A/N Welcome back guys. I decided to go to more extra length in this chapter as my apology for the long wait last time. This time I'm going to try my hand at a few things I don't have much experience in. Let's see if it pays off.
The Tale of Two Tables/Game Night
It was a peaceful evening as the Clements finished dinner, Nicholas was relaxing watching T.V. as Will was cleaning up the dishes. Will placed the last plate into the dishwasher and loaded it up with soap and got it going as his phone started vibrating. Will checked it and it was a photo of Lincoln covered in ketchup and mashed potatoes covered in peas. He had a seriously angry face on as apparently he was wearing dinner instead of eating it. Will noticed that this photo was sent to not only him, but Clyde as well.
Attached was a text message that said, 'I need to meet you two tomorrow! I'm tired of the food being on me rather than in me!' Will giggled, cause Lincoln does look funny, however he couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
Oh, poor Lincoln, he must be getting sick of dealing with the childish antics of the kids table during dinner. Let's see what me and Clyde can do for him.
Afterwards he and Nicholas changed out of their clothes and went to bed. Will slept soundly with a soft smile on his face and rested his hands behind his head.
The next day Clyde and Will met Lincoln in his room at his house as Lincoln filled him in on his desire to eat peacefully with the parents and older siblings during dinner at the adult table. Clyde sat on Lincoln's bed as Will stood next to Clyde.
"Don't you worry buddy, You've come to the right place. As an only child I've been at the grown up table my whole life!" Clyde assured his best friend.
"Since I've had to grow up quite faster than most. I can help you out in your endeavor." Will added.
"So you two think you can help me?" Lincoln asked.
"Did Napoleon have a Napoleon complex?" Clyde answered, both Will and Lincoln were confused. "That's a grown up table joke. You don't get it now but you will soon." He assured, showing off his maturity.
"Are you sure that's a grown up table joke?" Will questioned.
You know a better one? Clyde countered.
"I find it better to just not tell jokes at all." Will said, offering his point of view.
Not only that, that joke was irrelevant, and just not a good one!
"Come on, some mature humor is welcome at the table." Clyde retorted.
Will turned his attention to Lincoln. "Hey Lincoln, do you see Luan pulling pranks and jokes during dinner?"
Lincoln took a few seconds to think about it. "Not very often."
Clyde was a little annoyed being shown up like that.
Will decided to compromise, he didn't mean to make Clyde look bad. "Clyde, why don't you help Lincoln learn more jokes, and Lincoln practice keeping them to a minimum, like Luan." Clyde nodded and smiled at Will in response.
I can't believe I'm praising Luan. I don't do that very often.
"Don't worry Lincoln. I have a sure fire program, that is sure to get your family to stop seeing you as a kid!" Clyde reassured Lincoln.
"And start seeing me as a grown up!" Lincoln said with a little triumphance. He quickly darted and grabbed his favorite stuffed rabbit Bun Bun, which Clyde was sitting his back against. "Careful! You'll give Bun Bun an ouchie!"
Clyde raised an eyebrow in concern for that. Will just giggled.
Ah, I was like that to once, to a certain extent, still am.
"So what is the first thing we do?" Lincoln asked.
"Well, the first thing you gotta do is act like a grown up!" Clyde instructed.
"Show your maturity!" Will added.
Lincoln thought to himself for a moment then snapped his fingers. "I got it! Lori, Luna, Luan, and Lynn all drink coffee in the morning! They're having a cup right now!" Lincoln placed Bun Bun on his pillow and leaped off the bed and rushed to the kitchen with Will, and Clyde behind him.
Will and Clyde hid behind a wall around the corner to the kitchen and watched as Lincoln entered. Sure enough, Lori, Luna, Luan, and Lynn were all dressed in their morning attire sipping on coffee looking tired.
This is not the right way to go, but let's see how it turns out.
"Goooood morning everybody!" Lincoln said in a loud and cheerful voice, he walked over to the coffee maker and began pouring himself a cup of hot coffee. "Ahh, nothing like that first cup of morning joe. He took a big sniff of the stuff. Ah Mountain grown." He took a rather large swig of the drink, but found the taste revolting. He instantly spat it out and unfortunately it went all over his sisters. They were drenched in the black/brown liquid looking both angry and confused. Just what in the world was Lincoln doing? Lincoln looked to Clyde and Will around the corner. Clyde gave him a thumbs up as Will shook his head.
"Uhhh heheh, sorry!" Lincoln apologized to his sisters as he bolted out of the kitchen. The sisters, all just blinked at each other and shrugged.
"How was that?" Lincoln asked.
"Terrible. Excellent!" Clyde and Will said at the same time. Clyde glared at Will.
"Come on man! A little encouragement!" He said to Will, looking annoyed.
Will offered his own advice. "Look Lincoln, just be calm, don't act like you're up to anything and just ask. Act calm and reasonable if you're told 'no.' That's the best way for you to show your maturity."
Lincoln thought about it. "I suppose, for this instance Clyde. I'll follow Will's advice."
"Ok man. I guess we'll have to move on to phase two!" Clyde said. "How to act once you get to the table."
"I can help you there. I've eaten at your grown up table a couple of times." Will pointed out.
