A/N: Time to give Luna and Luan another break to focus on a different pair of siblings. I've been writing for The Loud House since late 2018 (an excellent experience), yet there are a number of characters that I still haven't written for or even gave focus on, and until now, that included Lynn. So, I decided to go for a harmless Lynn/Lucy story. I gave Luce a focus story a while back with Lisa, as well as a tiny sub-plot in Not Dancing On My Own with Lincoln. Much like Lana, I discovered that I really enjoy writing for her; whilst I envision Lana as childish and innocent, Lucy is simple and quiet, but her thought processes can dive to extremely profound depths. Despite this, I'm hoping to keep this story on the simple side of things. I did find Lynn a bit trickier to write for, however. Let me know how I did.

I'll be trying my hand at a Lincoln/Luna story sometime. That's always a popular classic that I've never actually written before.

Writing for what you love truly is an art. If you've got the passion, then you've already completed the first step. If you're afraid of moving forward with your ideas and creativity because you fear no one will like it or it isn't any good, don't be. The next step is to simply buckle down and get to work. Experiment to see what you like and don't like. What you're good at and where you need improving. You'll never know unless you step forward and spice things up a little. In terms of executing a good story, if you've got a good plot planned out in your mind from beginning to end, just start laying it out and the story will unfold naturally, telling you what is needed. Don't just add things willy-nilly, lest you risk having a jumble of chopped up plot points that ultimately don't work together. Listen to your story. What is it asking you to put in? The story itself will let you know what it wants from start to finish.

In terms of the latest bomb of episodes, I managed to watch the latest 4 (I miss the days when they would always air 4 in a row) and enjoyed Sister Act and Don't You Fore-Get About Me greatly. Tough Cookies was as good as a Clincoln McCloud eps is able to get these days. That's not saying much. House Flip was good. Most people didn't like this one; I personally thought it was fun. Perhaps I miss the classic episodes where all the kids have to work together on a problem and each have a share of screen time and some dialogue. Regardless of Flip's character, I think the way they went about it worked just fine. I like that they used Luna and Luan when he demanded live entertainment. It only made sense.

Once again, find me on Twitter (blue_jetpack) and DeviantArt (MinionStuart2) for updates, exclusive background info behind the writing process, and occasional sketches to complement the stories. This pandemic has granted me more time to produce artwork as well as written material.

And with that out of the way, let's go.

That's The Game

April 29, 2020 – May 6, 2020

If every gear of the human brain was to let out a single creak with each turn to keep the brain functioning like the high-performance mighty machine it truly was, Lucy and Lynn's bedroom alone would be filled with the same volume of noise that the entire family produced during the day.

Lucy's body was perfectly still, yet her mind was working away like a mad demon, one that was capable of diving off the ruly bounds of the Earth and swimming great lengths through the strings and threads that held the thick fabric of reality together, searching for deeper meanings and reasons for why the world chose to operate in the way that it always did. Such analysis of the bigger deeper picture was one of Lucy's closest passions, and this could be comparable to Lisa's interests, except her scientist of a sister clearly had her mind set in running her studies on more practical and literal topics, rather than testing the spirits beyond this mortal world as Lucy did.

It was dark out, and it was the kind of night that would beg you to toss away your worries of the day and cuddle up on the couch with those you love, and perhaps even watch a movie before bed. That's what Lana and Lola were doing; they were snacking on buttery popcorn and watching Wreck-It Ralph while plopped on the couch in blankets. As for Lisa, well, the last anyone had seen of the four-year-old was when she had taken a warm mug of cocoa to her room. Probably up to late-night inventing again. Adding to that, Lily was probably there too. Lisa could never tell for sure when she needed a test subject.

