The Mysterious 'Ship

Chapter 5: Getting Murkier

Luan stood there in the kitchen that Sunday and mulled over what she'd heard the day before through yet another tired haze, something that seemed to haunt her nowadays. There was no way in hell she was going to tell her siblings what she'd learned, especially since part of her said she had to be mistaken. Her little brother? A crush on a family member?

No way. She had to be wrong.

But how else could she explain it?

"'Without denying the affections we both might share'?" she rubbed her temples and yawned. "Geez, how else can any of this be taken?"

More importantly, she wanted, needed to know who his crush was. There was no denying that now. Sure, up to this point it was just as important to get him to come forward, but that idea was far and away no longer front and center in her mind.

Long legs? Who in our family has long legs?

Lori and Leni came to mind rather quickly. Then Luna. Lynn, despite Luan having to hold in a snort, came to mind as well. Herself.

Then she shuddered. Lucy? Lana? Lola? Lisa?

Oh please no!

"If it's Lily, I'm gonna barf," Luan tried but failed to suppress a full body shudder. After quaking for nearly a minute, she took a deep breath and calmed herself.

"Think, Luan, think," she thumped her head gently and considered all the available options. Then she snorted. "If it's Mom or Dad, I don't know whether to laugh or cry."

But as she stood there leaning over the counter deep in thought, a noise from behind caught her attention. Just as she turned to look behind her, her heart leaped into her throat and she found herself jumping so high she landed on the counter.

Her brother, arm outstretched, stood there just looking at her.

When Luan managed to catch her breath, she shakily asked, "W-what's up, Linc?"

As though they'd switched personalities, he quipped, "Besides you?"

"Har har," Luan replied as she slid off the counter. His arm was still outstretched, around waist level, so she tried her best to keep out of reach without looking like she was doing so. "Need something, Lincoln, or are you just checking my blood pressure?"

What he said made her relax somewhat. "I was just trying to get a snack from the cupboard," he then raised an eyebrow at his older sister. "Sorry, I thought you heard me ask if you'd move."

Realization dawning on her, Luan let out a laugh and immediately hoped it didn't sound too harsh, ragged or loud as she slid aside. "S-sorry, Lincoln, I must not have heard you."

While he reached into the cupboard and pulled out a small bag of chips, he looked at his sister. When he opened the bag, he asked her, "You okay, Luan?"

"Yeah," she waved her hand dismissively and laughed. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Looking for all the world like he didn't believe her, he said, "Well, you just don't look like you're getting a lot of sleep recently, so I was just wondering if anything was wrong."

Luan blinked. "Oh, that? Nah," she shook her head. "Just…" she hastily tried to think of something, "reading, that's it!" she laughed, tried putting both him and herself at ease. "Those Cuesta Tern novels can really get to you if you let them. Guess I'm not used to the horror genre as much as I'd like."

He still had a look of concern on his face, but nodded. "Well, if you say so. But you really shouldn't force yourself," Lincoln really did look concerned for her. "It's no good if it's affecting your sleep."

Her little brother really was kind, she thought as he walked away.

But was it all in act?

Was he really looking at them, his own sisters, mother, or father in that way?

She had to know.

Who was it?

No matter what she did, she couldn't convince herself it was anyone else. Nothing he said, nothing she knew made sense otherwise. It had to be one of them, one of his own family.

When Luan decided to start investigating once again, it was later that afternoon. Lincoln had offered to feed the pets, and she did her best to follow him without being spotted.

Given how small their house was, this was easier said than done.

Especially since she had a hell of a time fitting into the ventilation.

"Come on, say something. Anything!" Luan muttered under her breath. She couldn't move at all lest he hear her banging around against the metal. As she followed and watched quietly, he fed Charles, then Walt. "Make needing to be oiled up to get out of here worth it!"

Luan growled as she laid there, a sudden urge coming over her. "Dang it," her face scrunched up, a look of frustration growing as her mouth started opening. "Not now!"

And then, it happened.

She sneezed and hit her head.

Then she hissed in pain.

After a moment to recover, she looked out the vent, fearful she'd blown her cover. When she didn't spot Lincoln, she let out a little swear under her breath.

"Dang it!" she could feel a tear coming to her eye. She hadn't really hurt her head, the metal was pretty thin, after all, but it still smarted. "Hopefully he didn't hear me."

She was about to wriggle and crawl away to go look for him elsewhere when suddenly he entered back into her field of vision, a water bowl in hand. As he set it down by Cliff's bowl, she realized he was talking to himself.

"Maybe you're embarrassed by them, I don't know, but I always thought those big front teeth were actually really cute on you."

And Luan nearly did something very unladylike in the vents.

Thankfully, however, she didn't.

When she was finally out of the vents once more, she dashed and even jumped over Lana, Lola and Lucy to the bathroom where, after locking the door, she collapsed on the floor and sat there as his words echoed throughout her head.

Cute nose? Perky ears? Long legs?

She looked down at herself, considered the view.

M-my teeth?

Luan jumped to her feet, ran to the sink and looked at herself. Was her nose really small? Noticeably so? Her ears, were they actually perky? She wasn't sure anymore. She'd never thought that they were. And were her legs actually long and she just didn't notice?

And why hadn't anyone told her this before?

"Head in the game, Luan," she told her reflection, her hands splayed on the sink's rim as she leaned over the basin. "Th-there's gotta be some explanation! You aren't—he's not—I mean-" she grasped for something, anything to explain away what she heard.

But what was there to say?

She then noticed her teeth, stared into her eyes. Sure, she'd always been a bit self-conscious of her teeth, anyone in her situation would be, but cute?

She couldn't help but be flattered!

"Head. In. The. Game, Luan," she growled, slapped her right hand against the sink for emphasis.

This was so not the time to be excited for stuff like that.

There had to be an explanation, a non-incestuous explanation for all of this, she told herself. She just couldn't believe her brother was crushing on any of his sisters, no matter how much it seemed that way to her.

And crushing on her?

Luan scoffed.

"Besides, if it was anyone, it'd be Lori! Maybe Leni, actually. Or Luna, even," she thought about this, leaned against the sink. For some reason, she followed this subject a little further than she'd either expected or felt comfortable with. "I mean, maybe I could see Lynn being-" she caught herself then. "What am I saying?" she practically gagged.

Of course, thinking of her sisters, Luan realized one other thing; now she really couldn't tell them what she knew.

Regardless, Luan was now intimately invested in the mystery. She had to get him to come clean, and giving up wasn't an option anymore.

But first, she noted as she looked into the mirror and shivered, she needed some new equipment.