Author's Notes: Ok, I think it's time to mix things up again, a little trigger warning as well, but not for smut or anything like that!
Mzk: Yeah, recent episodes do seem to portray Todd as a very expressive, dare I even say, "emotional" robot, and his care for Lisa and the others seems genuine, almost like if he was another family member (Although even that is inconsistent in the show, and well, let's be honest, Todd is not a very popular character). I wrote that scene like that mainly because I view Todd is an extension of Lisa's pragmatic mindset, except, a more "innocent" one, as it should be expected from a machine, free from biases that arise from the biological repulsion towards incest, and thought that him interacting with Lily, another innocent character, would make for an interesting scene, I also hoped that it would contrast with the more insincere argument that Lisa and Lucy had (both having ulterior motives and all). Thanks for the review!
Disclaimer: I don't own The Loud House, the brand, as well as all of its characters and settings belong to Chris Savino and Nickelodeon, all rights reserved.
Chapter 71: Orange.
A mighty thud was heard on the floor, shaking the ground beneath and causing a few pictures and vases to fall over, aiding to the thunderous nature of the altercation currently taking place in the Loud residence.
It was the body of the father of the family, Lynn Loud Sr. laying on the ground as he was just recovering from the encounter with the enraged fists of Lincoln Loud, dripping blood freely from his nose, accompanied by a swollen eye and heavy bruises and damaged marks in his clothing.
He was now trying to get back up, but that wouldn't happen, as the man with white hair quickly put a foot in his chest, preventing him from moving, Lincoln was now looking directly at the eyes of his… "father", however he could call him now.
Although, for all he cares, he might as well just be called "obstacle".
- I will not allow you to take her away! - Despite his mangled, bruised form, Lynn Sr. still tried to act defensively, averting the eyes of the aggressor, who had just barged in to the house, uninvited.
- Oh, i don't think you have a say on that anymore, Lynn - Lincoln replied with distilled poison in his voice - In fact, I don't think you'll even get to say goodbye to her anymore - He said next with a nefarious grin, sending shivers down the terrified spine of the old man.
- W-what do you mean? - With a raised eyebrow, the man in the floor remained confrontational, but he still looked absolutely terrified of the behavior of the albino.
It was then to his horror and surprise, that Lincoln reached over to one of the pockets of his thick, orange jacket, only to pull an object unequivocally resembling the shape of a sharp, long knife, which he quickly gripped with his right hand.
- Let's just say - Lincoln spoke with a somber, intimidating tone - That I had a certain favor to return to my fellow "Orange Iguana" - He knelt to grab the wounded man by the collar of his green sweater, raising the knife at striking distance.
- L-lincoln, son, please, you're not like this, you don't actually want to do this, what I did back then was meant to protect you as well! - His voice was breaking, but the father tried his hardest to wake some sense into the aggressor.
- Funny, now I am your son? - Lincoln chuckled at the comment - Well, it certainly didn't look like that back then, you know, like, when you disowned me? - His smile was then quickly replaced by a rabid, homicidal look - Come on, Lynn, you know what you did, ruining lives is not as hard when you pretend that the person doesn't exist anymore, just admit it - His grip on the knife increased, starting to shake it.
- Son… please, don't do something that you will regret - The father replied terrified, but somewhat… accepting to his fate.
- Oh, i won't regret it, I already told you, Lynn, I am just paying you back - Lincoln mustered a distorted, sadistic grin, almost chuckling at the hilarity of his father's sorry state - Well… except, I can't really ruin your life any further, you kind of did that to yourself - He continued, never taking his creepy smile away - In fact, you should probably consider this a favor, I can actually just make the pain go away for you -
- Please… Lincoln -
- This is it, how your story ends, Lynn - The psychotic man finished, before making a movement to raise the knife and strik-
- WAIT! - An alarmed feminine young voice was heard coming downstairs, a very recognizable voice for the white haired man, halting his movement, the knife just inches away from the terrified face of his former father.
There was no doubt, it was her voice.
- Huh? - Lincoln took his attention away from the weakened old man to come face to face with the woman that he longed to see for long.
Except… she was dressed in a bright pink dress, with a… pointy hat?
- My knight, please, halt your process right now, thou shalt not hurt the man whom you owe your life to - Princess… DeLola…? Said with a compelling command - otherwise, check below you, these are the consequences of your rash display of emotions - She exclaimed with unfathomable sadness.
Lincoln was lost, unable to understand the reason behind Lola's cosplay, had she actually been driven insane?
He complied and looked down again.
