Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House' or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Restored Image: A tale retold
Chapter seven: Honor on the gridiron
It was a lovely enough morning day in Royal Woods, Michigan. Over at the Loud family residence, Lola Loud was entertaining a guest that she was having over. This is nothing too out of the ordinary; after all, Lola, who views herself as something of a 'proper lady', likes to host guests for social visits as she and they enjoy various refreshments. However, what made this specific visit particularly interesting was that the guest that Lola had over was a boy. In fact, the boy in question is Winston, the boy that the pageant winning Loud sister has a crush on.
After Lola finished a story that she was telling to Winston, the blonde-haired boy replied in a good-humored tone, "That's nothing. Why, you should have seen the mess my mother got herself into at the Royal Woods Mall last week."
"Did it happen on Thursday, by any chance?" the pageant-winning Loud sister asked, "Because if it did, then the story that my older sister Leni told me and the rest of my siblings when she got home from the mall that day suddenly makes way more sense."
As both Lola and Winston shared a good-natured laugh, Lola's older brother Lincoln came walking by. Although Lola wholeheartedly views Lincoln as her sibling, the feeling wasn't being returned at the moment; the white-haired boy was still feeling strong resentment towards most of his family due to the whole bad luck business that went down some time ago. Granted, Lincoln did have a role in it to some extent, but he only did so because otherwise he wouldn't get any time to himself. It was the rest of the Louds, with Lola being among that number, who took things way too far.
"Having fun, Lola?" Lincoln remarked casually as he was making his way over to the fridge to grab a can of cola, getting both six-year-olds to look over and see him there.
"Oh, Lincoln!" Lola said in a mildly surprised tone, not knowing that Lincoln was even there until he had spoken up. "Umm, yeah," Lola continued nervously, "Winston and I were just recounting funny stories that happened over at Royal Woods Mall."
"Hey, wait a minute," Winston said as he got a look at Lincoln, "Aren't you that fellow who intimidated that uncouth Ross fellow and his goons?"
"Oh yeah, that," Lincoln replied in an indifferent, casual tone, "Yeah, the glare I gave those clowns made them turn tail and run."
"Nothing more than a glare, huh?," Winston began in a mildly curious tone, "Wow, and here I was beginning to think that-" The blonde-haired six-year-old boy was cut off midsentence when the front door of the Loud residence was opened with such force that it made a sort of banging sound that got the attention of everyone that was currently there. The banging sound was quickly followed up by the sounds of one of the Loud girls crying.
"…What the hell is that?" Lincoln said as he, followed by Lola and Winston, went out to the front area of the house to see what was going on. Although the white-haired boy was still rather upset with most of the Loud girls, that doesn't necessarily mean that he wants to hear any of them cry. But anyway, when Lincoln, Lola and Winston arrived in the front area of the house, where the rest of the Loud kids were starting to gather, they saw that it was Lynn, wearing a baseball glove on her right hand; there was also a baseball bat lying on the floor on Lynn's right. It was clear that the sporty Loud sister had just gotten back from a baseball game. Everyone also saw that Lynn was the one who was crying.
"…Lynn's crying after coming back home from a baseball game?" Lincoln muttered to himself, his tone sounding more curious than anything else, "What happened?"
Lola must have heard what her older brother said because she made a scoffing sound before saying, "Her team must have lost the game, and there wasn't anyone there for her to blame the loss on." With a gentle shake of her head, the pageant-winning Loud sister continued as she crossed her arms over her chest, "Lynn's just being a sore loser, is all."
As Lincoln, Lola and Winston continued to bear witness to Lynn's breakdown while the remainder of the people at the Loud residence continued to come in to see what was going on, Rita came walking into the house, having brought Lynn back home after the apparently disastrous baseball game. "Kids, Lynn's baseball game ended on a really bad note for her," Rita remarked in a concerned tone, "So I think that it would be nice if you all gave her some space for the time being."
"What, did Lynn's team lose big time or something?" Lori asked in a tone that was completely devoid of sympathy; due to recently finding out the exact extent of what Lynn had done in contributing to Lincoln's recent running away from home, the oldest Loud sibling was finding it rather difficult to show any sympathy towards her sporty younger sister. With a disapproving headshake, Lori continued, "Just because Lynn and her team lost today's Hey wait a minute…" Deviating midsentence as she suddenly remembered an important detail about Lynn's baseball game that occurred earlier, Lori began to ask, "Wasn't that the game where Lynn's team played against the team that Francisco belongs t-"
The oldest Loud sibling never got to finish that sentence because as soon as she said the name of Lynn's crush, Lynn herself shoulder-rammed Lori in the stomach, sending Lori flying into the sofa where she landed in a sitting position. The sporty Loud then leaped over to where her older sister sat, where she grabbed Lori's tank top collar with both hands to yank Lori closer to her face. With Lori's face was within an inch of her own, Lynn spoke in a tone that sent shivers down Lori's spine. "NEVER…SAY…THAT…NAME…AGAIN," Lynn threatened before she shoved Lori back into the sofa. Lynn then leapt off and ran upstairs crying.