They went to the kitchen, where Clyde made cardboard cutouts of each of the older Loud sisters. Clyde also took the time to set the table with silverware and plates, with bread rolls and a square of butter. Clyde sat Lincoln at a chair between the cardboard Lori and Leni.
"Ok Lincoln this is the grown up table simulator." Clyde introduced. Will was stunned to see the details that Clyde put into this set up. Especially the detail of the cardboard siblings. They were nowhere near perfect but for Clyde they looked kind of decent.
"Wait a minute Clyde, when did you do this? When did you have time to make these cut outs?" Will questioned.
"If something's important, you make the time Will." Clyde replied. Will puffed a breath of air in agreement.
What can I say? I can't argue with that!
Clyde began his first lesson. "Now Lincoln, show me your salad fork."
Lincoln grabbed the large fork closest to the plate and showed it to Clyde. "This one?"
Clyde responded by blowing an air horn, indicating that Lincoln was incorrect. Lincoln and Will jumped at the loudness. They certainly were not expecting that.
"Wrong! That's your dinner fork!" Clyde pointed out. "Now have some bread."
Lincoln reached for the bread sitting on his right instead of the bread in front of him, Clyde blew the air horn again causing Lincoln to drop the roll.
"Wrong! You just took Lori's bread." Clyde again pointed out. He then snuggled up to the cardboard Lori he made and began sweet talking it. "Don't worry beautiful, I'll share my buns with you!" Will gagged in disgust, he's sweet talking to a cardboard cutout.
Woah! T.M.I. dude!
Will grabbed the air horn and blew it in Clyde's ear. He instantly snapped out of his trance and was rubbing his ears in pain and glared at Will.
"OW! What's the big idea?" He shouted.
"The Lesson?" Will reminded him. "Also, is this really necessary?"
Clyde just shrugged and sighed exasperatedly. "What now?"
"I mean, I don't recall this when I ate at the table. Not only that, I never ate like this in my house." Will explained.
Clyde replied, in a rather blunt fashion. "Well, no offence man, but with just you and your dad, you're allowed to get away with lax manners." Will scoffed and rolled his eyes in response.
Wow, thanks a lot.
They dropped the etiquette of using correct silverware, then moved onto proper dinner conversation.
"Try to strike up a grown up conversation with someone." Clyde instructed.
Lincoln began a talk with the cardboard Lynn. He knew just the conversation to have with his pretend sister.
"So Lynn, how about those republicans!" Will returned the air horn to Clyde who once again blew it at Lincoln for making another mistake.
"Wrong, never talk politics!" Clyde instructed.
"Unless you know your family is political themselves, and reasonable to differing opinions. If not then don't bring it up." Will added, Clyde smiled at him. It seems like they finally agreed on something.
"Try again!" Clyde said to Lincoln.
Lincoln paused, he had to think of something. "Um…..we could really use some rain?"
"Yes!" Clyde praised.
"Weather, what you did today are great examples of things to talk about during dinner. If you're stuck, ask the people around you." Will said, adding more instruction. Will smiled with Clyde again, they were still on the same page.
Lincoln moved through his lessons quickly although I did keep pointing out how unnecessary it was for all this, however I stopped when I was seriously getting on Clyde's nerves. Now time for the final review.
Clyde held flashcards to Lincoln with pictures of various silverware and Lincoln was correctly guessing each one.
"Soup spoon, salad fork, butter knife, dessert plate….a candid picture of Lori?" Lincoln questioned, for a photo of Lori was somehow mixed into the flashcards.
"Ugh Clyde!" Will groaned.
"Oh uh...how'd that get in there?" Clyde said, trying to sound innocent. Will rolled his eyes before going back to the task at hand.
"Ok Lincoln it seems like you got this!" Will praised.
"Not quite." Clyde objected. "You got one more thing to learn. You must look like a grown up!"
"No he's fine!" Will argued. He wasn't playing around anymore.
"B-but I already got a surprise for him!" Clyde said getting nervous at Will's sudden outburst. The two eyed each other as Lincoln started to look nervous, would they start a heated debate over this? He already knows there's no way Will would fight him or Clyde. Will had to point out the obvious.
"Come on Lincoln, you already mastered manners and table etiquette, that's all you really need!" Lincoln thought about it for a second.
"You may be right about this Will, this may all be pretty unnecessary, but looking like a grown up wouldn't hurt." Lincoln said thinking.
"I'm way ahead of the curve!" Clyde announced. They returned to Lincoln's room just as dinner was getting ready to start and Clyde reached under his bed and took out a fancy blue suit with an orange neck tie. They quickly ran to the bathroom and Lincoln changed into the suit, which he was excited to put on. Which Will was amazed that it really was making him look more mature.
I gotta admit, he looks good in that get up.
Clyde styled and combed his hair with hair gel and sent him on his way.
"Good luck Lincoln, and don't forget to just ask and be calm about it, even if they tell you no." Will advised.
"Thanks, you two! You guys are the best!" Lincoln said as he went downstairs just as the family sat down to begin their meal. Will smiled at his best friend's compliment. Once he was out of sight, Will looked at Clyde, who was looking proud at Lincoln and had something important to say.
