Greetings on this most special of days. To commemorate such, here's something strategically written and released for that purpose!
Now as the title and summary suggest, this is a quartet of Valentine's Day scenarios of pure sibling love and fluffiness. In other words, the standard fare I aim for around here just with a holiday twist. The four siblings I've selected in the character listings are the ones in question who are planning something for an older sibling. As for who they have their sights on, well, you'll have to read on to find that out, though if you have read a certain other story of mine, you probably have an idea as to who Lisa will be attempting to show her appreciation for. Hey, I did say I'd revisit that duo somewhere down the line.
Okay, enjoy!
The Loud House is the exclusive property of Nickelodeon and Viacom. The usage of the setting, characters and such is based on nothing more than a pure affinity for everything and is not being used for monetary purposes.
The jingle of a local record store sounded the arrival of a customer coming on in.
It was the kind of store that Lynn Loud Jr. wouldn't typically find herself going to on her own or even as part of a group. After all, perhaps because of her modern way of thinking, sometimes she didn't see the point in listening to music in physical form still when one could easily access all the music they could possibly imagine within their fingertips on their phone, tablet, computer or laptop. However, she was not in fact going on a leisurely shopping trip for her own benefit and who she was shopping still had a strong affinity for how music was and still technically can be listen to.
"Okay, LJ, put that game face on. You can do this." She told herself like she was her own motivational speaker.
Indeed, Lynn had some doubts about how successful this endeavor really would be. With Valentine's Day just around the corner, she had to scramble to find the perfect gift and hold on to hope that it wasn't something the intended target of such didn't already have.
For the next few minutes, Lynn perused the various shelves of CDs and vinyl records, but had little in the way of luck. She'd done next to no research beforehand, hence making an already tricky task a touch more trifling. Her aimless search got to the point that an employee of the store noticed this and approached her.
"Hey, can I help you with anything, miss?" He asked.
"Uh, no thanks..." Lynn began saying, squinting at the employee's name tag, "AJ, I think I'm good."
"You sure about that? Because I've noticed you're kind of wandering around seemingly not knowing what to get." AJ said.
Lynn looked around awkwardly and then sighed, "Okay, you got me. I'll admit that I'm having a hard time trying to find something as a gift for Valentine's Day."
AJ smiled, "Oh, shopping for a certain sweetheart of yours?"
"Eh...no, I'm actually hoping to get something for my sister, Luna." Lynn explained.
"Wait, Luna? As in Luna Loud?" AJ asked sounding quite intrigued.
"Yeah. You know her?" Lynn asked back.
AJ nodded, "Sure do. She's one of our best customers and just generally a very chill girl all around. And now that I think about it...you must be...Lynn, right?
Lynn had a surprised look on her face, "Yeah, but how would you know that?"
"Well, besides being a frequent customer, Luna also hangs around here for its own sake and when she does, she often talks up her siblings to us. Based on the jersey and cleats, you must be the one she calls the most athletically gifted person she's ever known in her life." AJ said.
"Wow, really?" Lynn said, and instead of resorting to her boastful attitude she's normally known for, she had light blush form on her face as she rubbed her arm and laughed nervously.
AJ had his own little chuckle, "Bet that must mean a lot to know she views you like that, huh?"
"Yeah, you're telling me..." Lynn agreed, but then her face got more sullen and she sighed, "Now that kind of adds another degree of pressure to find a worthy gift for her. There is this part of me that thought about taking the easiest route by getting something by Mick Swagger, who's the only musical artist that I know really anything about that Luna listens to, but I'm guessing she owns just about everything he's ever produced, so that might not work out well."
"Actually, you know what, I'm betting there's a chance she doesn't own everything of Mick's." AJ posited, "Come with me."
He motioned with his hand to have Lynn follow him over to the front counter. Once they arrived there, he went around behind the counter, knelt down for a second and then brought up a pair of boxes. He popped both of them and showed their contents to Lynn.
"Today, and by that I mean just this morning, we got this shipment of this brand new Mick Swagger compilation album. Technically, it's actually a re-released edition of an older one, but all the songs have been remastered and it comes complete with some bonus tracks as well, including some rare, never before released ones." AJ explained while he was holding up both a CD and vinyl version, "In fact, because of those additional tracks, the CD version is two-disc as opposed to the original."
"Wow..." Lynn said in shock, but also in delight, "Maybe this is what I'll get for Luna!"
"Sounds like a good idea to me. And just your luck, today we're doing a buy one, get another for half off on everything in the store, so what do you say getting one on CD and vinyl?" AJ offered.
Lynn couldn't possibly turn that down, "Oh ho, you've sold me! Well, actually, it'd first be a good idea to know how much this is gonna cost me."
"Well, typically a pair like this would cost about $50, but because of today's deal, it'll be only $35!" AJ said.
"Ah, well, gimme a sec..." Lynn said, reaching inside her pockets and counted up the money she had at hand, "Wow, I'm really lucky today! I brought forty bucks with me, so ring me up, my good man!"
AJ chuckled as he scanned both items, followed by Lynn handing the money over and finally AJ put everything in a bag and handed it to Lynn.
"Thanks, AJ. Here's hoping all goes well!" She said.