After the clearly distressed sporty Loud sister disappeared to the second floor of the Loud family home, everyone else that was still on the ground floor began to look around with shocked, confused and mildly uncomfortable expressions. "Umm, I hate to be a bother," Winston began to ask in a mildly worried tone that made it clear he was worried about contributing to the now heavy atmosphere, "But would I be right to say that I should go home now?"
Sighing in a resigned tone, Lola replied, "I can ask my mom to call your mom to come over and pick you up."
Later that afternoon, all of the Loud siblings, minus Lynn who was still upset (enough so to the point that she actually skipped dinner), were having a sibling meeting in Lori and Leni's room. Sighing in a resigned tone, Lori said, "Alright, everyone, here's the deal. As it turns out, Lynn isn't acting upset because her team lost the baseball game that they had today. As a matter of fact, Lynn's team literally won the game they played today."
"Then what has Lynn so upset, dude?" Luna asked, her tone clearly conveying that she was worried about her sporty younger sister.
With a resigned sigh as she gently rubbed her stomach (which was still a bit sore from Lynn's shoulder ram from earlier), Lori explained, "As we all know, Lynn's team played against the team that Francisco belongs to today. From what mom told me after Lynn ran up to her and Lucy's room crying earlier, it was discovered during today's game that not only had Francisco's team committed multiple instances of cheating during the current season, but they were actively trying to cheat during today's game. When all of this cheating was discovered, Francisco's team was disqualified, giving Lynn's team the win."
"Wait, what?!" Luan nearly exclaimed, a completely shocked look on the comedic loud sibling's face. It was a kind of expression that was being worn by most of the others in the room.
Nodding in mildly somber confirmation, Lisa added, "Furthermore, when Lynn had asked Francisco about his team's cheating when said cheating had been revealed, Lynn learned that, while Francisco himself didn't commit any of the cheating, he knew about what was going on but decided not to say anything about it." With a troubled sigh, the brainy Loud sister said, "As far as Lynn is concerned, even if you aren't doing any of the cheating yourself, if you discover that your team is cheating but you don't report it, then you're just as guilty. That being said, upon finding out that Francisco played such a role, Lynn was heartbroken."
"Wait a minute," Lincoln began, his expression making it clear that he didn't like what he was hearing, "THAT'S why Lynn was crying earlier? She got her heart broken by the boy that she had a crush on?" Despite the concern that he was showing for Lynn, Lincoln is still rather upset with her for the role she played in driving him to ultimately run away from home; in fact, an argument could be made that out of all of the members of the Loud family that is he still upset with, the white-haired boy is the most upset with Lynn. Additionally, if the ONLY reason that the sporty Loud sister had for her crying was because one of her sports teams had just lost a game, then Lincoln would have actually found some amusement in Lynn's current plight. But Lynn wasn't crying because one of her sports teams lost a game. Lynn was crying because the boy that she had a crush on broke her heart.
The white-haired boy does not find any amusement in hearing about one of the Loud girls getting their heart broken by a crush. AT ALL. Not now, not ever.
"Is there anything that any of us can do to help Lynn, you guys?" Lana asked in a concerned tone, "I mean, from the sounds of things, Lynn isn't going to stop anytime soon."
With a resigned, troubled sigh, Lori replied, "The best thing that we can do for Lynn right now is to give her some space for the time being." With a mildly rattled expression, Lori added as she gently rubbed her stomach, "A lot of space."
"But I sleep in the same room as Lynn," Lucy pointed out.
Snapping her fingers, Lori remarked, "Oh shoot, I forgot about that."
As the Loud sisters proceeded to brainstorm ideas on what to do for Lucy, Lincoln had an idea; he, as well as his friends Clyde, Rusty, Liam and Zach, had an overnight thing planned at Rusty's place. As such, this would leave Lincoln's room available, meaning that Lucy could potentially use it while Lynn was given space to cool off. Alternatively, since the overnight thing was going on over at Rusty's, Lincoln could look into arranging to bring Lucy with him, mostly because Lucy and Rusty's younger brother Rocky managed to hit it off. However, there was one major problem with both plans.
Lincoln was still rather resentful towards Lucy for the role that she played.