"Clyde, I'm sorry about today." Will sighed, hanging his head. "I didn't mean to fly off the handle and challenge you every step of the way."
Clyde smiled at Will and put his arm around his shoulder.
"It's ok Will, I suppose you're right. I may tend to overthink things. I get that from my dads."
"Never argue again?" Will offered.
"Deal!" Clyde agreed as they smiled and fist bumped. Clyde clutched his hand and winced a little afterwards, Will rolled his eyes, he only did it softly.
See what I mean? Nice guy, glad to be his friend, but kind of a wus.
After that they left the Loud's home, but not before peeking at the adult table, and seeing Lincoln sitting at the other end of it next to Luna, and Luan.
Once the two were outside they smiled at each other and smacked his fives. The hard work paid off, Lincoln is with the calm adult table now!
"Mission accomplished!" Clyde cheered.
Two hours later, Will sat on his bed, in his room playing PS4, in nothing but his bed attire. As all of a sudden, his phone started ringing. Will checked it and it was Lincoln.
"Hey Lincoln, how was dinner?"
"Awful!" Lincoln cried. The food was odd, there was no dessert and the conversations were boring! I was about to crawl up the walls!" Will was stunned hearing these complaints.
Woah I certainly wasn't expecting this! I thought this is what he wanted?
"Didn't you want to stop having food flung at you?" Will asked.
"Yes, but now the kiddy table looks like paradise all of a sudden!" Lincoln confessed.
Will sighed and decided to give Lincoln some wisdom.
"Hey Lincoln can I give you some advice?"
"Sure."
"Don't be in such a rush to do adult things. Enjoy it while you can and while you can get away with it. You and I maybe only three years apart and I already miss some of those kiddy things I was able to do until I was ten."
"Woah!" Lincoln said, shocked to hear some new info on Will's old life. "When you were ten? That's one year younger than me! What happened?"
"Let's just say it's the reason why I had to grow up fast." Will replied not saying anything more. "I mean one moment, you're eating a hot fudge sundae, the next you're filing your taxes."
"Oh man, Clyde. said he's gonna do that with his dads tonight." Lincoln said in disgust.
"Exactly, go ahead and see if you can get out of the kid's table. Enjoy it while you can." Will said, knowing exactly what's going on. Lincoln hung up the phone thinking about Will's advice.
I know all about taxes, I've had to help dad file his a couple times. It's super complicated and it's a good thing he never lets me do it by myself. He'd get a major audit if I did.
The next night Will sat on his porch drinking a soda as Lincoln approached Will with a big smile on his face and ketchup stains all over his orange shirt.
"Hey Lincoln, how was dinner?" Will asked as Lincoln took the chair next to him and gave him a soda from the six pack he had sitting next to him.
"Thanks." He said as he popped the top and took a drink. "Dinner was great, I just acted obnoxious at the table and my mom said I wasn't ready for the grown up table and I just went back. Amazingly the rest of my sisters joined us to."
"Hehehehe, looks like you started something!" Will chuckled.
"You were right. I'm not gonna rush to be a grown up yet. I'm gonna enjoy the ride while I can."
"Happy to help when I can." Will said as they slapped their soda cans together. "Don't you worry Lincoln, you may grow out of it and you'll ease into the customs of the adult table in time. Lucky for you, you don't have to grow up as fast as I did."
"God, I hope so. I truly understand how fun it is to be a kid." Lincoln chuckled. "I learned something big today. Thanks to you and Clyde." Will thought for a moment about all the things he told Lincoln, especially if Lincoln's sisters were joining in at the kiddy table.
You know what, maybe I overreacted in a way. Not everything is childish, I suppose some things that are 'for kids' aren't really, they're for everyone. Both me and Lincoln seemed to learn something about this.
The two just sat together drinking soda and enjoyed their friend's company.
Saturday has arrived, it was the big night. Will's party was hours away.
I'm so excited! I can't wait! Once the sun goes down! The party begins!
Before things could get going, Will was sitting in his living room playing Castlevania 4 on his Super Nintendo again, he's at the final boss against the villain of the series, the famous vampire, Dracula.
Yes! Two hits away! Dodge the lightning! Jump, throw the cross. YES! ONE MORE HIT TO GO AND I WIN!
"How dare you!" Said the chilling voice of Lucy behind Will, it surprised Will that Lucy was suddenly behind him, he jumped on the couch and got hit in the game and died. Game Over.
"Lucy! Look what you made me do!" Will shouted. He was filing with anger and breathed heavily trying to calm down. He was so close to winning his game but he couldn't believe this little mishap caused him to lose. His teeth gritted and clenched both his hands into angry fist and his face was red with anger.
Must….not boil over! Must….not lose temper at little Lucy!
Lucy noticed Will about to blow the roof. She knew just what to do. She took out her poetry book and read him one of her poems.
"I rest my head as I breathe a big sigh."
"I stare out my window with my head held high."
"I breathe in and out as my problems wash away."
"Like a soothing ocean with cool water every day."
"The call of the birds fills me with joy."
"Like the happy sounds of a playing girl and boy."
The words and positive emotions coming Lucy, along with her soothing voice is actually working to calm Will down. His face started to change back as he relaxed his teeth and hands.
"With a great big smile everything I love is in front of me."
