head, mulling over her emotions. Some people may think that she represses these emotions, but those people don't know Lucy that well. Lincoln can sometimes slip into the melancholic, but fancies himself a "double scorpion" because he has an advantage on initiative rolls on the first round of combat.
Coincidentally, History is Lincoln's first period class and he has a habit of taking naps in the middle of lectures.
At this point of their lives, everyone is kind of used to Lucy's whole "deal" and her melancholic juices.
"There, there…" Lola refilled Lucy's shaking teacup.
"Next time give us a warning before you drop a bomb like that, Lincoln." Lana sighed as she tenderly pet Lucy's head.
Lucy's initial gasp would've sounded like a barely audible whisper to the uninocculated bystander, but to everyone else in the family she might as well have screamed in terror.
"I- I'm sorry, guys." Lincoln apologized, "I wasn't trying to freak anyone out or anything, I just wanted to treat this like a regular meeting. Let's all take a deep breath before continuing."
The siblings took a moment of silence to get their bearings.
"You checked on her, right?" Lynn asked, "How is she doing?"
Lincoln took a moment before answering, "Well-" his sisters all leaned forward in attention, "She was quiet. She wasn't flipping her lid or anything. She's obviously pretty, uh- depressed over it all. But really, guys-"
Lincoln went back to the bureau and took a seat, "I'm not trying to downplay her feelings or, like, emotional turmoil or anything. But please, keep in mind that Luna is not Lori. I think if we try to use Lori and Bobby's fights as the blueprint to how to handle this we are just going to end up doing the same old song and dance."
Lana released a held-in breath and reluctantly nodded her head, "Yeah- I guess if we start buggin' over this and treating Luna like Lori we'd be doing her a disservice, or whatever…"
"I am going to assume by your nonchalant demeanor that you already have a contingency plan for this." Lisa held her arms behind her back with a look of confidence, Lincoln only tilted his head in response.
"A 'contingency plan'? Listen, Lisa: Luna is a person. She isn't a ticking time-bomb needing to be diffused. She just needs some space, some time-" Lincoln stretched and gave a tired yawn, "And eventually: someone to listen to her when she wants to talk. If she wants to lash out on someone I volunteer myself, Lynn can vouch that I'm a pretty good punching bag."
Lynn rolled her eyes, "Alright, Stinkcoln, your funeral. But seriously, if things get too hard to handle: tag me in, coach."
"Sigh," Lucy sighed, "So she's been in her room, silent? I cannot help but feel a bit worried, not for us, but for her."
"Yeah!" Lily whined, "I wanna go in and give her a hug! But… I guess we should give her some space if she feels a bit icky…"
"So, you think you got this handled, Bro?" Lana asked quizzically.
"Yeah… I'm halfway relieved that you're taking charge- but a little bit worried about all this." Lola revealed, "Not that I don't trust you or anything, it's just kinda icky knowing that we can't do anything…"
Lincoln broke the silence with a warm smile, "Listen, if she was here listening to us talking about helping her through this instead of like," Lincoln rested his hand on his chin in contemplation, "Locking her up in the basement or freezing her body in some kind of cryogenic stasis, she'd be thrilled. Luna likes it when we get along. I like it when we get along. Not only because it's less headaches, but I kinda care about you guys."
The siblings scratched their heads in embarrassment and looked at the floor and smiled.
Lynn got up and stretched, "Well…" Lynn gave Lincoln a nod of approval, "Now's a good time to ask about the room, bro."
The younger siblings all shot Lincoln a look of confusion. Lincoln pursed his lips and sighed, "Alright." Lincoln got up from the desk.
"So, uh-" Lincoln chuckled, "Now that I've gotten you all buttered up and in the palm of my hands, I was wondering…"
Lincoln traced a line on the gathering dust of the white bureau, "You guys mind if I move into this room? Sleeping in a closet is getting kinda old, and I don't really want to rent out a vacancy at a motel."
The younger siblings wordlessly looked at each other and looked back at their only brother, after a moment of silence they all nodded their heads.
Lincoln's heart-rate soared and he was a bit lightheaded, he felt himself almost faint and luckily caught himself on a drawer handle. Unluckily for him, the added weight caused the drawer to dislodge itself and he fell to the floor.
"Thanks guys, it means a lot to me." Lincoln winced in pain as he crumpled on the carpet.
He let out a sigh. Asking hurt way less than he thought it would.
But, unfortunately for him, the sharp corners of the drawer hurt way more.