With her gifts at hand, she left the store and had a confident swag her to stride. After her initial worries, Lynn felt certain that she pulled through and believe Luna will be delighted once the day to present these musical tokens of appreciation comes.
Back over at the Loud house, Lincoln was relaxing in the living room watching TV. While he was doing that, Lori passed on through as she was talking on the phone.
"What?! No way! Oh, I am so literally jealous of you, Whitney!" Lori shouted enthusiastically, "I can't believe you actually got a ticket to the upcoming Boyz Will Be Boyz concert! I wish I could be as lucky as you are, but unfortunately I can't go. Yeah, you guessed it, my family's budget is pretty tight this month and can't afford much in the way of added expenses. But don't worry about me, you have a blast going when that day arrives, okay?"
Following some quick additional pleasantries, Lori hung up, but as soon as she did, the enthusiasm that she just displayed quickly dissipated with a deep sigh and a frown.
"Hey, everything okay, Lori?"
Lori turned her attention to Lincoln when she heard that inquiry of his. She tried putting on a small smile while looking at him.
"Yeah, I'm good, Lincoln." She told him, "Sorry, can't really talk much right now, because I...just need a moment to myself."
After that awkward statement, Lori walk away in a haste up the stairs and the door to her room was heard being shut somewhat forcefully. Though there was a small part of him that wanted what that was about, Lincoln shrugged it off for the moment and returned his attention to the TV.
A half an hour later, Lincoln chose to head upstairs. As he reached the top, he picked up on what sounded like Lori sobbing softly. His curiosity got to him and wondered if her crying had anything to do with the phone call she was in the middle of right as she was passing by in the living room. He got up to her bedroom door and want to check up on her, but stopped when he heard Leni's voice within.
"Aw, it's okay, Lori. I'm sure they'll be performing again around town soon again." She said.
"Maybe, but here's what you're not understanding, Leni." Lori said, following taking a breather from crying, "This isn't going to be some ordinary Boyz Will Be Boyz concert. It's something of a reunion with a couple of the original members during when they first became famous. This could literally be a once in a lifetime concert and I'd so wish I could go, but you know about Mom and Dad's stringent budget this month. I...I...if for any other reason…I just want to attend it so I can say I had a great concert experience unlike the last time I saw them when Luna accidentally ruined everything..."
Her composure getting weaker in that last sentence, Lincoln could hear Lori breaking down into sobs again, with the only other sound being Leni gently shushing her sister, presumably while consoling her.
Feeling sorry for her, Lincoln went to his room and just for curiosity's sake, he went to his laptop and decided to look some things up with regards to this upcoming concert that Lori wished she could go to. During his sleuthing, he checked out the ticket availability, and though there were some remaining, the prices were a tad exorbitant and knowing the budgeting for the month, there was obviously no way he could coax his parents into coughing up any money for even one ticket, even if he was the master of convincing.
Though getting such a ticket appeared to be a bleak and unlikely prospect, Lincoln was now determined to do something special for Lori. He'd been struggling with what to do for Valentine's Day, but now he looked like he found his purpose for that day.
As he started to walk away, something suddenly hit him. He checked back on his laptop and noticed a key detail. The concert was going to take place at Royal Woods Mall. Right then and there, an idea came to mind and though it was a serious long shot, he felt there was no harm in at least giving it a try, no matter the odds.
Lincoln came out of his room brimming with purpose, and as if coincidence was seriously working in his favor, up came from the stairs the one person he knew could have any hope in achieving his lofty goal.
"Hey, Luna." Lincoln greeted his arriving rocker sister.
"Oh, hey there, bro." Luna returned the greeting, "What's up?"
"Not a whole lot, but right now is it possible you can come over to my room for a little bit if you're not busy?" Lincoln asked.
Luna smiled, "Sure, I can spare a moment for you, dude."
Lincoln smiled back at her and lead his sister to his room, closing the door once both were inside.
"So what's on your mind?" Luna wondered.
"Well, there's something I wanted to talk to you about and I wanted to make sure no one else was listening in, especially Lori." Lincoln explained.
"Huh? Why do you not want her to know?" Luna asked, then her suspicions were raised and she looked at her brother with narrowed eyes, "Oh dear, what did you do this time, bro?"
"Nothing!" Lincoln shouted defensively, perhaps more so than he intended, "Nothing bad's happened! The reason I don't want Lori to know anything is because I want to do something special for her for Valentine's Day and I was hoping you could help me out."
"Oh...well, sure, okay then." Luna said, softening her posture, "Sorry, didn't mean to assume something less than rad had occurred."
Lincoln reached out and patted her shoulder, "It's no trouble. Now, before I let you in on my plan, can I ask you something else first?"
"Sure, lay it on me." Luna replied with a nod.
"Okay, remember the SMOOCH concert you, me and Clyde went to some time ago?" Lincoln reminded to his sister.
Luna had a wide grin form on her face, "But of course! I'm never gonna forget that! It was one of the proudest moments of my life to make that experience rockin' for you, Linc."