Lucy might have joined the twins, but with the bedroom to herself and a generous helping of blissful silence on her plate for the next few hours, that meant one thing to her: a quiet evening of undisturbed poetry writing. Of course, she was the only one in her large family who engaged in these self-led activities, but she quite all right with that. It gave her an excuse to be alone. On occasion, her only brother Lincoln would join her if she was in the rare mood for some company, and even though he could never dig as deeply as she could in his own writing endeavours, just his presence alone was enough to make Lucy smile. At least on the inside.

With the bright ceiling lights of the room turned peacefully out and guided instead only by the softly lit lamp that she had transferred off her desk to the floor, Lucy had taken advantage of the secluded space to lay out her parchment, pens, and journals on the carpet in a small circle while she sat cross-legged in the centre. As if she were the sun and her articles and belongings were the planets, they revolved around her in a weird form of a solar system. Normally, she wouldn't be able to scatter herself all over the floor like this, for Lynn would rant on and on about keeping to her side of the room and not invading her own space. And Lucy did not much appreciate the loose basketballs or stray baseballs landing on her precious papers and knocking over her ink bottles whenever Lynn juggled them lazily on her bed and happened to miss a catch. Her athletic older sister was currently competing in a football game, and their mother and older siblings were present as spectators. Because if had just so happened that Lucy and the twins each had prescheduled doctor's appointments that same evening, she, her dad, and all of the younger sisters were home instead, for the appointments had cut through Lynn's game, and subsequently, that game clashed with their bedtime. Lucy was sorry that she couldn't be there to support her sister, not that she was all that enthralled with football, nor did Lynn need any support from anyone except herself.

Lucy wasn't necessarily interested, though she was secretly hoping that Lynn was giving the opposing team a run for their money.

She was glad she was home. Not just because she didn't much care for football, but she could now have the whole room to herself, if only for a few hours. Already, she had spent an hour just writing, writing, writing. After Lincoln's, this was the smallest bedroom in the entire house. Even though her brother's living quarters were merely the size of a walk-in closet, he enjoyed the benefit of not having to share his tight space with anyone else, unlike her. Every day, Lucy often felt cramped in her own room simply because the already confined space had to be divided into two. She didn't mind all that much (after all, Lynn made a bigger fuss over it than she did on any given day), though she often wondered why they did not share a bunk bed like Luna and Luan did. Their room felt effectively more spacious due to that simple feature.

And so, while her roommate and half of their siblings were away at her game, the little black-haired girl had seized the precious silence and the extra space for her poetry. Her night routine was finished and she was wearing her pajamas; she could easily slip into bed at any time. All was quiet save for the steady sounds of her breathing and the scratch-scratch of her pen.

Lucy stared at the page resting on her lap; her eyes grazed upon the black ink that she had used to write down the latest entry in her neat hand-writing. Currently, it was spelling out an incomplete poem. She turned her gaze upwards, for she knew that her pet bat was listening to her as he sat on his favourite perch of the whole house, that being on her head. "What do you think, Fangs?" she asked her beloved critter in her usual flat tone, though this time, the glimmer of hope present in her voice could not be ignored. She read out what she had down so far.

Chaos and mayhem.

Why must I play

This futile game of life each and every day?

They say life is short

But this game is too long.

Must I partake in what feels so wrong?

Fangs squeaked in approval. Lucy's mouth twitched into a tiny smile.

"I thought so," she answered. She could always count on Fangs.

Now, Lucy wasn't a thoroughly miserable girl, but there was no denying that on most days she felt very gloomy. There were just so many obstacles in her very young life that often hindered her will to move forward, or downright just tested her patience to the brim. Growing up in such a large family household, where noise and arguments over the smallest things were not uncommon, was a tough challenge for her that only seemed to get worse with every step she took. She didn't like rushing about as Lynn and Luna always seemed to, or making such a fuss over tiny matters as Lori and Lola constantly did. She preferred a quieter life, and often struggled to keep up with the roaring tidal waves of her crazy family. But no matter how hard Lucy tried to avoid them, she somehow always found herself in the heat of her siblings' wild antics. Some days, it was just too much for her to handle.

