Chapter 2 - Story Exchange
Finally, finally, finally, they returned home with all the necessary ingredients that Luna and Luan needed for their pie. By this time, Luna was quite sure that the next time she would agree on another trip to the grocery store with the laughing hyenas that were her father and sister would certainly be when Lola decided to take up learning automobile maintenance. Her headphones and playlist of Mick Swagger's Golden Collection Vol. 3 sure would have came in handy in that last hour.
Joke factory aside, Lynn Sr. collected the groceries he had purchased for dinner and left the girls to sort through their loot and they got right to work soon after. Aprons on, Luan became the chef and Luna her apprentice; together, they dove into the world of baking an apple pie.
Luan was ecstatic. What she had told Luna that morning was true: no one within or outside her family had ever expressed even the slightest desire to bake with her before, let alone ask her to teach them how. She had always wanted to bake with one of her sisters, and so she wanted this afternoon to be just right. Unfortunately, once they got started, it quickly became apparent that Luna did not have a hand in baking whatsoever.
It wasn't as bad as it could be though, as it would undoubtedly be a very different experience if she were to try to teach Leni how to bake. Just witnessing their 16 year-old ditzy, yet sweetly innocent sister trying to thaw a pot of frozen goulash with her hair dryer last winter was enough to prove that this alone would be an episode in its own right. Luan knew very well what it was like to teach one her older siblings the tricks of a trade that she knew by heart. While teaching Leni something new would be the equivalent to teaching a six year-old how to repair a car (excluding Lana of course), teaching Lori would also prove to be a struggle, but for different reasons. Lori wasn't used to being directed by someone 'beneath' her and rarely had the patience to try again after two or three failed attempts.
Luna, however, was a different case, for she was neither Leni nor Lori. She was a fast thinker and learner, with more common sense than Leni and much more perseverance than Lori. Nonetheless, like anything new to her, she needed an expert's watchful guidance to assist. Her first attempt at cracking the eggs resulted in half of the contents actually landing into the mixing bowl and the other half on the countertop. Her dough rolling technique was very sloppy. And the terminology of the instructions was another beast entirely. Though their progress was slow, their pie slowly began to take form, and in all, Luan was enjoying baking with Luna immensely. She was used to being told what to do by her superiors, and her parents didn't exactly trust her to be alone with her younger siblings, thanks to her history of causing mischief. Thus, it was rather nice to be 'in charge' for once. And besides, it felt good to teach Luna something new for a change, after Luna had taught her so much prior, from how to manage high school life to the basics chords on her acoustic guitar.
There are many things in life that have that special magic in bringing those you love closer to you than ever before and can only be released through sharing the journey together, and baking was one of them. It wasn't just Luan who was feeling this special energy; despite her shaky handiwork, Luna was having a pretty good time too. Having the ability to find music in everything and anything, she soon proceeded to sing as she worked, with lyrics that came completely improvised from the heart, with her sister playfully joining her with lyrics of her own invention.
"I tell ya Luna, this is the life. And you wanna know what kind of life?"
Luna probably shouldn't have returned that question. "What kind?"
"Life of pie! Get it?" The usual combination of laughter and groaning filled the air, mixed with the sweet aroma of apple and cinnamon.
A/N: Here's where I leave the story open to you…how do you think their baking escapades pulled off?
With the family's oven containing a pie that was not quite to Luan's standard appearance-wise, but decent enough and far better than anything that Luna could have whipped up alone, the girls then proceeded to restore the messy kitchen to its former glory, a chore that Luan herself had come a long way in learning to do roughly around the time Lincoln had tried to convince his sisters to go green around the house, during which she often made a huge mess of the kitchen when baking her pies. A clean workspace is a safe workspace. Once that was done, they retired to the living room, lounging on the couch with Luna strumming her guitar lightly and Luan sipping at an apple juice box. It was more of a habit really, but whenever the siblings gathered to watch The Dreamboat or used the couch for family meetings, Luna and Luan often gave up their cushions for the younger siblings, while they took to leaning on the headrests from behind. That wasn't a rule and they certainly weren't excluded from the ordinary seats, but it was somewhat rare for them both to get to sit on them together.