"It's now I can relax as I can be as best as can be."
Will started breathing normally. He was relaxed again.
Wow, she has that skill, it's like magic!
"Feel better?" Lucy asked.
"Loads." Will said as he took a deep breath. "Now why are you here? I didn't even hear you come in."
"Story of my life, no one seems to notice me." Lucy said in her voice that didn't convey any emotion. "I came to ask if you would be willing to become a possible attraction for my haunted corn maze this upcoming Halloween."
"What do you need me to do?" Will asked.
"Going off your Halloween costume last year. A knight, I'd like you to be an evil black knight."
Sounds cool, I can't turn down a chance to look like an intimidating lord of darkness. I also can't wait to tell you more about the two Halloweens I celebrated with the Louds. One is the most important day of my life here, the other….well, let's just say it's the reason why Lola wanted to have a tea party with me.
"Ok, I'll do it." Will agreed. Lucy cracked a small smile which made Will feel good.
Lucy doesn't smile much, when you ask her, her depressed face is her happy face. Whenever someone legitly makes her smile, that's a big accomplishment.
Will, had to point something out about the poem she just read to him to relax.
"You know Lucy I'm surprised that you know such a poem. That poem sounds so not what you would write."
"I'm flattered you know my style." Lucy remarked. "However I know how angry you get, I've written a few just for you, just for the sake of calming you down." Will blushed and looked down in shame and embarrassment.
Oh, Am I really this angry? I suppose it's good that my friends have good counter measures for me.
"Now what do you think you're doing hurting my king?" Lucy said, trying to accuse Will of something.
Yeah, Lucy gets along with me, but she kind of thinks I'm a murderer for playing a game series that involves killing a vampire.
"Edwin may be my soul mate, but Dracula is my king. He's the king of all vampires."
"Understandable, he's the most famous one of all." Will shrugged.
"Yes, now how could you do such an awful thing?" Lucy questioned.
"It's just a game Lucy." Will sighed, annoyed that he once again, had to explain this to her.
"Doesn't justify it." Lucy objected.
Will paused and thought for a moment.
I can't have Lucy thinking of me like this. I gotta think of a way to change her mind about me.
Will thought for a few seconds and snapped his fingers. He had an idea to win Lucy over.
Will spoke with kindness and confidence. "Lucy, since Dracula is your king do you know which of the many Dracula movies is faithful to him?"
"Very few do him justice. One from 1992 is very faithful to his book. But I haven't found one where one is true to how he's supposed to look."
"Yes, he's actually an old man with white hair and a silver mustache." Will added. Lucy seemed to pep up with a little excitement upon hearing this.
"Wait, you know about that?"
"I do." Will replied. "I also know that he's out in the daytime a lot. Vampires were never supposed to be killed in the sunlight." Lucy smiled again, Will seems to know a lot of things about vampires that is misunderstood about most people.
"It's so nice to know there are more people out there who know about the creatures of darkness. Rather than what just everyone thinks they know about them."
Will giggled in response.
I actually don't know a lot. I've just seen four Dracula movies and read five chapters from the book. I really should finish it sometime.
"I have a movie, the one single movie that has his appearance accurately." Will said to her, Lucy dropped her mouth in surprise.
"One exists?"
Will went to the bottom cupboard under the living room television. He took out a Dracula DVD, and handed it to Lucy. She looked at it in her unemotional face.
"This is from 1970 not many know it exists. It was a mostly european and german production." Will explained.
"I'm excited to watch it." Lucy said, in her still unemotional voice.
Yeah, Lincoln informed me that her unexcited face is her excited face.
"Now are you aware that Dracula has a son?" Will informed Lucy.
"What? I didn't know that." Lucy said.
"I can show him to you but we'd have to play the game that you claim is evil." Will offered.
Lucy thought for a moment and nodded her head.
Will and Lucy went up to Will's bedroom and he turned on his PS4 and turned on a different Castlevainia game. 'Castlevania, Symphony of the Night.'
Will played the game as a character, a tall slim man with long blonde hair wielding a sword, dressed in black, old European nobility robes. His complexion was palewhite with red eyes. Lucy knew immediately that this is a vampire.
"That's an interesting vampire. Not as cool as Edwin." Lucy said, impressed with what she was looking at. "Who is he?"
"Dracula's son. Alucard." Will replied.
"He's amazing!" Lucy said. "And he's the hero in this?"
"Yep! He's a hero in many games in this series." Will, added as he made him change into a bat and fly around.
"Lucy then figured something out. Wait a minute, Alucard. That's Dracula backwards." Will smiled at her for how observant she is.
Lucy watched Will play around and she was into seeing a game where you play as a vampire who's a hero for a change. Will checked the clock and it was getting time for his guest to arrive.
"Ok Lucy. It's time for me to get ready for my party." Will said as he turned the game off.
"Sigh, thanks for showing me this Will." Lucy said as her face went to her usual frown. "I suppose if this game has positive vampires, I guess it's not so bad, and you're not bad for playing it."
"Thank you Lucy, that means a lot." Will said, giving her a soft hug, which she accepted, but didn't return. Will escorted her to his front door and let Lucy out with his Dracula DVD in her arms, she turned around and offered Will something.