The only bright side that came to mind was that the chaos provided her with much inspiration for new writing entries, while the frustrations she felt in the aftermath of all the rambunctious havoc fueled her with the powerful desires to express her true feelings on paper.

But neither of these improved any of the stress that she had to battle each day.

Lucy sighed and carefully lay herself down on the carpet, as if she were playing dead right on that spot; it was one of her special talents. Fangs fluttered to her bedsheets and tilted his black head curiously at her. Sprawled out on the ground surrounded by her beloved treasures, it was like she was in a little enclosed cave of wonders that only she knew of.

It's my cave, she thought proudly.

Despite the extreme calamity of her noisy life, there were a few factors here and there that did fill Lucy with a sense of happiness. She enjoyed her time with her siblings, even if some of them still felt like strangers to her. She was admittedly closer to some more than others. Whilst she had rooted deep connections with Lynn, Lincoln, and Luan, she still had yet to find common ground with others such as Lisa and Luna. Wild and noisy they all were, but there was no doubting the love she possessed for her family. They were, after all, there for her, so the least she could do was to be there for them.

Lucy's thoughts turned back to her poem. She had an idea of how to end her latest piece, but at the moment, it was all but mere fragments of possible devices floating about within the chambers of her mind. She needed to plan them out properly lest she choose to produce a less worthy product that barely held together. All the elements for a strong tale of her feelings would be present, but if crafted together poorly, they would equate to a sloppy, unbelievable piece of writing with the right idea, but weak execution that some with half a mind would actually have the guts to publish and call 'fanfiction'. Lucy closed her eyes, preparing to do some thinking.

But fate had other plans.

The loud BANG of the front door rudely woke the girl out of her trance. All of her nerve receptors flared as the sounds of multiple voices echoed, followed by heavy footsteps stomping up the stairs. In a flash, Lucy sat up as if forcefully rising from her grave and immediately gathered up all her belongings in to one neat stack and tossed the lot on to her bed. She had just enough time to transfer the lamp back to the desk and move out of the way as Lynn burst into their room, fuming and seething with fire in her scowl. Lucy saw this coming the moment she had heard the front door fly open. Being all too familiar with her roommate's behaviour, the distinct sounds of stomping feet and growling breaths meant only one thing in this family: stay out of Lynn's way and do not make any contact until she had calmed down. Luckily, Lucy was perfectly content with both of these conditions.

She watched as Lynn dumped a beaten-up sports bag on the ground, threw off her tattered jacket, snatched a towel from the dresser, and left the room. She did not say a word to Lucy, nor did she acknowledge that she was even there. Lucy was used to that too.

As fast as she had appeared, she was gone. Lucy heard the bathroom door slam loudly and now the sounds of the shower reached her eardrums.

"Sigh."

As much as Lynn's problems were, well, Lynn's problems, Lucy still felt sorry for her sister. While she rather enjoyed being sullen and distant, she didn't like seeing others unhappy, especially her siblings. Most of all, she hated seeing Lynn unhappy. Not because Angry Lynn equated to verbal ammunition and mass destruction of anything that she could get her hands on if triggered too far, but because Lucy genuinely cared for her immediate older sister immensely, despite her imperfections. A little ironic given her cold exterior, but looks were deceiving.

While Lynn was gone, Lucy ventured towards the latter's bed and drew back the covers, allowing the sheeted mattress to await for its owner to return, and then dragged Lynn's heavy sports bag against the wall out of the way since she knew that the athlete never bothered to unload the contents until the next morning. Then she hung the red jacket on the closet hook. Lucy could never explain even to herself exactly why she performed these small acts of service whenever Lynn came home in a sour mood. She just felt that if she could help her sister in any way she could, she would. A little kindness goes a long way, even if unnoticed.