"There's the couch in the living room, isn't there?" Lincoln suggested, getting the girls in the room to turn to face his direction.
"…Yeah," Lori began, her tone mildly subdued, "But…but it's a couch."
Getting up from where he sat on the floor, Lincoln said in a more or less indifferent tone as he dusted himself off with his hands, "Well I don't see any other alternatives." Turning to leave, the white-haired boy said, "Now then, if you all will excuse me, I need to get ready to head over to Rusty's place. He's got this new video game that he's really eager to show off to me and the rest of the guys." Before any of the Loud girls in the room could get a word in edgewise, their only brother had left the room.
Lori and the others sat in awkward silence, realizing not only was Lynn upset with what happened at her game earlier in the day, but that Lincoln was still upset with most of them for what they collectively did to him. Even Luan and Lily, the only sisters to have reconciled with Lincoln, felt uncomfortable.
"…We really did a number to him," Luna remarked in a somber tone to the rest of the sisters as a whole, "Didn't we?"
"As if things weren't difficult enough for us already," Lola remarked, sounding just as guilty as her musically inclined older sister. The other sisters looked around guiltily. Lucy especially, since her older brother more or less didn't care that she was effectively lacking a proper bed to sleep in that night.
Given what she contributed to, Lucy felt she had this coming.
The following morning at Rusty's place, Lincoln and his friends were all having breakfast in the kitchen area, while Rusty's younger brother Rocky was having a bowl of cereal out in the living room. "Wow, what happened to that older sister of yours sounds pretty harsh," Zach remarked in a concerned tone as he pointed to Lincoln, "No girl should have to go through something like that if you ask me."
"Well that goes without saying, Zach," Rusty commented, "Why, I'm half-tempted to go out and find that jerk and give him a piece of my mind. After all, it was thanks to Lincoln's sister Lynn that I met Polly."
As his friends talked about what he had told them about Lynn getting her heart broken, Lincoln was surprised to find that they were as concerned for Lynn as they were, given that Clyde only ever sees Lynn when he swings by to hang out with him (Lincoln), Rusty only ever saw Lynn the time that he was introduced to the aforementioned Polly, and both Zach and Liam never actually even met Lynn. Lincoln's friends were rather empathetic towards Lynn, especially since the boys as a whole were hardly familiar with her.
"Lynn will bounce back within short order," Lincoln remarked, getting his friends to all turn to face him. "I know this girl," the white-haired boy began to explain, "Lynn's not the kind of person who would let anything keep her down for too long." After eating a spoonful of cereal, Lincoln added, "She's just got way too much of an ego for that."
Lincoln's friends all considered what he had said before Clyde spoke up. "Lincoln's right about Lynn," Clyde remarked, "I've seen her enough times to know that she's a rather prideful girl." Nodding in agreement with Lincoln's assessment, Clyde said, "Lynn will be fine."
As the rest of the group began to relax, Lincoln began to think about how his sporty ex-sister was doing. Just as Clyde had said, Lynn was a rather prideful individual, and as such, it should not take too long for her to bounce back. Only, Lincoln noticed that Lynn was taking longer than he thought she should to recover from what happened at that baseball game.
Despite the fact that he was still resentful towards her for her part in what happened to him, Lincoln could not help himself but be worried about Lynn.
After the get together at Rusty's place was over, Lincoln was making his way back home. Clyde, wanting to ask more about what happened, decided to accompany the white-haired boy. "I still can't believe that something like that was going on for as long as it had been," Clyde remarked in a concerned tone as he and Lincoln walked and talked.
"I won't argue with that," Lincoln replied, "I mean, what Lynn is going through is something that I would never wish on her or any of the other girls, especially since-" The white-haired boy was cut off midsentence when he and Clyde heard something that caught their attention. Looking over, the two boys saw that Lynn standing under a tree, with a baseball helmet sitting on the ground. Lynn was repeatedly bashing the helmet with a baseball bat.
"Stupid baseball!" Lincoln and Clyde could hear Lynn saying angrily as she started causing damage to the baseball helmet, "Stupid cheating! Stupid Francisco!" With increased speed and fury, the sporty Loud sister exclaimed as her efforts began to break the baseball helmet into pieces, "STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!" After she smashed the baseball helmet into oblivion, the sporty Loud sibling breathed hard in exhaustion. As Lynn was catching her breath, Lincoln and Clyde came walking over.
"Lynn, are you okay?" Lincoln asked in a clearly concerned tone, getting Lynn's attention in the process, "Why would you break a baseball helmet like that?"