Wait, what is happening? Why is she below him? She was just looking at him from the stairs, where was that awful man? and he was certain that he never actually swung the knife, so why is this sight real? Why is the woman below him already dead? Why is the knife already piercing through her skull?
No, this is horrifying, he didn't actually kill her right?
That was not the plan!
No, no, no, no, nononononononoNONONONONONONO!
*Beep* *Beep*
- AHHHHHH! - Lincoln rose from his bed with a mighty scream, gasping intensely as he used his hands to hold his head, trying his hardest to calm himself down.
He then remembered his breathing exercises, Dr. Robinson had been pretty adamant on reminding him to always do those early in the morning and a few moments before going back to sleep.
It was one of the only useful pieces of advise that he managed to give him, unfortunately, the therapy plan that Lori had gifted to him only applied to one visit, after that, given that he… cut contact with her, there was no more money to afford them, he was at least glad that he came from that one visit as an overall better person.
…Exhausting as it was, he wasn't looking forward to anymore therapy any time soon.
His… "uneasiness" was more under control, he had successfully managed to hold back any uncontrollable issues regarding his family and… ex-friends.
Now it was just a matter of… repressed emotions, but he would just have to learn to deal with them, the nightmares won't stop, he was certain of that, but at least during the day, he was a productive young man.
He looked at the alarm, it was 8:05AM.
Good.
A few of the advantages of living alone, as well as working independently, was the fact that he was now in complete control of his schedule.
He stretched his back and yawned loudly, before picking himself up and arranging his bed.
He took a brief glimpse of his room, his biggest pride, square-sized, about 270 square feet in area, with a queen sized bed front and center, accompanied to the side by two wooden orange night tables, the left one supporting a lamp, while the right one was used to support his macnote pro laptop and a… very special drawing, which had been plasticized and mounted on top of a frame.
To the right side from the perspective of said bed was located a door leading to the bathroom, his own bathroom, which was already bigger than the shared bathroom that he had to administer with his sisters back in… that place, he had it very well provided, with a shower that contained a temperate bathtub that could be used as a jacuzzi, as well as a fine walking-closet separating the bathroom from his normal room.
To the front, one could be easily blinded by his massive hanging 85' QLED Ramsung TV that ran at 120hz with 8K resolution, which was equipped with a Pear-TV with access to U-tub, Netflick and all the other streaming services he could afford, as well as a chest of drawers to the side supporting the latest Nitrosoft Zbox Series Z and a Mintendo Flip with a crap ton of games.
Then to the left side, was the sliding window door that granted access to a very wide balcony, where he was able to look to the mostly rural valleys of Sandy Flats, Michigan, as well as their famous museum of… chicken parts, while resting on his preferred area: Near a beach chair adorned with an umbrella, to the side of a 6x10 feet thermal pool.
Finally, at the upper left edge of the room, was the door leading downstairs, to the rest of his pent-house apartment, it being the entirety of the 20th floor of the tallest building available in Sandy Flats.
The albino proceeded to go downstairs to prepare his breakfast, first, he had to go trough a wide hall, which connected with a spacey living room to the right, equipped with three orange sofas surrounding a Japanese style white table containing a few bottles of champagne, wine and whiskey, which stood behind a wall-sized stereo for any sort of ambience and lots of windows for illumination.
Then he turned to the far left corner of said hall, to get access to his dinning room, which contained a comfy looking dinning table, that, while not as big as the one he used to participate in, still had enough space to host at least 8 people.
(Not that he needed to host anyone).
Passing though the dinning room, he finally landed on his kitchen, which was at least bigger than the one at Lynn's Table, for what he could last remember, and was organized similarly. He had a few ingredients here and there, mostly relegated to breakfast stuff as he usually preferred to just order on the night and he was seldom found on the house during "business" hours.
So he decided to be efficient today, cooking himself some fried eggs with bacon, and quickly arranging himself a Sauerkraut sandwich with peanut butter.
After finishing his quick meal, he tossed around the dishes in the washer and proceeded to go upstairs again to arrange himself, taking a long, hot shower, then getting his executive black suit ready, putting his special orange tie on and fixing his hair in a quiff pattern, preserving his signature cowlick, he then took a quick 5 minutes to shave his beard and mustache, brush his teeth and put on some Lacosta lotion, finally, he looked at the mirror to verify that his appearance was immaculate.