"Maybe sometime you can come over and watch Vampire of Melancholia with me." Lucy offered.
"Sure, we should do that one day." Will kind of accepted, as she went back to her home.
Vampires of Melancholia is Lucy's vampire soap opera. I actually am not interested in it. I may watch it with her, just to bond more with her. I'm so happy that, at least I think, she now likes me more.
Will rushed to his kitchen and went to the cupboards and took out chips of varying flavors, along with pretzels, as Nicholas walked out of the basement.
"Getting ready for tonight Will?" Nicholas asked.
"Yeah dad. What are you gonna do tonight?" Will replied.
"I'm gonna go hang out with Lynn Sr. Possibly listen to him practice his music."
Will raised an eyebrow.
"You mean just listen to him beat a cowbell?"
"Unfortunately yes, but hey, he's my friend. I'm gonna support him." Nicholas chuckled.
How in the world does Mr. Loud think that a cow bell is an instrument? It just goes a very weak 'ding' nothing and nothing else.
"I only got one thing I need you to do. Keep the place clean and don't mess up my dart board and poker table." Nicholas instructed sternly.
"Yes sir!" Will said, saluting his father.
"Good boy, I'll probably see you tomorrow. Have fun!" Nicholas said as he put on his black jacket and walked out the door.
Will sorted out the chips and started a quick hot mixture of special queso, mixing Velveeta cheese with regular salsa. He already had regular spicy salsa, and guacamole, on the table.
*Ding Dong.*
Will heard the doorbell ring and he rushed to the door and opened it. Once he did Bobby was on the other side. He dressed as his usual self with a smile on his face and held a two liter bottle of citrus soda in his arm.
"Hey bro, I hope i'm not too early." He said as Will let him step inside.
"Not at all man." Will said as he began to move things out of the kitchen and down into the basement. Bobby was in awe at the house on the inside as his eyes wandered about.
"Woah man, awesome place! Ronnie Anne is gonna flip when she hears about this!" Bobby gasped.
"She's welcome to come over. I believe me and her get along ok." Will assumed. Will took his bottle of soda. "Thank you for your contribution!"
"Ronnie Anne said you're alright, so I'm sure you guys are ok. Be thankful though, she doesn't give that privilege to a lot of people." Bobby replied. "So where's everyone else?"
"It's just you and me now, Lincoln and Clyde haven't shown up yet. It's almost certain that they will arrive together." Will informed.
All of a sudden Bobby's phone rang. He took it out and answered it.
"Hey babe!"
Will giggled to himself, obviously that's Lori.
I didn't plan on this, I sincerely hope that he won't be too preoccupied with frequent calls and text from Lori.
"I'm over at Will's." Bobby said to Lori over his phone. "Uh no babe, not tonight…...because it's just us guys ok? Don't be mad Lori….I'll take you out on a special date later ok? Love you, bye!"
"What did she want?" Will asked.
"Nothing, she just wanted to hang with us. Of course she said, 'be with me.' She wasn't too happy that I said that it's just us guys. I mean I can't blame her, I wouldn't mind a little time together." Bobby explained with his mind wandering thinking about his lovely girlfriend.
"You guys are really close, stronger than most couples huh?" Will chuckled. As he took out bottles of soda and puch from the refrigerator, and set them on the table.
"Oh yeah, best day of my life when I asked her out with brownies in her locker." Bobby explained reminiscing about that fateful day they became a couple.
"I remember how excited she was when she came home." Will added.
"Woah, you were around when it happened?" Bobby asked, learning something new.
"I've lived here for two years!" Will explained as he removed his queso and poured it into a serving bowl.
Bobby looked at a picture hanging on his wall of both Will and Nicholas standing together actually looking happy. Although it does look like a recent photo since it's both of them looking happy. Although he was taken aback at how Nicholas towered over his son.
"Woah dude. Is this your dad?" Bobby gasped. Will went over and saw what Bobby was looking at. "He's a giant!" He took a picture of the photo on his phone. "I gotta show Ronnie Anne, she's gonna freak when she sees someone so huge!"
"Oh yeah, everyone says that about him, when they first see him." Will laughed.
"I've never seen anyone so huge before!" Bobby said, not taking his eyes off Will's father in the picture. "How did he get that way?"
"I'm not sure, my dad says he was five feet tall by age twelve and he started growing his muscle by high school since he ate a lot and excelled in gym class and always used the school's weight room. He told me he knew by eighth grade that he wanted a future of grueling hard labor cause it paid the most money." Will explained as he went back to work. "Hey can you help me with this?"
I suppose I better tell him now before he asks.
"Also, I know she's not in the picture but I really don't-"
"It's ok dude you don't have to say anything." Bobby interrupted as he went to pick up the drinks and snacks. "Ronnie Anne told me you don't like to talk about your mom."
"Thank you." Will sighed in relief.
"No problem bro." Bobby said as he helped Will carry the snacks and drinks down into the basement. Bobby was even more in awe at the green carpet, the white walls and huge expansive single room the basement was. It was all split into left side had the makeshift bar with tabs and barstools. The right side had the poker table, a dart board, an air hockey table, and a pool table. The back of the room had the three exercise machines and a rack of dumbbells, with one bench press. A pulley machine, a lat pulldown machine, and a leg press machine. The exercise machines and the bar area is only sitting on white tiles, separate from the green carpet.