"L-Lincoln?" Lynn said in a surprised tone, surprised because she didn't think her younger brother would even want to be talking to her right now, and for good reason. Her surprised expression morphing into one that was a mix of resignation and heartbreak, Lynn said, "I…I can't do it anymore. I just can't do baseball."
"You're giving up on one of your sports?" Clyde asked, more than a hint of surprise seeping into the African American child's voice.
Nodding her head a few times in bitter confirmation, the sporty Loud sister remarked in a resigned tone, "After what happened at the game yesterday, after what…what he did…I just can't do baseball anymore."
"…" Giving his sporty ex-sister a serious look, Lincoln said, "Lynn, seriously. If there's anything you need right now, give me a holler, alright?"
Lynn was nothing short of shocked to hear Lincoln's offer. She knew full well what she and the other Loud sisters had done to him. Lynn also knew full well that all of that messy business was started because of something SHE did, because SHE couldn't take the idea that she could be at fault for losing in a sports game. As far as she was concerned, Lynn felt that she had no right to receive any sympathy from her younger brother.
…And yet here Lincoln was, still upset with her but nonetheless offering her a shoulder to-
"GAHHHH!" Lynn cried out, more out of surprise than anything else when she felt something hit her in the back before landing in the grass behind her, prompting her to turn around to see what it was. "Huh?" Lynn remarked in mild confusion as she found a football laying in the grass. Picking the football up, Lynn said in a more or less casual tone, "Huh, so this is what hit me." Rolling the football around in her hands, Lynn remarked, "I wonder where this-"
"Hey, can I get my football back?" Lynn and the two boys heard someone call out, prompting them to look over and see a boy come running over to them. Roughly the same height as Luan, this boy had long and somewhat wild-looking black hair. He wore a light brown long-sleeved shirt (its sleeve ends hung loosely around the wrists, rather than cling tightly to them) under a somewhat baggy t-shirt that resembled the Swedish flag, a loose-fitting pair of cargo pants held up with a belt, and brown boots. Around the boy's neck was a necklace that had three bear claws as charms. The boy was also noticeably, but not excessively, strong of body; that, plus his bear claw necklace and his long and wild black hair gave him the look of a wild warrior from a northern land of snow and cold.
"Hey, are you okay?" the boy asked as he pointed to Lynn, who was holding the football that he was seeking.
Lynn, having gotten a good look at this boy, stood there as if caught in a trance. Seeing that his friend's older sister wasn't moving, Clyde waved a hand in front of Lynn's face. Turning to face the boy that came up to them, Clyde said, "You're going to have to forgive her. You see, she's going through a rough patch right now."
"I notice that she must have been crying," the boy remarked as he pointed to Lynn, "I assume that someone did something to upset her a lot?" Lincoln proceeded to explain to the boy what had happened, being careful not to mention Francisco by name lest he make Lynn even more upset than she was already. "…I see," the boy replied in an understanding tone, "I know very little if anything about baseball, but I would be of a similar disposition as your sister if something like that occurred on the gridiron."
"Totally!" Lynn suddenly exclaimed, sounding as if she had suddenly gotten over what had made her upset, "In fact, my football team is looking for a new strong safety, and you look like you'd be perfect for the position! What's your name?"
Caught off guard somewhat by Lynn's sudden recovery, the boy replied, "My name is Ulfric Aesir. My parents and I very recently moved here from Sweden."
"Well that certainly explains why I haven't seen you around here before," Lynn continued, a hint of eagerness in her tone, "Are you going to Royal Woods Middle School?"
"I start tomorrow," Ulfric replied, "Why? Do you go there as well?"
"Totally," Lynn answered as her small smile started to slowly but surely grow, "Where should we meet up after classes tomorrow so I can take you over to the football field for practice?"
"How about by the library?" Ulfric suggested, "It's one of the few places at the Middle School that I know where to locate without someone escorting me there."
"Fair enough," Lynn replied, "Is there anything else?"
Pointing to Lynn, Ulfric said, "I'd like to get my football back now, please." Noticing that she was still holding Ulfric's football, Lynn blushed and chuckled in an embarrassed manner as she handed the football over to Ulfric. "Well then, I suppose that I shall be seeing you later," Ulfric remarked, "As I gave you my name, can I get yours before I go?"
"Lynn Loud," replied the sporty Loud sibling.
With something of a small smile, Ulfric replied, "Well then, Lynn Loud, I look forward to playing some football with you." Turning around, Ulfric said as he walked off while he raised a hand, "Take care."
After Ulfric was gone, Lincoln said, "Well I'll be, Lynn. It looks like finding a potential new member for the football team that you belong helped to get you out of your depression." After a few seconds of not getting a response from Lynn, Lincoln leaned forward slightly and turned his head so that he could see his sporty ex-sister's face.
