June 15th, 2026 - Morning
Lincoln was turned on his side, at a point in the night. She moved the sheets away from her, feeling the draft of cold once the heat beneath the covers went away. Lacy knocked while she slipped on her jersey. "Who's there?"
"Lynn, uh, I'm down for a good run. What say you?"
Lynn, being Lynn, accepted immediately. "Sure, I'll be down in five!"
Lacy, sporting her usual orange shirt and blue shorts, was floating around, reaching to touch the ceiling. She giggled at the fun she had access to with her powers. "Hehe," she cheered, going upside down.
Lupa brought her down to earth. "Quit fooling around," the tough sister barked. "You could get hurt, you know."
"Pssshhh, well, sorry for having fun. Anyways... Good morning to you too, Lupa," Lacy curtly said.
"Yeah, yeah. I need me an iced mocha," Lupa sighed, moving towards the kitchen.
Lynn's footsteps rang out, alerting Lacy to open the door. "Hell yeah, game on!"
"Bet you I can beat you in a race," Lynn egged on.
"You're history! You don't stand a chance!" Lacy enthusiastically teased. She ran out the door after Lynn jumped past the final four steps. She managed to shake the house, which went noticeably scary to some of them.
The twins woke up, speeding around, believing this was their blonde assailant again. They stopped at the living room, right in front of Lupa, who gave them a confused look. "That was Lynn, you two. She fucking jumped is all..."
They only eyed each other, disgruntled at the false alarm.
"Say, could you bring me an iced mocha? Lincoln took the last one."
Lana sighed, zooming out in her white suit, which was being used as pajamas now.
"Hey, listen, could you something else?"
Lola crossed her arms, debating whether to get more sleep or stay. "What?"
"It's for the others. I've a list of things we may need to get to liven it up a little."
Lola separated her hands. "Oh?" It was an interesting, selfless request that caught the diva's attention. "Go on..."
"I think that's about it. I just need your feet to supply the ride."
Lupa blinked and found the beverage in her hand, as Lana returned to Lola's side.
"Maybe both of you can help," Lupa fury her suggested.
Lola slowly nodded, "That's a pleasant act to carry out, considering yesterday's events. Alright, count me in. Lana will follow my lead."
"Uh, what?" Lana asked.
"Don't ask, just follow me," Lola told her, as Lupa lifted herself onto the diva's back. "Come on, losers, we're going shopping!"
While the two, with their third guest on the speed trip raced off, Lynn and Lacy were past two blocks. So far, Lacy was taking the lead. She laughed, looking back at her. "Eat my dust!"
"No fair! It's just my age, is all!"
"Excuses, excu-" Lacy had not been paying attention. She tripped over a crate, nearly flying face first into the pavement. She cushioned the fall with her hands. "What the-"
"You okay there? Yeesh, some people have no-"
Lacy picked herself up, "Who puts them there?" She readied a leg to kick it, going for a roundhouse. Lynn blocked it with her waist, pointing inside the crate.
"You almost hurt it," Lynn soothed.
Within the crate, was a white puffball moving around. "Aw, it's a pupper!" Lacy exclaimed.
"Why would somebody-" Lynn then formed an idea. "I know, let's take it back."
"Huh? Wait, we can keep it?"
Lynn nodded. "Of course," she answered, picking up the crate. "Let's head back now. Poor thing..."
Lacy gently pet the puppy, smiling widely. "He's so cute. What should we name him?"
"Hmm, not sure. Let's wait until we get back for a group vote," Lynn suggested.
Awhile Later
Luna, the heaviest sleeper, had still not gone disturbed while all this was taking place. A fresh new guitar, holstered on a stand, next to an amp, was placed by the door. Right for her to see when she woke up. The twins gave each other pats, proud of this accomplishment, the lowkey step into putting missing pieces back into their lives.
Luan's gift was a ventriloquist dummy; unlike Mr. Coconuts, who had a barber style design, this one was more old-fashioned, with a blue uniform. Colonel Crackers was the name that came up on the receipt.