"Oh my god dude! Love your home! It's a dude's paradise!" Bobby cheered looking around.
"Comes with the territory. When it's just two guys living here, and one of them makes a lot of money." Will explained. Bring all the stuff to the poker table.
Bobby did as instructed. "Are you usually down here?"
"Not always." Will replied. "I use the leg machine and dumbbells twice or three times a week. For usually for about thirty minutes. I use these just to stay healthy. Dad usually has a simple workout routine, one he does five times a week, usually for an hour. Other than that, maybe throw darts, but nothing else really."
"How did you guys put all this in?" Bobby asked.
"At first it was nothing but dust and concrete. We decided to finish it like this, and me, dad, Mr. Loud, we all worked together to put this together. Although we really can't take credit, most of it goes to Lincoln's sister Lana. The genius in building." Will then got an idea. "Here let me show you something."
Will went to the bar and used one of the taps and poured himself a glass mug of a brown frothy beverage. Bobby was amazed at first but was alarmed as Will started chugging it down.
"Oh wait!" Bobby shouted attempting to stop him. "Will, none of us should be drinking-"
"Buuuuurrp." Will went as he was halfway down the mug. "Don't worry man, it's just Rootbeer. Me and dad have a strict rule, no booze in the house."
Bobby paused trying to stop him upon hearing that, however he was a little skeptical, this kind of set up and no alcohol?
"Why?" Will paused and frowned softly as bad memories returned to him.
"Let's just say dad's had problems, and he's vowed to 'never again.' He's kept it and I'm proud of him." Bobby knew exactly what Will mean't he didn't ask anything more about it. He understood this policy perfectly now.
"I get it bro, don't worry about explaining it." Bobby said, smiling at him, which Will returned.
I really like Bobby and Ronnie Anne, they understand greatly what it's like to be where I was.
*Ding Dong*
"Oh! That must be the other guest." Will cheered, both he and Bobby rushed up the stairs and opened the door, and sure enough, Lincoln and Clyde were on the other side.
"Hey guys! Glad you could make it!" Will said with a very excited tone.
"Happy to be here!" Lincoln said boldly. "I'm super ready to party!"
"I guess I am to." Clyde grumbled, Will was perplexed by this. Until he noticed Clyde was giving a death look to Bobby, he instantly figured it out.
Oh boy, I didn't plan on this. I should have expected there would be some friction between Bobby and Clyde, obviously because of Lori.
Lincoln walked inside and fist bumped with Will and Bobby.
"Good to see you again Lincoln." Bobby said to him.
"You to, Lori's a little upset that she can't come see you." Lincoln pointed out. Clyde seemed to crack a smile hearing possible cracks in Lori and Bobby's relationship.
"Oh boy." Bobby said nervously rubbing the back of his head. "I promised her I'd take her out on a super fancy date later to make up for this."
I never said she couldn't come over, but….Bobby is right. When I was setting up this night. I did name it, 'a guys night.'
Lincoln went up to Will and whispered in his ear.
"Clyde didn't know Bobby was gonna be here. I told him to be civil tonight for you."
"Thanks a bunch." Will whispered back.
Good, if anyone can prevent this night going bad, it's Lincoln.
Will guided everyone down into the basement and Clyde also gasped in awe at what he was looking at, just like Bobby before. Lincoln already took it in, since he was down there several times during construction.
"Let's get wild!" Lincoln said with a smirk and the party began.
It's been half an hour as the four sat at the poker table, Will sat next to Bobby, next to him was Clyde, then Lincoln. Will was in second place, Bobby was in third and Lincoln was in first and Clyde was in last. Lincoln smiled at his huge stack of chips as Clyde frowned at his small stack. Luckily though, they are not gambling with their actual money, otherwise Lincoln would be cleaning out their wallets.
Bobby ate a corn chip dipped in salsa. The four eyed their hands then eyed each other, trying to not show any emotion, but occasionally showing a quick smile or grumble only to quickly freeze their faces. Clyde looked noticeably nervous as the other three looked to show no emotion. The group laid out their discard cards from their hands as Will delt out the replacement cards for everyone's hand. They continued to eye their cards and rearrange their hands.
Lincoln acted first.
"I raise fifty!" He placed some chips in the pot. Will and Clyde thought about it for a few seconds.
"I fold." Clyde announced.
"Me to." Will said, laying down their hands. It was down to Bobby and Lincoln.
"I'll see your fifty and raise you five more!" Bobby challenged as he and Lincoln eyed each other with furrowed eyebrows, as Bobby put more chips in the pot. Excitement built up in the spectators as they gobbled up more potato and corn chips in anticipation.
I can't believe how good Lincoln is doing! He's beating all of us very badly. Clyde's not doing well, I mean, he has no poker face. My god this is getting tense, the suspense is killing me!
"Ok, I call!" Lincoln said with confidence as he placed his necessary chips in the pot as they showed their hands.
"Four aces! Read it and weep!" Bobby announced, as if he's already won. Lincoln's smile didn't leave.
"Straight Flush!" Lincoln said as he showed the Nine of Clubs up to the King of Clubs. Bobby gasped, Lincoln won.