Recognizing the look of being love-struck on Lynn's face, Lincoln turned to face Clyde. "Well what do you know, Clyde?" Lincoln remarked dryly, "I think that Lynn might be broken."
"I think you're right, dude," Clyde agreed when he got a look at Lynn's expression.
Later the following evening over at the Loud residence, Lincoln was helping his ex-sisters Leni, Luna, Lucy and Lana with setting up the table for dinner. As the five of them got the table ready, Lincoln had brought up how Lynn had seemingly found a new crush. "He sounds like a solid dude from what you told the rest of us," Luna said to Lincoln as they straightened out the chairs at the table, some of which were seated at somewhat crooked angles.
"Yeah, and from what you said about him not liking cheating in football, I'm certain that this Ulfric fellow won't go and-" Lana began, but she was cut off midsentence by some knocking that came from the front door.
"I'll get that," Lincoln replied as he left the dining room to go answer the door. When he did, the sole Loud boy was surprised to see Ulfric standing there.
"I apologize if I came at an inconvenient time," Ulfric greeted with a look of mild concern on his face, "But something rather troubling came up, and I want to go over it with Lynn. Is she available right now?" Before Lincoln could respond, Lynn happened to have walked by at the moment. Noticing that Ulfric was standing at the front door, she immediately came over.
"Ulfric! Hey!" Lynn greeted in a friendly tone, "Come on in!"
"We're about to have dinner, Lynn," Lucy pointed out to her older sister as she, Luna, Lana and Leni came out of the dining room.
"I just had something that I wished to ask Lynn about," the foreign-born boy remarked, "I'll try to keep my business here brief."
"You…you wanted to ask me about something?" Lynn said, a faint but steadily growing blush appearing across the sporty Loud sibling's face.
Nodding once in the affirmative, Ulfric began, "Do you remember how, during football practice earlier today, the football that we were using wasn't inflated properly?"
Her expression dropping somewhat (she was hoping that Ulfric was going to confess that he had a crush on her), Lynn replied, "Oh yeah. The football incident from earlier." Straightening up somewhat, Lynn asked, "What about it?"
"Let's say, in a hypothetical situation, that the football was like that on purpose," Ulfric began, "For the supposed purpose of making it easier to grip." With a concerned yet serious look on his face, the foreign-born boy asked, "Is this a good thing, yes or no?"
"What?!" Lynn exclaimed, "Of course that's not a good thing! That's not a good thing at all! It's a form of cheating!"
"…As I suspected," Ulfric remarked as he looked to the floor, holding his left hand over his chin as he put his right hand on his waist. Looking back up to Lynn, Ulfric continued, "Since that's the case, then I'm afraid that I discovered that some of the members of the football team that we belong to are trying to use the apparent method of cheating that I just described."
A look of complete disbelief spreading across her face, Lynn held a hand to her forehead as she looked down at the floor in shock. "I…I can't believe this," Lynn said, "Members of one of the sports teams that I belong to are trying to cheat. This can't be real."
"Little dude, what happened exactly?" Luna asked when she turned to look at Ulfric, prompting him to explain what had happened; apparently during football practice earlier that day, Ulfric noticed that the football that they were using wasn't properly inflated, so he brought this to the coach's attention. Later, when Ulfric was alone in the boys' locker room, two other boys on the team confronted him about pointing out the football's problem. Apparently, some of the boys on the team were using the improperly inflated football gambit in an attempt to rack up some wins for their team.
Ulfric said that the two boys attempted to 'haze' him as a sort-of welcome to the team (Ulfric confessed he had no idea what 'haze' in this regard means) via shoving him from behind in the back, but their hazing failed when Ulfric turned to face them; both boys in question were a good few inches shorter than Ulfric, and neither of them were anywhere near as well-conditioned as him (they were thin whereas Ulfric had muscle). Ulfric also mentioned that he was under the implication that the two boys were trying to threaten him into keeping quiet about their gambit with the improperly inflated football.
"As the coach had left prior to the conflict," Ulfric said to Lynn and the others as he finished his tale, "I decided that informing Lynn about this in the hopes that we can bring it to the coach's attention tomorrow was the best course of action."
Sniffling a little bit, Lynn said, "Ulfric."
"Hmm?" Ulfric replied in a tone of mildly piqued interest as he turned to face the sporty Loud sibling. Although she looked like she was going to start crying at any moment, Lynn was smiling, as if someone had just done something really nice for her.
"Thanks," was all that Lynn said.
"…I am confused," Ulfric admitted in a mildly lost tone, "What are you thanking me for?"