"And you did, no question about that." Lincoln agreed, "Now, on that night, you know how once we finally made it to the concert, you tossed me and Clyde down to be crowd surfed all the way to the front and you managed to make it down there quickly yourself, citing that you had your ways? Did that mean you had some connections to any people who worked there that allowed you to do that?"
"Yeah, you could say that. Why do you ask?" Luna asked, curious to know where her brother was going with this.
"Well, let me show you something..."
Lincoln gestured to Luna for her to come look at his laptop.
"As you can see, there's this concert coming up featuring Boyz Will Be Boyz." Lincoln began explaining.
The minute she heard the boy band's name, Luna's face cringed and she grunted in distaste.
"Yeah, I get they're not your kind of jam, as I imagine you'd put it, but that aside, this is something Lori wishes she could attend, but of course Mom and Dad are cash strapped for the month as you may know." Lincoln continued, "Plus, you may notice it's taking place at Royal Woods Mall, so..."
Luna was beginning to understand where his logic was heading, "And let me guess, you think because I may know some dudes in higher places there, you sayin' I should try to score a ticket or two for Lori from the joint?"
"Yeah...pretty much." Lincoln said with a nervous laugh.
"Well...I'm not so sure about this, Lincoln. I don't imagine they just give away tickets to anyone, even to those like myself who are tight with some folks there." Luna said doubtfully.
"Oh, I'm not suggesting you get the tickets for free, because I think that's pretty much an impossibility." Lincoln clarified, "But what am I suggesting is maybe you could strike some kind of deal with anyone there in exchange for any leftover tickets."
Luna sighed, still unsure about this, "Even so, dude, that still might be a stretch..."
"I get that, and I know how low the chances are for all this happening, but could you still give it a try? I feel so bad for Lori and even if the odds are so slim of this being pulled off, I'd like to take up the effort anyway in the hope I could surprise her by having her go to that concert. So if it really isn't much trouble, can you at least try to see what you can do? Please?" Lincoln pleaded with his sister.
The emotion in Lincoln's voice was hitting Luna hard within. Though still burdened with heavy doubts, she hated seeing her little brother sound so desperate. Coupled with the shimmer in his eyes, she sighed deeply and gave in.
"All right...I'll try something, bro." Luna said, placing both hands on his shoulders, "But understand there's no guarantee this will pan out like you want it to and I hope you're ready for that."
Lincoln exhaled to let out some nerves and nodded hesitantly, "I understand that, Luna, but thank you for at least wanting to try."
Luna smiled, "Anything for you, Lincoln."
She lightly tousled around his hair playfully and then she left Lincoln's room. But right as she was halfway down the hall, she was caught by surprise by Lynn bounding up the stairs and zipping past her.
"Whoa, what's the rush, LJ?" Luna asked her.
"Uh...can't talk right now, Luna!" Lynn hastily said before slamming the door shut to her room.
The whole fleeting moment left Luna feeling confounded. Why exactly her younger sister was in a rush left her wondering. Also, she could've sworn that she saw Lynn carrying something with her. Nevertheless, Luna shrugged it off for now, because she had more important matters to attend to, even if they seemed improbable.
Over at a small time clothing store, Luan Loud had her own hands full as she sifted through racks and shelves of apparel for her own Valentine's Day ends.
"Come on, Luan, you've got to find something!" She said to herself worriedly, "Anything at all will do. I mean, she won't be too picky, right? She loves clothes of all sorts, so she should be thready to accept anything!"
She laughed at herself for that pun briefly, but since no one else was around her immediate vicinity, her laughing trailed off into a sigh. Then, her line of sight shifted until she froze in place and gasped.
"Oh no! What's she doing here?!"
That "she" in question was Leni, the person who Luan was shopping for in the first place. This was a perfect storm of convenience that she hoped to avoid. Without giving it much in the way of thought, she dashed over and hid inside one of the changing rooms.
The chance of accidentally running into Leni was precisely the reason Luan had chose going to this store in the first place. Her initial instinct when it came to clothes shopping was to go to Reininger's, but since that's obviously where Leni worked at part time and because Luan wasn't too intimately familiar with her sister's work schedule, she opted for this particular store to avoid such an awkward run in.
Never did she take into account the slightest chance that Leni would indeed come to this locale, but then again, she was the family fashionista for a reason and would know the locations of all other clothing outlets in town like the back of her hand.
Thinking she could just awkwardly stay inside this changing room until Leni either leaves or could find an opening to get out of dodge while hoping no one tries to come inside the room she was in, Luan sat down on the bench within. Then something else quickly came to mind. In a moment of haste, she brought her legs up onto the bench as well, realizing there could be the off chance that her instantly recognizable shoes and socks could very well be spotted by Leni and Luan's whole sudden act of going incognito would be blown. Admittedly, Luan was confessing to herself in her mind that none of this made for rational action, but at the moment she was so desperate to not have her sister find her and potentially blow the whole reason for being here.
For a few minutes, nothing was happening and Luan contemplated going with the option of slipping on by without having Leni be none the wiser. However, that was instantly put aside upon hearing the worst possible declaration.
"Okay, I'm almost done, you guys! Just want to try this on first!" Leni could be heard saying.
"Oh no..." Luan softly muttered under her breath.