"Woah man." Will said. "Both of those are strong hands. How are you so good Lincoln?"
"Let's just say I got the Ace Savvy Mojo." Lincoln smiled slyly as he took all his chips.
Only twenty more minutes until they were wrapping up their poker game. Lincoln was still winning easily by cleaning everyone out, however Bobby overtook Will in second as Will and Clyde ran out of chips, one by one. It was down to Bobby and Lincoln who stared at each other with heated stares. It was all down to this one last hand. Will and Clyde were drinking soda and eating more snacks as Bobby and Lincoln were showing their final hands.
"Full house!" Bobby said with a hit of uncertainty.
"Royal Flush!" Lincoln announced, revealing the Ten of Spades, to the Ace of Spades.
Bobby grumbled lightly as Lincoln took all his chips and tossed them all up into the air to celebrate his victory. He was the official winner.
"My god, just about every hand you got dealt was a high ranking hand." Will said, amazed. "I guess you do have some sort of Ace Savvy powers." Lincoln smiled with great pride. "Ok guys, let's move onto the next game, but let's clean up the table. My dad will kill me if he finds this stuff a mess."
They all agreed and collected their trash and tossed it and wiped away all the crumbs from their snacks off the table and Lincoln picked up the chips and worked with Will to reorganize them and put them away.
I'd love to play pool with these guys but, I don't know how to play it. It doesn't seem like anyone else I know besides my dad and his work friends know how to either.
Lincoln took a full two liter bottle of soda and announced tothe group. "Hey guys watch this!" He unscrewed the cap and began chugging the bottle.
"No way dude, you can't down all that!" Will said stunned in skepticism.
'Gulp' 'gulp' 'gulp' Lincoln went as he reached the halfway point of the bottle.
"He's actually doing it!" Bobby said amazed.
"His teeth are gonna punish him later for this!" Clyde pointed out.
"Come on Lincoln!" Will cheered. Will was the only one encouraging as he began a 'Go!' chant. Pretty soon the other three joined in.
"Go!" "Go!" "Go!"
"Ahhhhh!" Lincoln went as he finished the bottle and wiped his lips clean. "What do you think of that? I learned to do this thanks to Lynn, she challenges me to these things all the time." The guys whistled and applauded him showing this trick. Then all of a sudden, to be expected he needed to go to the toilet immediately. "GOTTA GO!" Lincoln zoomed up the stairs to the bathroom.
"That was pretty cool." Will pointed out.
*Ding Dong.*
"Oh the food's here!" Will announced, he shot up the stairs and the others slowly followed. Lincoln finally came down from the bathroom breathing in relief as his bladder was relieved of his drinking stunt.
Will opened the door and it was a pizza guy. Will tipped the delivery guy and brought in three boxes. They all sat at the kitchen table as Bobby ran back down to pick up the drinks from the basement. They all sat as Will opened the boxes showing a pepperoni pizza, a cheese one, and a canadian bacon and black olive pizza. They all ate the pizza and after a few minutes, they decided to have a rather, 'interesting' contest after drinking so much soda with their pizza.
"Burrrrp!" Lincoln went. The others smiled and all broke out laughing.
"Good one!" Clyde laughed.
"Burp!" Will followed up with, continuing the laughter.
"Not as good as mine!" Lincoln mocked.
"BURRRRRP!" Bobby followed up with. The guys all applauded in amazement.
"Woah that was good!" Will said, clapping his hands.
"No one's beating that!" Lincoln smiled.
"Come on Clyde!" Lincoln said, nudging him with his elbow.
"Sorry I'm not feeling it." Clyde shrugged, the others groaned as they finished their food and moved onto the next game.
This night is going so well! If Lori saw Bobby right now, she'd be out the door hours ago!
They sat in the living room in front of the T.V. The four were playing Mario Kart 64. Lincoln was Mario, Will was Bowser, Bobby was Toad, and Clyde was Yoshi. Racing on Rainbow Road on the final lap, Bobby was in the lead and Clyde zoomed past Will, who was in second, and Lincoln was dead last.
Clyde had a look of determination on his face, he got an item box and to everyone's surprise he got the ultimate weapon in the game.
"Blue shell!" Will exclaimed. "The ultimate thing that ends friendships in this game." Lincoln laughed at Will's exaggeration.
Clyde had a big smirk on his face and fired the shell and it began racing for the person in first place.
*BAM!* As Bobby was blasted by the blue shell. Clyde instantly went past Bobby and crossed the finish line winning the race.
"YES!" Clyde cheered. "I BEAT YOU!" He cheered pointing at Bobby. Lincoln and Will knew that there was some malice behind the blue shell.
"Yes you did." Bobby replied feeling a little creeped out at how badly Clyde was rubbing it in his face.
"Let's battle now!" Will announced and they changed game modes. Unfortunately things started to get a little shaken at this point. As fun as this was for Lincoln and Will, Clyde seemed to focus solely on getting rid of Bobby. It was fun the first four battles, but the next two it seemed like this was not so fun anymore. After two more battles, Bobby started growling in anger because he was the first one eliminated in every battle.
Lincoln and Will looked at each other with nervous faces. They figured out what was going on but didn't know what to do.