"Baseball is kind of spoiled for me at the moment because this total jerk ruined it for me," Lynn explained as she was putting in a bit of effort not to cry, "If it hadn't been for you telling me about what happened and asking me to help bring it to the coach's attention, then football would have been ruined for me, too. I'm not sure if I would have been able to stick with sports as a whole if football was ruined for me like baseball was."
With a wry look of mild amusement on his face, Ulfric replied, "Well I'm glad to see that unlike some of the guys on our team, you actually take football seriously. Well anywho, I ought to be taking my leave now. See you tomorrow."
After the foreign-born boy had left, Lynn closed the door and turned around to face her siblings. "So, sis," Lana remarked with a sly look, "When are you going to make your move on him?"
"I don't know!" Lynn exclaimed in embarrassment, which was further highlighted by the blushing on her face. As Lynn blushed, her sisters that were present began to laugh. Lincoln didn't laugh, but he was still nonetheless relieved to see that his sporty ex-sister was finally bouncing back after the devastating blow that she suffered. Granted, the white-haired boy was still rather upset with Lynn for her role in the aforementioned bad luck nonsense, especially since if it wasn't for Lynn forcing him to go to that one game of hers, then that hot mess wouldn't have happened in the first place.
…But if Bobby can be a good influence on Lori, then who's to say that this Ulfric fellow can't be the same for Lynn? Lincoln, right when he had first returned to Royal Woods after his extended stay over in Great Lakes City, felt that if there was one person in the Loud family that he would never be able to reconcile with, it would have been Lynn.
…But with Ulfric keeping an eye on the sporty Loud sister, Lincoln may eventually be able to reconcile with her after all.
The following evening over at the Loud residence, Lynn was sitting in the living room with Lincoln, Lori, Luan, Lola and Lisa as they all watched TV. Now normally, the oldest half of the group would have occupied the sofa while the youngest half sat on the floor. However, Lynn decided to give her seat up to Lincoln. Although surprised by Lynn's actions here, the white-haired boy nonetheless accepted.
"Hey Lynn, I heard that the football team that you belong to can't play in the next three games that it was slated to play," Luan remarked as the show she and the others were watching went to commercial, "Are you okay about that?"
"Well yeah," Lynn replied in a casual tone, "Of course I'm upset that my team can't play." After Lynn and Ulfric had brought the cheating on the football team to the coach's attention, the coach did a thorough investigation on the matter and discovered that half of the team was in on it while the other half had no idea what was going on. The coach ended up kicking the cheating half off of the team entirely, even having the two boys that tried to threaten Ulfric suspended (they were both identified by Ulfric).
However, due to the severe cuts that were made to the team, the RWMS football team had to surrender the next three games that they were slated to play, as they needed more time to get and train new (honest) players. However, everyone that was still on the team were all in agreement on how not being able to play with a clean team was a better alternative than playing with one that was cheating.
A few seconds after admitting to being upset about not being able to play, Lynn added, "But I would have been even more upset if I did play but I discovered that my team had been cheating during the game. Never let it be said that I'd be okay with one of my sports teams winning a game because we broke the rules."
"So…" Lori began in a curious tone, "…You're good?"
With a bit of a chuckle, Lynn said, "Yeah, Lori, I'm go-" before Lynn could finish, she was cut off when there was a knocking at the door.
"Allow me to get that, my sibling units," Lisa said as she got up and went over to answer the door. A few seconds after she opened the front door, the brainy Loud sibling called out, "Hey Lynn! There's some boy at the door asking for you! He looks like a barbarian movie reject from the nineteen-eighties!"
"Barbarian movie reject?" Ulfric's familiar voice replied, two parts offended and eight parts confused.
"Dang it, Lisa!" Lynn swore under her breath as she got up quickly and ran over to the door, seeing Ulfric standing there. "Ulfric, I am so sorry about my little sister here," Lynn said as she not-so-gently shoved Lisa out to the living room. Returning to the front door, Lynn asked, "So anyway, what brings you by?"
In response, Ulfric held up a small shopping bag from a foreign food store. "As you are the first person who I met since moving here to the states that treated me with kindness, I felt as if I should get you a little something as thanks," The foreign-born boy explained, "Some girl with a long brown ponytail that randomly ran into me suggested that I get you some chocolate."
"Did he say chocolate?" Lori said as she quickly came running over with the other sisters who were watching TV with Lynn. Lincoln, with a bemused look on his face didn't even bother to try and argue with what the girls were doing; after all, they were all chocoholics, so the mere mention of that more desired confection will prompt the girls to all drop what they were doing and rush over. Even though he was still upset with most of them, the white-haired boy wasn't going to hold this against them.