She assumed this was it. The odds were high that Leni was going to come into this very room Luan was hiding in and she'd have to explain the whole inconvenient situation. But out of pure happenstance, Luan sensed Leni going to the adjacent changing room instead. Still, the comedienne frozen in place, trying not to move a muscle or make any sort of utterance, all while also hoping nobody else tried to come inside this room she took temporary refuge in.
"Oh, this is perfect! She's gonna love this!" Leni said in the other room.
Whoever this "she" was wasn't something Luan didn't bother wondering about. All that mattered was hoping Leni would wrap things up quickly and this whole self-induced ordeal of hiding would end soon.
Thankfully, that very well appeared to be the case as Leni departed from her changing room seconds later. Taking a risk, Luan peered through the door and saw her sister along with a couple of her friends up making their purchases and eventually leaving the store. Breathing a sigh of relief, she stepped out and resumed her own shopping.
"Okay, with that out of the way..." She said to herself, sighing briefly a second time.
Luan searched some more and finally, something caught her eye. She brought a particular article of clothing to her view and smiled.
"Hey, this looks great! I think this is what I'll get Leni! She'll love this, no sweat!"
"This is most troubling..."
Such an admission came from Lisa, noted four-year-old genius of the Loud family. She was sitting at her desk within her room, pieces of paper scattered around crumpled up and with scratched out scribbles on them. Based on her proclivities, any observed would guess she might have been working on some sort of long form essay or complex math or scientific equation that may be troubling her more than expected.
However, she was instead working on something far more simplistic, yet nonetheless very much frustrating all the same. She tapped the pen that she held against the side of her head in thought, only to then groan in vexation, scratched out whatever she had written down and crumpled up yet another paper, tossing it aside.
"Does science have any explanation for this?!" Lisa said exasperatedly out loud, throwing her arms up in the air, "I can draft professional prose on all matter of fields of study with no impedance, but cannot take on a simple matter like this for the upcoming festivity based on the most strongest of positive human emotion?"
She briefly took her glasses off and rubbed her eyes, then she sighed.
"There is but one of my sibling units whose knowledge, expertise and guidance with this form of scribe could prove beneficial...and yet she's also who my sad attempts of doing such is meant for."
Perhaps thinking a break was very much needed, Lisa hopped off from her chair and got out of her room. Right as she was rounding to her left for the stairs, she felt the full force of someone banging into her, causing whomever it was to fall down face first while Lisa fell backwards with her glasses flying off her face. Despite her blurred vision, she could just about decipher the figure who ran into her.
"Oh my gosh, are you okay, Lisa?"
That voice belonged to Luan as she got herself back up, then immediately knelt down to help her fallen younger sister to an upright position and handed her glasses back.
"Lisa, I'm so sorry! I didn't see you coming my way." Luan said apologetically.
"No worries, my fourth eldest sister." Lisa responded calmly before putting her glasses back on, "Nothing more than an inadvertent collision of human forms was all."
Having gotten her bearings back following said collision, Lisa turned to notice a rectangular while box laying on the hallway floor.
"May I take an educated guess and presume that's something you procured for tomorrow's holiday signifying strong affections for loved ones?" She inquired.
"Yeah, it's something I've gotten for Leni and that's all I want to say if you don't mind." Luan answered, picking up the box and heading off to her room quickly.
Shrugging off her sister's hasty retreat, Lisa resumed her journey down the stairs, and right as she reached the bottom, a shock of a different sort would arrive.
"Hey there, Lisa."
A frightened shout came out of Lisa's mouth as she turned to see Lucy over to her right.
"Oh...uh, greetings to you, Lucy." Lisa said, darting her eyes around, "Listen, I'd love to stop and exchange further pleasantries with you, but I...have my own business to attend to, so...yeah."
Following that on the spot excuse, Lisa casually made a rush over to the kitchen, leaving Lucy confused in her wake.
"Huh, what that have been all about?" She wondered.
One 24 hour span later, Valentine's Day had arrived and the Loud house was abuzz in lovey dovey feelings.
Inside the room she shared with Luna, Luan retrieved the box containing the gift she bought for Leni from the closet.
"All right, time to present this present to presently one of my most beloved siblings!" She said full of zeal and several giggles.
With the box at hand, Luan departed from her room and went just right across the hall, knocking on the door leading to Lori and Leni's room.
"Hey, are you in there, Leni?" Luan inquired.
Suddenly, a shrill scream belonging to Leni and what sounded like a mad scramble to put away something could be heard.
"Uh...yeah? What do you want?" She asked back after the cacophony had settled.
"I just wanted to come in for a moment if it's okay." Luan responded.
"Oh, uh...okay!" Leni said, back to her normal cheery self.
Taking a brief breath of air before entering, Luan turned the doorknob and let herself inside whereupon she saw Leni standing around looking all innocent as if whatever panicked frenzy that occurred seconds ago never happened.
"So what can I do for you, Luan...and what's that you have with you?" Leni asked, noticing the box within her younger sister's hands.
"Well...you know that today is Valentine's Day and all..." Luan said, struggling to find much else to say, "I'd say more, but I'll just hope this speaks for itself."