"Dude what's the deal?" Bobby said, irritated at Clyde because he blasted him with a green shell despite the fact that an easier target was Lincoln. Who was moving towards Clyde when Bobby was farther away moving away from him. Once again Bobby was the first was one eliminated again.
Clyde we've played six battles and you've only gone for Bobby this whole time! Will scolded as he paused the game. Clyde looked at the others who gave him angry looks for playing predator. Clyde sighed feeling regretful.
"Sorry, I guess I forgot that it's just a game." Clyde apologized.
Will turned the game off to get the heat of the situation down.
Yeah Clyde, that's totally the reason why you're singling out Bobby.
He took out an X-Men DVD.
"Movie time!" Will announced.
"Oh yeah this is gonna be action packed!" Bobby said, regaining his smile. Everyone sat together on the couch, with Will on the left side, and Bobby on the right, with Lincoln next to him, and Clyde next to Will.
They all cheered during the action scenes, but Clyde covered his eyes when they got gruesome or bloody, but no one called him out on this.
"Oh man Wolverine is so cool! Nothing can stop him and he takes no lip from nobody!" Bobby said in awe during a fight scene with all the heroes.
"I love Cyclops! I love the idea of shooting lasers from my eyes. His visor is so cool to!" Lincoln cheered.
"I love Beast. A skilled warrior with incredible intelligence. Not only that, he's blue!" Will added.
"I love Storm." Clyde said. "She's so pretty, and she can control the weather. What more could you ask for?"
As the movie came to a close, it was 10:30 at night. They all yawned as the credits rolled.
"Oh geez look at the time!" Bobby said, checking his watch. "We should get going! Thanks for the night Will, it was fun!"
"Let's do another one sometime!" Lincoln said as he took Clyde with him. Clyde was looking invigorated and like he just had a life changing experience.
"I soooooo, can't wait to tell Dr Lopez about this! I gambled, I stuffed my face, and I got even with my arch enemy!" Clyde said in great excitement.
"Who's that?" Bobby asked about this supposed, 'arch nemesis.' Will and Lincoln looked nervous, they already knew who Clyde was talking about.
Clyde knew it wasn't best to give the truth as an answer.
"Um….my inner fears! Yeah that! But guy's I think it's best we don't tell my dads about this. They'll flip out at me and you Will, and your dad if they found out what we did tonight."
"Good idea." Lincoln concluded. They all yawned and exited the house. "You know what? Who needs the grown up table. This night made me look forward to when I'm older. We can do this whenever we want to when I'm grown up!" They all went to the door and opened it up. "Thanks Will see you soon!" Lincoln waved as he and Clyde exited.
"See you back at school!" Bobby said as he left and shut the door leaving Will alone.
Ok things got a little awkward at times but, hey this night turned out to be a success! I should start cleaning up and….'yawn'...ok maybe just five minutes on the couch.
Will layed on the couch and closed his eyes, he didn't mean to, but he drifted off to sleep.
The next morning came. Will actually wasn't feeling well. He had a headache and an aching belly.
His eyes opened and NIcholas was standing in front of him. With a half smile, but with furrowed eyebrows and his arms crossed.
"Hi dad." Will groaned, he shot more awake and lifted his body up to sit on the couch, when he saw daylight outside. "Oh! What time is it?"
11:23 Nicholas answered. "Looks like last night was fun."
"Oh yeah, it was a blast!" Will answered softly, rubbing his head in pain. He rested his head down on the couch arm again to get more sleep.
"Oh no you don't!" Nicholas scolded, picking Will up by his shoulders back onto his feet.
"Oh dad, please don't!" Will whined as pain shot through his head and his stomach feeling woozy.
"You guys left the kitchen and the basement a mess last night!" Nicholas scolded. "Since you kept the poker table clean, you're not grounded. But still, there's crumbs and empty bottles over the basement carpet, and there's crumbs and pizza crust all over the kitchen and you didn't put any leftover food away! So get to work and make the house spotless!"
Will groaned in response. He looked and saw the huge mess in the kitchen and crumbs on the couch. He also remembered that in the basement, While they did clean the poker table, that's all they did. They left the carpet a mess.
He handed Will a squirt bottle and a rag. Will just slyly smiled at his father, as he pointed to the kitchen telling Will to get to work. Will groaned as he went to the kitchen. He had to power through his illness to clean up his mess. Nicholas lightly chuckled to himself. He wasn't happy about the mess, but was proud of his son for hosting a big event with his new friends.
A/N Did you guys like this chapter? Did you guys appreciate the length? Did you not? Let me know in a review or a PM. Now in this chapter I knew what to do with Lucy and the Dracula parts. I actually read the book a year ago and watched quite a number of the movies. A source material discussion really seemed like something Lucy would be interested in.
Now I also had her write a poem. I wrote it myself, I'm not sure how good or bad it is. Needless to say, I don't have much experience in poetry. Like with the writing of the oil rig, if any one of you is skilled in poetry wishes to offer advice. Feel free to PM me. Your advice is greatly appreciated. As stated last time, I want to focus more on Will's relationships with the Louds in the next few chapters rather than Will's background for a while.
Anyways thanks for reading, see you guys next time!