The conversation that would soon strike up between them would be one that would leave a deep imprint in their hearts for a time far beyond the hour-long baking duration currently on their hands.
"Got to hand it to you dude, that was pretty fun. Thanks for showing me the ropes," Luna said gratefully as she strummed a few chords. "Baking was never really my thing, but you showed me how it can be a real sweet deal!"
Luan sat tall and proud from her roost. "Hey, you know me…always one to bake your day! Get it?" She laughed and Luna rolled her eyes. Walked right into that one, she thought to herself. Her brief thought bubble almost made her miss what Luan was saying next. "…I still don't get why you wanted to learn how to bake a pie though. But you can tell me later. Right now, you have to live up your end of the deal! What's the scoop with you and Sam?! Tell me, tell me, tell me!" The couch creaked loudly, suffering the effects of Luan bouncing rapidly in her seat.
Luna chuckled as she stroked the top rim of her guitar; she was looking forward to killing two birds with one stone. "Alright, Lulu. You're right. You met your end of the bargain. Time for me to finally give you the goods." She pulled the guitar strap over her head, leaning her trusty instrument beside the couch.
"Start all the way from the beginning," ordered Luan as she kicked off her shoes. She sat cross-legged on her end of the couch and rested her chin upon the back of her hands; her big eager eyes staring at Luna intently as if she were staring into a fortune teller's glass orb, revealing the future and all that it held.
This appearance just made Luan look adorable in Luna's eyes, causing her to smirk. "Alright, from the beginning. Well…first there was nothing. A complete boss of total darkness. Then came the dinosaurs who stuck to the water and eventually learned to stand on four legs…"
"Not that beginning, you loon," interrupted Luan, mildly irritated, yet clearly trying to hold back her fit of giggles. Sometimes her sister could be funny, like her. Walked right into that one, she thought to herself.
Luna was laughing and holding her ribs. It was spark moments like this that reminded her why Luan loved her selected pathway so much. Sometimes, it felt good to be the one to make the other laugh. "Sorry dude. Couldn't resist. Okay, for real this time…"
The wannabe rockstar proceeded to tell her wannabe comedienne of a sister the whole tale. The grand adventure of Luna and Sam was now a chapter book being read aloud, with each chapter focusing on a specific challenge that the girls needed to conquer to finish the Quest, sprinkled with all the fine details that Luan needed to know: how Luna felt, and how she tried her best to not look like a fool in front of her girlfriend and failing miserably in her efforts. Luan was a good audience. She gasped and laughed at all the right moments. She soaked it all in as she listened with earnest and was practically gripping the cushion with horrified eyes when Luna reached the part where she and Sam had decided to complete the Quest only as friends. The relief on Luan's face was as pure as Lily's infant nature when Luna's story drew to a close, with her and Sam deciding to remain united after all and look ahead to discovering new things about each other, hand in hand.
"And that's where we are now," finished Luna with a content smile. She had been staring at a crack in the ceiling as she wrapped up the tale and she then looked down at Luan to gauge her response.
There wasn't much need to, because Luan launched herself at Luna with enough force to push the latter backwards, squashing her back against the cushion. She was squealing like a crazed fangirl, a noise that their brother Lincoln wasn't particularly fond of whenever the sisters overheard him and Ronnie Anne talking over the phone. Hugging Luna tightly, the ponytailed girl giggled happily. "You guys are so cute!" she bubbled. Luna blushed heavily and gave Luan an amused look. "I take it you liked that story, huh?" she snickered. Despite feeling a little flustered, she couldn't help herself from surrendering to Luan's silly gushing. Because in all honesty, she too thought that she and Sam were as cute as cute could be.
Luan finally let go of Luna, sitting back on her end of the couch with a big goofy grin on her face, one that could only be described as sheer happiness for her older sister and intense triumph in finally hearing about Luna's status with Sam, a piece of information she had been wanting to hear for so long now. "So that's why you were suddenly so interested in baking," she stated.