Eventually, Lynn returned, her hair still damp and her dirty clothes exchanged for pajamas. Still not speaking aside from muttering and grunting under her breath, she hopped into her waiting bed and slumped against the wall in a pouting state. She crossed her arms as she stared determinedly ahead at the wall on Lucy's side of the room. Lucy simply packed up her writing materials and slipped them into a box under her bed. After that, she too sat on her mattress, facing towards and staring at her grumpy sister. Once or twice, Lynn's brown eyes glanced Lucy's way, but looked in another direction almost immediately.

There was the usual noise outside in the hallway; Lucy deduced that the regular queue for the bathroom was now beginning to form…they all must have known to let Lynn go first. Muffled voices and gentle footsteps were heard, but predictably, no one knocked or ventured into their bedroom. Lucy was on her own.

Lucy read what she saw: normally if Lynn was in a bad temper, she would be releasing her negative energy either be forcing herself through a mad haze of sit-ups and push-ups, or destroying something that would let off a satisfying explosion like her pillow or soccer ball. One time, Lucy had walked into the room to find a furious Lynn shredding one of her parchments to smithereens. Whether it was the first thing her livid sister had managed to grab in her blind fury, or because she had chosen it to experience the pleasing sounds of ripping paper and the sight of something being torn to pieces, it didn't matter; Lucy's sudden burst of anger had miraculously matched that of her sister's and after a stern talk from both Mom and Dad, Lynn hadn't touched one of Lucy's papers again, keeping her hands of destruction to her own belongings from that day forward. Still, it had been one of the rare times when the family had really seen Lucy truly angry. Lynn should have known better.

But right now, Lynn was neither placing herself through a series of push-ups nor was she breaking any soccer balls, which Lucy found rather odd. She was just…sitting. Fuming for sure, but this wasn't quite like her big sister. Looking to her neck, Lucy could spot the 'anger vein' throbbing.

There was only silence as the girls sat in the awkward atmosphere. But someone had to crack at some point, and it wasn't going to be the statue that was Lucy Loud. She could sit like this all day if she had to, just waiting for Lynn to snap. Finally, the brunette let out an audible huff and flopped down on her back, similar to how Lucy had lay herself upon the carpet a few minutes ago.

Deciding to take a chance, Lucy got up and crossed the alleyway of space separating the two beds. She sat down on the red covers and looked over at Lynn's moody expression. Knowing her little sister was on her side, the athlete glanced up at her. She let out an acknowledging groan, but still said nothing. Lucy took that as all the 'hello' she was going to receive tonight.

More silence fell. Neither girl said a word. Lucy could see in Lynn's contorted features that there might have been a slim desire of wanting to talk, but was masked with the opposing refusal to. Lynn was like that. She didn't prefer to open up, but could if she really wanted to. Lucy wondered if she would tonight. At last, Lynn sat up, but continued to remain mute. She began rubbing her bare feet, obviously sore from the extreme force she without a doubt had needed to exert in all the running and tackling tonight. Lucy planned her next move.

"Want me to?" She asked her quietly.

Her older sister halted her motions and stared at her foot in hand for a moment before uttering her first word to her roommate that night. "Sure." Her voice was completely depleted of all her usual energy.

Lucy shifted her body around to face Lynn better and gently massaged her feet, during which Lynn exhaled deeply through her nose and closed her eyes. It would seem that in some little ways, she wasn't all that much different than Lucy when you payed enough attention. With the heaviness of how she sagged her shoulders and hung her head, Lucy could see that she was more than just frustrated. She was miserable.

If this were Leni sitting on the end of Lynn's bed instead of Lucy, the blonde would not fail to deliver packages of good cheer right at this present moment, such was her natural personality. Each carefully crafted product of kindness and bubbly smiles would be sealed in freshly stamped envelopes and sent straight to Lynn with express shipping from the goodness of her own heart. Predictably, she would be oblivious to Lynn's temper being on the fritz that would send these well-intentioned gifts straight back to sender. Worse still, if Leni had been absent from Lynn's game like Lucy, she would probably be piling the athlete with innocent questions along the lines of 'So how was your game, Lynn?' or 'Did you have fun at the game-thing, Lynn?' Or if she were to take notice of Lynn's scowl, she might even ask 'What's the matter Lynn? You look a little grumpy'.