She handed the box over to Leni, allowing the latter to put it on her bed and began meticulously opening up. After she did, her eyes lit up and she gasped while holding up the gift she'd gotten.
"OM-gosh! Luan, this is adorbs!" She said blithely.
The item in question was a magenta colored sweater with the words "Best Sister Ever" emblazoned on the front. The delight in her older sister's tone was making Luan positively elated on her end.
"So, you like it?" She wondered.
"Like it? I love it!" Leni reiterated with a huge smile on her face, "Wait, let me see how I look with it on!"
Leni put her sunglasses to the side so she could slipped the sweater over her head, then put her arms through the sleeves and rest down her torso. Afterwards, she went over the vanity mirror to check herself out.
"Oh, this looks so cute on me!" Leni said, checking ever angle possible.
After getting a good look at herself, she turned over to Luan and engulfed her into a tight hug.
"Thank you so much, Luan! I wish I knew some way to return the favor..." Leni said, and then it hit her, "Actually, I do know how!"
In an instant, she let her sister go and zipped over to the closet, where she go out a box very similarly shaped to the one Luan gave her, with the outward difference here being that this one had gift wrapping paper complete with a heart-shaped pattern all around.
"Here, Luan! Happy Valentine's Day!" Leni happily declared.
Luan smiled as she took the gift into her hands, "Wow, you got me something, Leni? And from the looks of it, you certainly put a lot more heart into this than with my gift to you with this gift wrap and everything."
Following a little laugh, Luan tore off the wrapping paper to reveal a box strikingly similar to the one that housed the sweater she just gave Leni, but that would be far from the only similarity.
Popping open the box, it was Luan's turn to gasp when she realized what was inside.
"Wow…!"
Her mouth agape, Luan was stunned to see the very same variety of sweater that she gave Leni was now what she gotten as a gift.
"I...I can't believe it! We got each other the same gift?" Luan said completely shocked.
"Yeah!" Leni agreed, "It's almost like we went to the same store or something! Like, maybe that one on the other side of town?"
Luan began laughing nervously, "Yeah, that very one, and actually, since it's being brought up, I have something of a confession to make, Leni. I went to that store at the very same time you were there."
"Wait, you did?" Leni questioned with a turn of her head, "But I didn't see you at all."
"Well, that's because the moment I saw you, I made a split second decision to hide inside one of the changing rooms until you were gone." Luan explained, frowning slightly, "I didn't want to bump into you because if I did, I might've accidentally revealed I was shopping for you and spoiled everything. I'm sorry, Leni."
Leni approached her sister and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Aw, it's okay, Luan. I can understand, even if it sounded a little strange what you did. But let's not worry about that, because I really want to see how you look in your sweater!"
Having a smile returning to her face, Luan gladly obliged in that request as she put that very sweater on her, then was brought over by Leni to show off the matching pair they made in the mirror.
"Oh, you look even cuter than I do!" Leni stated following a very happy squeal.
"Aw...I don't know about that..." Luan said bashfully, a small blush forming on her face, "But thanks anyway, Leni."
Next, she wrapped up her older sister into a hug, nuzzling along Leni's neck.
"I've got one of my best sisters ever right here with me!" Luan said proudly.
Leni smiled, hugged Luan back and planted a kiss on her cheek, "Me, too!"
Later on in the day, Lincoln was keeping himself occupied through whatever means necessary as he awaited any news from Luna about her attempts to score any tickets for the Boyz Will Be Boyz concert for Lori, again despite the fleeting chances of that happened. He didn't want to bother or pester Luna about it, but only allowed her to bring it up on her own volition should the improbable occur.
Taking a moment to leave his room, Lincoln went to take care of some bathroom business, and then as he passed on by the open door leading to Luna and Luan's bedroom, his name was called out.
"Yo, Lincoln, can I chit chat with you for a sec?"
Seeing Luna within and waving him over, Lincoln stepped in.
"What is it, Luna?" He asked, "Well, actually, I tried not asking you most of yesterday or much of today, and not that I want to sound pushy or anything, but how goes the effort with at least trying to get those tickets?"
Luna released a prolonged sigh, "Well, I gave it my best shot, bro..."
"Oh..." Lincoln barely said above a whisper, disappointed and yet not entirely surprised, "I see and I totally understand, Luna. What was I thinking believing there was even the slightest chance of this happening and..."
Just as he tried to finis that thought, Lincoln felt a pair of his sister's fingers be placed on his lips and saw her grinning as well.
"Hold up there, you didn't let me finish, dude. I was saying that I gave it my best shot..."
She paused to hold up the item Lincoln thought was nearly impossible for her to attain.
"And I pulled through. In fact, I managed to score two times the tix!"
Lincoln looked on completely flabbergasted. He could hardly believe his own eyes that Luna somehow against all odds obtained a pair of tickets for the concert and even as he took them into his hands, his mind had to thought he was dreaming for a second.
"I...I…I don't believe it! How did you manage this?!" Lincoln asked astounded before pinching himself briefly just to see if he was in fact dreaming.