Perfect
The orange tie, to the untrained eye, may look like a mismatch to his elegant black suit, but in reality, it was a basic marketing strategy based on color-coding, his extensive research on business strategies allowed him to define it as the perfect color for approachability, being that orange represents excitement and determination, as well as high-energy for a vibrant social environment, overall, a color that elicits strong emotions, so it works in tandem with his confident attitude to create alliances.
He was now ready to depart, he returned downstairs, then headed off to his immediate left, where there was another room equipped with a few cupboards, all containing different kinds of beverages and cocktails, which were surrounding a meeting table on the center, supporting a few suits of poker cards and some splattered papers, all to be used on important business meetings or to "strengthen bonds" with business partners.
He was heading there to be able to exit his apartment, as the room itself was constructed in front of the exit door.
(He never felt comfortable enough to show the rest of his home).
Getting closer to the exit, he took one last view of that room, as well as the imagined layout of his current home, he wondered quietly how he even got to the point of living in such luxury, having spent so many years in a shit place full of trash and the smell of the stinky feet of his godawful aunt, he was truly impressed with the empire that he had managed to build on his own.
An apartment like this would cost a fortune to both pay the rent and support its services, thankfully, the albino was already exempt from one of the two issues.
This was all fully owned by him.
And it only took a few years to get to this point, after finishing high-school, he was able to immediately leave that disgusting place and his abusive aunt behind… except, he had nowhere to go.
Thankfully, he remembered the one ally that he could still rely on, making an international call was the only obstacle, so he quickly took it upon himself to earn some quick money by performing on a few children birthday parties as a magician.
This allowed him to pay for a new phone with an international plan, as well as food.
All so that he could contact Angus, the duke of Loch Loud, who quickly offered himself to selflessly donate a noticeable sum of money to allow Lincoln to rent a cheap room at the edge of Sandy Flats, the closest nowhere place he could go outside of Royal Woods to start a new life, free of media attention and the cold stares of people.
A ceiling, a laptop and internet access, that was all that he needed. For the next 3 months of allowance kindly donated by the wholesome representative of Scotland, Lincoln set his plan in motion: Thanks to the fact that his younger self thought that "Important belongings" had to include his full set of Style Savvy magazines and ARGGH! DVDs, as well as his collection of rare coins, he was able to get some material to kickstart his online trading store: orangextrade . com
Using the rest of the generous donation, Lincoln took the bold move to place all of his eggs on one basket, spending on advertisement both off and online, U-tub adds, sponsorship with various influencers, direct partnerships with I-bay and Amazin', and an overall presence in social media (Under anonymity, initially).
His efforts paid off, as the site's traffic began to increase exponentially, owing thankfully in part to the invaluable first edition Style Savvy magazines that he had preserved in pristine condition; now, the site was flooded with offers of all kind of collectibles: Trading cards, vintage consoles, comics and manga, rare videogames, international currency and even vintage cars.
Then, he waited, all while still working as a solid performing magician, royalties and sponsorship earnings simply began falling in place.
…well, this kind of business is slow growing and doesn't immediately make bank, specially considering the sunk costs of initial investments… he may have had to do… other sorts of business to bring in the money, hence the need for solid business "partners", but his confident skills and his natural ability at convincing worked to bring him forward in this area.
He was officially a businessman and executive of his own, middle-sized company.
And now, he was going over to his appointment at 10:00AM with some representatives of Goggol to seal the deal and get his domain in the mainstream.
The sky was the limit now.
It was about 7:30PM when the door was busted open on his pristine apartment, Lincoln was now excitedly jumping in the entrance.
- Yes, Yes, YES! - He cheered to himself, as the adrenaline died down.
He had sealed the deal, his brand had been purchased for a net worth of US$ 22.6M, he was now essentially set up for life.
For a 21 year old, being a millionaire truly felt like something beyond his wildest dreams, to think that all it took was a kind smile, a few sweet and eloquent words, and two full bottles of wine…
He truly felt proud of himself, and now he was finally ready to commence the next stage of his plan.
But for now, it was time for a well-deserved rest, he was mentally, as well as physically (Those muscles don't come for free!) exhausted, he retired a few bottles of whisky from his cupboards and went upstairs.
There, in front of his big TV, watching an anti-hero series in the mouse+ service, he laid on his bed, chugging the bottles on his system at an alarmingly quick rate as he quickly drifted away to fantasy land, the place where he actually felt happy, he grabbed the picture frame on his nightstand and stayed looking at it for what felt like hours.
Lincoln Loud was a young, brilliant, attractive and confident man, but the only moment where he was allowed to be himself, was during these orange-tainted nights, with his only real friend.
Alcohol.