"Umm, it's meant for Lynn," Ulfric replied in a mildly confused tone as he saw the eager looks on the faces of the other girls, "I'm sorry if-" Stopping short upon seeing Luan, Ulfric pointed to her and said, "Hey, you're the girl who gave me the idea about getting chocolate for Lynn as a way of saying thanks."
"Oh, that's my older sister Luan," Lynn explained to Ulfric as she gestured to the comedic Loud sibling.
Regarding Lynn's sisters and Lincoln, Ulfric turned to face Lynn. "You certainly have a rather large family, Lynn," the foreign-born boy said. Hearing Ulfric say this, Lynn could not help but chuckle a little.
"This is only half of my siblings," Lynn remarked.
His eyes widening somewhat out of shock due to what Lynn had just told him, Ulfric merely said in a shocked tone, "…Impressive." Ulfric's response only served to make the sporty Loud sister laugh even louder and harder.
As the other Loud siblings who were present were watching this, Luan turned to face Lincoln, Lori, Lola and Lisa. Discreetly pointing to Ulfric, Luan said to Lincoln and the others, "That boy's there is a keeper."
Later that week on Friday, Lincoln was lying in his bed, having gotten rather sick. As the white-haired boy was trying to rest, he heard a knocking at his bedroom door. Lincoln weakly called out for whoever it was to enter, and as such Lori came walking in, carrying some medicine and a glass of water for Lincoln.
"Hey Lori," Lincoln greeted weakly, his ill voice making his speech sound a little slurred. Slowly trying to get out of bed, Lincoln asked, "Is there anything that you need me for?" Lincoln would have continued trying to get up, but his oldest ex-sister, setting the glass of water and medicine on Lincoln's dresser, walked over to Lincoln and gently pushed down on his right shoulder, forcing him back down into bed.
"Yeah, I'm going to have to ask that you lay back down in bed and stay there," Lori replied in as gentle of a tone as Lincoln ever recalled her using; the last time that Lincoln remembered hearing Lori use a tone that gentle was when she had held him in her arms after he was found lying passed out on the sidewalk outside of the apartment building slash bodega store where the Casagrandes lived in Great Lakes City. When the white-haired boy was back to laying down in his bed, Lori continued, "Anyway, mom and dad are going to be heading out soon for a date night. That being said, I'm going to be left in charge again."
"I'll be down stairs standing at attention with the girls, then," Lincoln replied dryly as he tried once again to get up out of bed, only for Lori to gently force him back down.
"Yeah, I'm literally going to be excusing you from doing that," the oldest Loud sibling replied in a sympathetic tone, "Lin-"
"Wow," Lincoln replied in a bitter tone, interrupting Lori in the process, "I never would have expected you to go easy on any of us when your parents are out and you're left in charge. Despite everything that he had done to keep Lori's relationship with Bobby stable, despite the kindness that Lori was showing him right now, the white-haired boy was still rather upset with the oldest of his ex-sisters. It would take a lot more than simple kindness from Lori before Lincoln would consider reconciling with her. Realizing what her younger brother was implying, Lori literally could not blame him.
Sighing in a mildly defeated tone, Lori said, "I know what I usually do when I'm left in charge is literally bogus, Lincoln. And that's part of why I'm here." Lincoln, his curiosity piqued by that last part, decided to hear Lori out. "I want to try and change things up a bit while I'm in charge," Lori began to explain, "The time back when you and all of the girls took control from me when mom and dad left me in charge got me thinking that there's got to be a better way I can keep everyone from literally bring the place down around us while still maintaining control."
"And you're telling me this because…" Lincoln replied, expecting to be filled in.
"Because I was hoping that you'd have an idea," Lori explained, "You're usually good with coming up with ideas, so I was hoping you'd be willing to help me out on this one." Lincoln was actually rather surprised with what Lori was saying; she wanted his help on something? Wow, that isn't something that one sees every day.
Regardless, the white-haired boy figured that he might as well give this a shot, so he gave some serious consideration to what Lori was asking, trying to think of something that would help her keep his other ex-sisters, as well as Luan (Lily was put down for a nap earlier so she wasn't going to get involved) occupied. After about half a minute or so, Lincoln came up with an idea that he thought would be pretty good. "How about you and the other girls do a game night tonight?" Lincoln suggested.
Lori, with a mildly surprised look that had a hint of confusion on her face, looked back at her younger brother. "Game night?" the oldest Loud sibling repeated in a confused tone.
"Game night," Lincoln repeated as he proceeded to explain what he was getting at, "You and the other girls can all get together in the living room and play some game until Mr. and Mrs. Loud get back from their game night."