No one blamed Leni for not being able to pick up on signs that told of when asking these questions was deemed inappropriate or insensitive, for Leni was not that kind of girl. She was the true heart of the family and the source to the positivity that united them together in times of struggle. But such optimism was unfortunately what prevented her from seeing what lay behind all that was right in front of her. Thankfully, Lucy could see these kinds of things clearly, and even better, was content not to probe. But she did want to help Lynn in some way.

"That bad, huh?" she murmured, sparing Lynn of any explanations as she rolled her hands carefully back and forth; her fingers were gentle, yet firm.

"Worse," came the flat response. Lynn was sounding exhausted and frustrated all mixed together. Lucy rolled her thumbs against Lynn's instep and let her fingers press into the sole. She worked her way up, finding a large blister forming on the pinky toe. Knowing Lynn, talking about exactly what had happened to reduce her to this drained state was the last thing she would want to do. Lucy knew that she definitely did not like to pour out her feelings, for she was way too tough for that. So Lucy did not pry at all. Though she was, of course, concerned for her sister, she knew that the best she could do was to let Lynn vent however way she wanted.

What she was doing right this moment, however, was something more subtle that she knew that she could do to help Lynn relax a bit. The foot massage seemed to be working, as she could see that Lynn, though still grumpy, was starting to become less tense now.

"You're a great athlete, Lynn," Lucy hummed quietly. "You're the best I know."

The older girl rolled her eyes, still looking peeved. "Well, I wasn't best enough."

"Maybe not. But I know you played your best."

Lynn now glared at her masseuse. "How do you know that?" she asked accusingly. "You weren't even there."

This was true, but it made no difference. Lucy momentarily stopped the movements in her hands and turned her gaze to meet Lynn's frowning stare. "Do I need to see you to know that you're the best athlete in Royal Woods?" she asked flatly with determined energy present. "Do I need to think twice before I can conclude that my big sister is the true star in this family?"

Lynn's mouth twitched and she looked longingly at her bedsheets. She heaved a great sigh as she lay down again.

"We had it in the bag. This was supposed to be our game. I just don't get it, Luce. What went wrong?"

Lucy swapped feet. "Maybe it was the other team's game tonight."

Lynn's eyes bore into the ceiling without leaving the bedspread. "So what does that say about me? Am I the biggest loser on the planet then?"

"No," Lucy said firmly. "You're not. Someone has to win the game. But that means someone else has to lose it.

"But why us? Why me? How come I had to lose this one? This game? Tonight's game?"

There was a pause as Lucy finished soothing Lynn's second foot. She was thinking again; with these kinds of questions, she could have responded with an answer related to the spirits and how they liked to control the fates and the peculiar ways that they played with the stars. However, she felt that her vast knowledge on these kinds of things would only annoy Lynn further, so she went with something much simpler.

"I guess that's the game."

Lynn didn't answer. She just closed her eyes, her mind feeling numb and her face feeling stretched. Though admittedly, her feet were a little less pained following Lucy's treatment. The last of the gears in her mind that were still spinning registered that the side of her bed closest to the wall had shifted downward; turning her eyes to her left, she came face to face with the side of Lucy's head. Her little sister was lying beside her.

"Since when do you cuddle up close, spooky?"

"I thought you could use some company," came Lucy's monotone response, though Lynn could hear a hint of concern in her voice. It didn't really surprise her too much. Lucy was known for being quiet and disinterested in anybody else's business, but she did harbour care for those who were down. Lynn had always secretly appreciated that.

"Well…thanks," she muttered quietly.

Lucy just nodded.