Luna chortled, "Well, it's like you said the day before, they don't simply give these out to most anyone, again not even to people like myself who may know a handful of dudes in the upper tier of things. It took a lot of haggling, employing some skills learned from a certain master of convincing that we're both very familiar with, some luck and maybe a tad bit of begging, but I did it. Let's just say that in addition to paying with a solid amount of my personal stash of cash for a discounted price on those tix, I'm also gonna be packed with quite a bit of babysitting gigs for the kids of some of those bigwigs I bargained with."
After listening to Luna's recount of everything, Lincoln glanced down at the tickets again and he laughed in disbelief.
"Luna, I can't begin to thank you enough for doing this." He said, his tone of voice getting more emotional with every sentence, "I tried being as optimistic as I could about this, but like you told me yesterday, I also had to be realistic and be prepared to accept that this couldn't pan out. But to think you actually pulled this off...in all honesty, this means as much to me as when you made our SMOOCH concert memorable and when you and our sisters performed that VIB concert and brought SMOOCH along, too, all just for me. I wish there was some way I could return the favor in equal fashion, but I suppose this will do for now..."
He emphatically encircled his arms around Luna's waist, then he reached up and kissed her cheek. With a blush and a smile both coming across her face, she returned her little brother's grateful affection with a hug of her own.
"The pleasure is all mine, Lincoln. And don't worry about doing anything similar in return for me. You being super stoked is all I could ask for." Luna told him.
Following a quick, reciprocal kiss on his cheek, Luna let go of Lincoln as he again looked at the tickets in his hands.
"Lori is going to absolutely love this!" He said, still in shock that any of this had been possible.
"What am I going to love?"
Hearing that voice belonging to their oldest sister, Luna and Lincoln both turned to see Lori curiously standing beside the doorway.
"Uh, before either of you say anything, it's not like I was literally listening in or anything. I was coming up the stairs and I just so happened to hear that last line as I was passing by." Lori explained, "And since I'm here right, what were you talking about, Lincoln?"
"Oh, I...uh, you see...maybe I'll tell you a little later on today." Lincoln answered, aflutter in nerves.
"Ah, don't be so shy, dude. Why not show her now?" Luna encouraged him with a pat on his head.
Buoyed by Luna's words, Lincoln chose to go ahead with it. He approached Lori and after a quick breath of air, he presented his hand out to her.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Lori." He said very softly.
Lori looked at the small objects within the palm of her brother's hand and took them into her own. When she got a closer look, she gasped loudly.
"No way! These can't be...these..." Lori stammered, "Are these real tickets to that Boyz Will Be Boyz concert coming up soon?!"
Lincoln nodded modestly, "They are..."
"And you got them….just for me?" Lori wondered, her voice quivering.
Again, Lincoln nodded.
"But how...and more importantly, why?"
"Well, I had to lean on Luna for her to strike some kind of grand deal to get these, since she does know some people over at the auditorium at Royal Woods Mall." Lincoln explained, "As for why? Well, speaking of overhearing, I heard just how sad you sounded that you couldn't go to that concert while you were talking to Leni and I wanted to do something to cheer you up. Never did I actually imagine that being able to secure you the ability to attend that concert, with Luna here doing most of the actual work in obtaining the tickets, would end up being that very something, but here we are."
Lori looked towards Luna, "You got these?"
Luna nodded, "Yeah, but to be straight with you, I can't take all the credit. I wasn't too high on even wanting to do this, let alone thinking a miracle could be pulled off. But thanks to some convincing from our little bro here, I couldn't really say no for much longer. He really wanted to do something special for you like he said and you gotta admire that in him."
For a moment, Lori looked down at the tickets again, then shifted her gaze on to Lincoln, who was smiling gently at her. Her eyes started to get misty and she started to sniffle. Fewer instances in recent times had touched her so much like what he'd done right now and she felt no better options to showcase that admiration than kneeling down to his level and pulling him into her arms.
"Lincoln, this has to be among the nicest things that anyone's ever done for me. You may not know how much this means to me, but what I do know at the very least is that you are truly the greatest little brother I could ever ask for." Lori said, her heart full of joyousness, then she looked back up at Luna, "Oh, and you're a pretty generous sis yourself, Luna."
Luna smiled, "Ah, don't mention it. But anyway, I got a little biz of my own to take care of, so I'm gonna let you two have this moment to yourselves. I'd say you deserve it."
Passing by both her siblings, giving them quick, affectionate rubs on their shoulders on the way, Luna left the room as Lori pulled away and looked Lincoln in his eyes.
"I seriously can't believe you actually did this for me." She said, taking a brief second to wipe her eyes.
"I can't believe it either if I'm being honest. Again, I did not think all this was going to be possible." Lincoln said with a chuckle, "By the way, I'm guessing you'll bring a friend with you when this concert happens, but if not, and since there's no sense in wasting a ticket...do you mind if I come along? I mean, the music isn't really my thing, but I wouldn't mind accompanying you, again assuming you weren't hoping to bring a friend of yours."
Lori cupped Lincoln's face, "After managing to do this for me, there's honestly no one I'd rather have come along with me than you."
Her eyes began welling up again, and Lincoln's started to all the same. She brought him back into another embrace and ended up surprising him by standing up and hauling him up in the air with her.
"Oh, Lincoln, I love you so, so much!" Lori said, kissing his cheek emphatically.