"But all of the board games that we own aren't made with close to eleven people in mind," Lori pointed out, "Also, you know how Lynn gets when it comes to playing. In fact, I'd say she's slightly worse than normal due to her football team having to miss a few games." Lincoln had to give Lori credit on the bit about Lynn; the sporty Loud sister was rather notorious for wanting to win all the time, and the part about Lynn's football team having to miss a few games was also a very valid point.
"Then why don't you try truth or dare?" Lincoln suggested, "It's not a win-or-lose game so you don't have to worry about Lynn, all you need is an empty glass soda bottle to spin on the floor so there's very little setup required, and you can accommodate as many players as needed."
Considering Lincoln's idea, Lori replied, "…Hey, that isn't a bad idea at all." Ruffling the top of her younger brother's head lightly, Lori said in a gentle tone, "Thanks for the idea, Lincoln." Lori had Lincoln take the medicine that she had brought him before she left his room to go find an empty glass soda bottle to use for the game.
…
The rest of the night went as smoothly as it could for Lincoln, all things considered. At one point, when he left his room to go use the bathroom, Lincoln had to hold a hand against the wall to steady himself as he felt a wave of nausea go over him. Lincoln threw up about one second later. A few seconds after that, Lori came up the stairs to see what had happened.
"Yeesh!" Lori remarked as she saw the mess, "Geez, Lincoln, maybe it was a good thing you missed dinner. This mess you made would have been bigger." Lori then went back downstairs, presumably to look in to gathering the gear that would be needed to clean up Lincoln's puke. It made the white-haired boy feel a little guilty, but all thoughts of that fled Lincoln's mind when Luan appeared, wearing a medical mask and carrying some cleaning supplies.
"Luan?" Lincoln said in a mildly confused tone, "What are you doing here?"
"We all heard you throw up while we were downstairs playing truth or dare," Luan began to explain, "It was Luna's turn, and the bottle landed on me. I picked dare, and Luna was going to dare me to do something, but that's when we all heard you puke." Holding up the cleaning supplies, Luan continued, "Luna decided to dare me to clean up your puke." After his older sister finished explaining herself, Lincoln sighed in a resigned tone.
"Luna actually dared you to do that?" Lincoln asked, a dry, unamused look on his face.
Concerned to see that her little brother looked annoyed, Luan said, "Well, I did pick dare, and I guess the opportunity was just too good for Luna to pass up." Still feeling a little nauseous but now also feeling a bit annoyed ("Really, Luna?" Lincoln thought in an annoyed tone), Lincoln went to the bathroom while Luan cleaned up the puke. When he came back out, Luan was gone, having finished her job. Lincoln went back to his room and slept for the rest of the night.
The following morning, Lincoln was in the dining room, sitting at the table as he ate a bowl of cereal for breakfast. Although he was feeling somewhat better, Lincoln was still a little sick; he was intending on heading straight back up to bed after he finished eating. While Lincoln sat the table, Lori walked into the dining room, holding a mug of freshly brewed coffee. "Hey, Lincoln," Lori greeted in a casual, friendly tone, "Are you feeling any better?"
"A little," the white-haired boy replied in a tired tone, "Although I'm planning on heading back to bed when I'm done eating."
"Fair enough," Lori said as she sat down at the table herself.
"So Lori, how did truth or dare with the girls go last night?" Lincoln asked as Lori took a sip of her coffee.
Sitting her mug of coffee down, Lori replied, "We actually had quite a bit of fun playing truth or dare, and we're considering doing it again the next time that mom and dad have a date night and leave me in charge. Leni even says she's looking forward to you participating." Reaching forward to ruffle the top of Lincoln's head, the oldest Loud sibling said said, "Thanks again for the idea, Lincoln. It really came in handy with keeping a lid on things."
With a tired smile, Lincoln replied, "Oh, it's no biggie, Lori." After he finished his bowl of cereal, Lincoln put his dishes in the sink. After coming back from doing that, Lincoln continued, "So Lori, are there any highlights from last night's game?"
With an amused smile on her face, Lori began, "Well, the first thing is that Leni and Lana both like peanut butter and sauerkraut sandwiches now…"
END, RESTORED IMAGE: A TALE RETOLD CHAPTER SEVEN
Author's note:
This is probably the third version or so of the first and third parts of the one-shot collection that I've done, fourth if one counts the versions that Lori spoke of with Bobby and Carlota in that one scene from 'New War'. But then again, since I'm cleaning things up and changing the order that things happen in, I suppose that I should have seen something like this coming. It'll be kind of interesting to see where things will end up going from here. Anyway, the next chapter will see Lori go through some familiar development; the same applies to Lisa.