"I hope they like this," Lana told Lupa.
"They have to. Anyways, we need something like-"
"A pet?" Lynn called from the kitchen."We're way ahead of you."
The puppy came running out, barking and jumping at Lupa's feet. "Stalker. You've been there the whole time?"
"You're not the only one who can do a Lucy, you know," Lynn sassed.
"I see your point. Where'd you find this cottonball?" She rubbed a finger on it gently, and then let it lick the tip of her finger. "Gotta say, this one's adorable."
Lacy filled in for Lynn, "Someone didn't want him, so we took him. That poor doggie!"
"So..." The two finally stepped out. Lacy held a bowl of warm milk, placing it in front of the puppy. "Hey, Lupa. What've you been up to?" She glanced around the items they brought back. "That's a rhetorical question, so never mind."
Lupa took the dummy upstairs to surprise the comedienne.
"This was a great idea, you two," Lynn said. She bent down to stroke the cute puppy while it was drinking the milk.
The twins shrugged, smiling. "It was Lupa's own request, so... She really is full of surprises."
"Anyways, I'm gonna hit the showers," Lacy announced. "Be good, little one." The puppy wagged its tail, minding its own business.
Lynn looked to the twins. "I bet you two ran enough, and no sign of sweat. Go on, take another nap. I think we all could use relaxation more than ever."
Lana headed up, while noticing both her hands randomly trembling, like they had been put in a deep freeze. Lana shook it away, by causing friction onto her hands. Lola was also just experiencing this weird twitching as well. She slapped both her hands, effectively halting the shaky sensation.
Luna forced her eyes open, wiping away the crust in between the lids. "Ung... Morning," she croaked out. Her head felt heavy enough to lift, so she drooped unitl her composure would regain. She then noticed her new guitar. "BLIMEY!"
Lupa left Luan's new dummy, as the twins rejoined their bed, at the end of her bed, in between her feet. Lori heard het presence, lifted herelf up and started squinting at her. "Nice," she complimented, eyeing the dummy, before going back down.
Lupa didn't need gratitude for this. She decided to pay her genetic "donor", if that might've been the close-to-correct term, a visit.
She was the only one truly curious about his return; the spellbook had not mentioned anyone who had escaped the dark abyss in which Lucy was now a part of. She let herself in, not bothering to knock. "It's a miracle I pulled you out. So, you gonna give me all the details? Or-"
He was there, laying partly up. "I didn't exactly see nothing. There were these others... It's kind of complex to explain, just like all this magical hocus pocus. I've been open minded about things, lately, but this takes the cake."
"I'm curious whether or not they'll come for you. I think it's not likely, but it's also not off the table, you know. You were there because... Apparently, you can redeem yourself. Does it count when resurrected, I wonder?"
Lincoln raised his shoulders. "Her death, or sacrifice, it wasn't for nothing. We'll make sure it had meaning, I'll see to that," he declared.
"You mean we'll see to that. As in together, Lincoln. Family comes first..."
"...Family comes first," he repeated. "Which is why I'll follow under Luna. It's time I changed, wouldn't you agree?"
"Does- Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
"They're right. There doesn't need to be full bloodshed, you know? With Linka and Lily around, what kind of monster would I be if they catch on? Can't be a bad influence."
"Yeah, I understand that. Good choice."
There was a pause in that moment.
"Those guys, the shadows who held her contract were pushing her to beg them to take her already. They've been torturing her here and there, until... You know. And, she had too. I tried to fight them, but it failed. Lucy gave up... She did as they expected her to. At least... You bought her some time."
He raised an eyebrow, promptly going, "Uh?"
"Gave everyone time to say goodbye. So, yeah. That's all I wanted to say, see you down," she waved before leaving.
"See you," he replied, closing his eyes once again. Bought Lucy some time, whatever that meant. He brushed it off, falling into a more peaceful nap.
AN: Well, here's to hoping the family could pave the way to try and fill the empty void and succeed in the reconstruction of the fallen family. Yes, that is Watterson beung introduced in this version. Yee.