Lincoln giggled and put his arms around her, "I love you, too, Lori!"
Meanwhile, right as all that was being shared, Luna was strolling along right past Lynn and Lucy's room when the door opened up slightly.
"Oh, hey there, Luna, perfect timing!" Lynn said as she poked her head out, "Do you mind coming in here for a moment?"
"Uh, sure thing, Lynn." Luna answered.
Lynn opened the door to allow her sister to come inside and closed it afterward.
"So, what's going on?" Luna asked.
Lynn fidgeted around somewhat, "Well...I'd say something first, but I'm just gonna cut to the chase..."
Taking a deep breath, she knelt down and reached underneath her bed, pulling out a plastic bag. Right away, Luna recognized it as what she thought she saw Lynn carrying with her when she zipped past her in a hurry the other day.
"Here, this is a little something I got for you for this day..." Lynn said, presenting the bag to her sister.
Luna didn't hesitate in taking the bag from Lynn's hands and looking inside of it. When she did, she gasped.'
"Whoa, dude! This is that new Mick Swagger greatest hits album that's come out recently!" Luna said delightfully, "And you got it both in CD and vinyl? That's mighty sweet of you!"
Lynn laughed softly, "Well…I was offered a killer deal that I couldn't possibly turn down."
"You must have!" Luna agreed, "You know, I did actually get the digital version of this very album yesterday..."
Instantly, the moment she heard that, Lynn felt her heart sank. The pleasure from seeing Luna overjoyed with those gifts had evaporated and her face turned sullen.
"Lynn?" Luna inquired.
Lynn sighed heavily and sat down on the floor, "I knew it. This was exactly what I was afraid of, you having gotten whatever I was planning to get you. Now this feels like a complete waste of my time and money..."
She buried her face into her knees and moaned unhappily, which was a sight Luna found heartrending. She placed her gifts aside for the moment and knelt down to in front of her younger sister.
"Hey, don't be like that, sis." Luna told her assuredly, "It's not a waste at all. I really love that you got these for me."
Next, she sat next to Lynn and put an arm around her shoulders.
"Look, I like the convenience of listening to music digitally like a lot of other people, but for me, there's something about listening to it on CDs or vinyl records that makes things sound more...authentic, I guess would be one way of saying it. I wasn't sure how many of those in our family would feel the same aside from myself and Dad, but you must have in order to buy both of those albums for me."
Lynn looked up to her older sister, "Yeah, maybe. So...you do like them?"
"I love them, LJ, just as I feel the same for you, too." Luna said unquestionably.
That heartfelt line marked a rapid turnaround for Lynn. She flung her arms around Luna, which garnered a similarly loving response from her sister, too.
However, Luna would grow concerned again when she heard Lynn beginning to sob very lightly.
"Aw, don't cry, little sis." She told Lynn soothingly and rubbed her back, "I told it's okay."
"I know that now, Luna. I'm just so relieved you do like them after all. That means a lot to me." Lynn said tearfully, leaning her face into her sister's shoulder.
Luna tightened her embrace of her younger sister, "And I'll treasure them forever. Thank you so much, Lynn."
Jumping to the evening hours, an increasingly frustrated Lisa still couldn't crack this confounding conundrum she was in. All the smarts in the world was still not getting her anywhere with the Valentine's task she imposed on herself. She hoped to pushed herself into a rush to get things done with before dark, but the prospects for a finished product before the day's end had long seemingly faded.
Getting more vexed and her patience running thin, Lisa groaned and left her room. With only moments before her bedtime, she headed downstairs to retrieve a last minute drink. She arrived at the kitchen and snagged a juice box out of the refrigerator. Penetrating the hole where the straw goes, she made quick work of the Vitamin C enriched liquid delicacy, but just as she almost finished, she heard a voice behind her.
"Oh, hey there, Lisa."
Yelping, Lisa squeezed the juice box inadvertently, causing the remainder of the juice to be sprayed across her face. She sputtered for bit before turning to see Lucy behind her.
"Oh...uh, sorry to startle you like that." Lucy said, "How about I help you with getting cleaned up?"
Before Lisa could say much of anything else, Lucy grabbed a pair of paper towels over from the counter and then returned to the side of her younger sister. She gently took Lisa's glasses, wiped them down and while holding on to them, she softly dabbed the towel around her sister's face. Finally, Lucy wiped down the floor of any juice droplets that landed on the floor and tossed away the paper towels in the trash once she was finished.
"I probably could've that myself, Lucy..." Lisa said.
"Maybe, but I guess I couldn't help myself." Lucy replied.
The goth girl turned and almost left the kitchen, but a sudden glance back over to the genius made her notice that her sister looked lost for a lack of better terms.
"Hey, is there something wrong, Lisa?" Lucy asked.
Lisa remained quiet, then she sighed, "I must concede that these past 48 hours have left me more troubled over something that should not be this difficult in nature, but has been nonetheless."
"And that would be?" Lucy wondered.
Lisa sighed a second time, "Well...I suppose I can divulge into the details, but if it's not too much trouble, I prefer we confer within my sleeping quarters."
"Uh...all right then." Lucy said.