Rare nights would find the sisters confiding their troubles to each other, even though they were both fully aware that their personal problems didn't usually strike the other in any particular way given their vastly contrasting personalities and interests. Lynn didn't equalize herself at all with Lucy's struggles in communicating with the spirits and Lucy couldn't grasp Lynn's problems with juggling her sports teams together in one life all at once. There were, however, occasionally some issues that they could freely share with each other that the confidant had no trouble in understanding; every now and then, Lucy felt put off by situations that were more attuned to common eight-year-old girls' problems and if Lori or Lincoln weren't around, Lynn would find herself being the one to set Lucy back on track. As for Lynn herself, well, she still remembered the time Lucy had talked her through her predicament when each of her friends on the roller-derby team had hooked up with a significant better half, leaving her feeling left out in the gutter. There had been numerous times in the years gone by when she had returned home from practice or a game in a foul mood and with no will to complain and protest about her wrongs but to instead just pout about it. Lucy had always been there to lend an ear.

Now was one of those times.

Reflecting on these past acts of kindness from her little sister could not help but lift Lynn's spirits just a bit.

They lay in silence for a few minutes, just listening to each other's breathing. Lynn sighed and shifted her body a little, letting the throbbing in her head gradually ebb away. It didn't erase her memories of tonight's events, but somehow, the pain was subsiding. Lucy had that weird effect on her.

"Hey," she murmured to her roommate. Lucy made no movements, but Lynn knew that she was listening. "I don't really get into this mushy stuff often, but…I'm glad you're here. Thanks for…you know…putting up with all this."

Lucy listened intently to her big sister's talking and she creaked a tiny smile. "It's okay. Sometimes you just need…" she paused impressively.

"…another soul to be there."

Lynn's own tiny smile began to creep onto her face. "You know how Mom and Dad first paired us up as roommates just so I could keep an eye on you when you were a baby?"

Lucy gave a single nod.

"I'm glad we stuck with that setup," she finished, nudging Lucy's elbow gently.

"Me too."

Another pause of silence.

"So, uh…what were you working on this time?" the older girl asked. She didn't need to clarify what she meant; anytime Lucy found time and space to herself, she would be writing up another poem or something of the like.

"Just another entry for my endless collection of…"

"Well, let's hear it, then."

This request surprised them both by a small degree. Lynn didn't usually inquire about Lucy's writing exercises since she was mostly disinterested, often annoyed, with the goth's focus on topics of gloom, misery, and the futility of life. But she needed something, anything, to take her mind off what had happened tonight. Maybe Lucy's downcast feelings could mirror hers and then they could both be unhappy together.

Lucy was quiet as she pondered this. Unbeknownst to Lynn, she was thinking these same things. But she decided to move forward.

"Okay."

She cleared her throat and slowly recited the poem she had been working on before Lynn had arrived home.

Chaos and mayhem.

Why must I play

This futile game of life each and every day?

They say life is short

But this game is too long.

Must I partake in what feels so wrong?

She had now reached the end of what she had finalized on paper. The conclusion was still fleeting ideas. But seeing Lynn, at the end of her rope on a collapsing tailspin, she miraculously somehow found the cement to piece together the rest. She spoke very slowly now, not quite improvising her finishing words, but speaking carefully enough that she was effectively stressing them without intention.

Yet amid destruction,

The push and the shove,

There's a sparkle I find in this game that I love.

While playing this game,

I simply can't part

From those who I hold so close to my heart.

All was quiet now as Lucy finished. The tranquility within their room stood fine and unbroken.

Then Lynn paid Lucy the ultimate compliment.

"That was…nice. I kinda liked it, actually."

Lucy smiled.

Wordlessly, Lynn shuffled herself closer to her sister so their arms were touching; Lucy didn't fight it, in fact, she leaned in a little so that the very edge of her head was now in contact with Lynn's. They continued to lay in silence.

It was one of those rare times when Lucy did not just know that she had done good. She felt she had done good too.

THE END