Luna nodded as she sat upright, smoothing out her skirt. "Someday I hope to surprise Sam with a pie I baked myself. To remember that day y'know?"
"Well, you still have a long way to go before you can master the art of baking, but I can teach you again if you'd like," she offered.
Luna smiled. "That'd be totally rad, sis."
The comedienne pressed her palms against her own cheeks as she gushed with glee again. "So does everyone know or was I the one left out?"
Luna shook her head. "Not quite, brah. Lor and Len know, only because they caught me getting ready before the event and pressed it out of me. I'm glad they did, cuz Lori helped me when I was feeling blue about not sharing anything in common with Sam. Some of our other sibs were in the Quest too, but I don't think they were paying attention to notice us. They'll figure out soon enough, I'm sure."
Luan agreed. "Yeah, nothing stays quiet in this house. But this is so exciting! When are you and Sam gonna meet next?"
Her older sister grinned. "We've had a few ideas. There's a small rock concert happening next month at the park. We hang out after school though and I'll tell you a little more later. Right now, though, the time has come to ask you a few things."
Luan tilted her head. "What sort of things?"
Luna adopted a mischievous grin. "Things about your drama. Did you enjoy kissing your boyfriend, Juliet?" She then watched with immense satisfaction as Luan's face went full cherry red with a tiny smile. The smile surprised Luna, however. Normally whenever Benny was the topic of discussion between the two of them, Luan would become somewhat gloomy, as Luna knew very well that she was struggling to get to know the teen boy better. The reason for this change in detail, she did not know…yet. No doubt that the school play had altered her sister's current status with Benny and it was time to find out exactly what.
As for Luan, she felt more than butterflies fluttering in her stomach, rather there were birds flapping furiously to escape the internal boundary that was her own body. She had figured that the entire family wanted to know how she felt to kiss her well-known crush Benny up on stage in front of everyone, with Luna being the most eager to hear about it from her. It was just that Luna calling Benny her 'boyfriend' was so ironic. Yes, it was finally time to tell Luna the truth…and she knew just how to deliver the message:
"I guess you could say we were a couple of lovebirds," she giggled. "But believe me when I tell you that what we did on stage was more than just an act. Get it?" She skipped the laughter and instead gazed at Luna intently to see if she could riddle her out.
Luna was no longer grinning; now she was frowning, deep in thought. She had been quick to catch on that Luan was doing that thing again. It was her quirky habit of hers of speaking cryptically not in tongue, but with puns, the language Luan was most fluent in. While most of the family simply groaned and ignored her, the purple-clad girl had spent enough time with her little sister to recognize that this was not her usual 'punning'. The jokester would sometimes sprinkle her speech with puns at moments like these when she wanted to say something important. Of course, if the situation warranted seriousness, then Luan would leave aside the puns and speak normally. Luna really did give Luan credit for the cleverness in her speech, but only after she had worked out their true meaning.
Couple of lovebirds…more than just an act… Luna thought, analyzing the subtle hints that Luan had dropped. She looked at Luan carefully. There was gleam in her eye unlike any that she had seen her emit before, a look of happiness and immense joy.
Much like the look that Luna herself had been having all month.
"Dude…" she gasped as it hit her. "You mean…you and Benny…?"
Luan's giddy smile and deep blush was enough to confirm her theory.
Despite her heart begging to put on a similar crazed, overreacting performance that Luan had done to her not 15 minutes ago, Luna chose instead to maintain her posture and cut straight to interrogating her sister, though admittedly looking gleeful all the same. "So how did it happen?"
Luan leaned back against the armrest and crossed her legs, ready to spin her own tale to Luna. Storytime had become quite a popular pastime this afternoon…
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter and the story so far! Trust me, the whole script is finished and ready to go, and the next chapter will start to serve you the real meat in the story. Thanks to all who gave a fav and a follow!