Guiding her sister, Lisa brought Lucy along upstairs and into her and Lily's room, the latter of which was sound asleep.
"Best we keep our enunciation at low levels, lest we awaken our youngest sibling form." Lisa advised.
Right as Lucy would concur with that request, she looked over to Lisa's desk and saw numerous bits of paper scattered about.
"What's all this?" She asked.
"You may as well observe for yourself..." Lisa suggested.
Lucy approached the desk and looked about. Most of the papers were crumpled up or had writing that was scratched out, but a couple did have something legible here and there. She noticed some of the writing consisted of Lisa's standard various scientific phraseology, but mixed in was, if Lucy was being perfectly honest, some unexpectedly amateurish usage of expressions of love and affection.
"Lisa, if I didn't know any better, this looks like your attempts at...writing poetry?" Lucy said confusedly.
"Yes, I confess to such, as silly to you as it might seem." Lisa responded.
"But why?"
"Well...speaking of silly..."
Sighing for a third time, Lisa sat down on her bed and motioned for Lucy to join alongside her by patting the space next to her.
"I've tasked myself with doing such as a means of showing off my capabilities of writing short form, uxorious prose directed towards...someone within the familial circle for this particular day, but alas, this inexplicably turned into more of a head scratcher than anticipated." Lisa explained.
She closed her eyes and shook her head, silence taking hold for a few seconds.
"You know, if this was what you've been working on and were having trouble with it, you could've asked me for some help. I wouldn't minded if you did." Lucy said.
Lisa nodded gently, "True, and you would have been the most obvious first choice for such generous assistance, but to be transparent, that very someone I just inferred to of which such work was directed to...was you, Lucy."
"It was?" Lucy asked, genuinely surprised by that admission.
"Precisely, and I didn't confer to you at any earlier instance for the confessedly silly fear that asking for any assistance of yours would indirectly or otherwise spoil the potential surprise of such beforehand." Lisa replied, "Nor did I ask for anyone else among our immediate family unit because no one has a better handle on this matter than you do, Lucy."
Lucy creaked at little smile on her lips, "Oh...thanks, Lisa."
Lisa also had a brief smile form, but it became a frown as she exhaled.
"And to be more transparent, this whole experience might've been some foolhardy effort to prove that I'm capable of being more than some soulless, science based automaton and can write out matters pertaining to the heart. But I can concede that I've failed in that respect. Imagine being imbued with all the knowledge in the world, but something dealing with serious human emotion is an impossibility. But I guess that's the sacrifice I must bear for my intellect..."
As she concluded her thoughts, Lisa's expression became more saddened. For her part, Lucy moved closer to her sister and put a hand on her back.
"Hey, if you ask me, you're not soulless at all, Lisa, and I can bet you no one else in our family thinks so, too." Lucy said comfortingly, "I don't think the problem is your intellect that makes it hard for you to express emotion, but how very young you are instead. No matter how smart you are, you're only four years old and still are likely sorting out how to express yourself. But I believe you'll get better at it as you get older. Trust me, I know the feeling. It took me a long time to express myself properly, too, and I'm still working on it in a sense, but thanks to things like reading and poetry, I've gotten better at understanding and handling such."
Next, Lucy brought her arm up and wrapped it around Lisa.
"And speaking of poetry, I don't necessarily need you to write something in order to know that you care about me, just like how I care about you, too."
Through such assuring words, Lisa slowly felt better about herself. For Lucy's efforts in such, the prodigy showed she was capable of proper human emotion by snuggling up close to her goth sister.
"My humblest of appreciative sentiments to you, Lucy. Perhaps your hypothesis will prove correct in due time." Lisa expressed admirably.
Lucy brought her other arm around her younger sister to hug her, "I believe it will."
Lisa returned the embrace she found herself in and for a while, neither she nor Lucy said anything in the meantime, simply sharing this moment in silence over similar experiences of improving their expressiveness.
"By the way, I will accept your offer in assisting me in refinement of the verse form." Lisa said as she and Lucy parted.
"I'd be glad to, but maybe we'll do that tomorrow." Lucy suggested, "Right now it's getting pretty late."
"Indeed, and since you mention it, I am prepared for a nice, hours long REM cycle." Lisa agreed.
With that, Lisa shifted over to her pillow and was about to pull the covers over her, but was surprised to see Lucy do that for her instead.
"Just thought I'd do a little big sisterly act for you." Lucy said.
Lisa smiled, "Ah, well, much appreciated."
Next, Lisa took her glasses off, placed them on the nightstand and got comfortable as Lucy began leaving. However, just as she opened the door, she looked back over at her gradually slumbering sister.
"Good night, Lisa...and happy Valentine's Day."
Ah, sweet platonic sibling love. One of the finest pleasures in life, including on a day like this.
A couple of things before I let you go. The record store Lynn went to wasn't The Spin Cycle, the one featured in "Roadie to Nowhere", nor was the clothing store that Luan went to that one from "Everybody Loves Leni". They're just some generic ones somewhere in town with no specific branding in mind. Also, the name for the record store employee AJ was just perhaps a reference to Lynn's abbreviated nickname "LJ" and nothing more.
All right, thanks for reading and per the usual, see you soon again at some point.