Hey Ravens don't have much to say but hope you enjoy this chapter...Oh wait I almost forgot! I wanted to give two shoutouts. Thank you both The Lynnster and Mrotrax :D
Chapter six : Him
Luna Loud was strumming her guitar very softly. Her fingertips barely even scraped the strings. She was shaking, her forehead was lined with sweat. She felt sick to her stomach, her body temperature seemed to reach the hundreds when in reality the whole house was room temperature. "Chill dude, just chill everything will be fine..." She tried to reassure herself.
Lincoln and Lynn walked in from outside. "Hey Luna, you ready for your first date?" The white haired boy asked. Luna nervously answered " oh yeah! Definitely ready! That's a stupid question! *Phhssshh* Why wouldn't I be ready bro?!!?!" The kids don't answer her all they can do is stare at their older sister. "...is there something on my face??" She asked fiercely. "Uh...no.." Lincoln replied. "Then please quit staring bro!!!" Lincoln and Lynn jumped from her sudden outburst. "Jeez Luna don't have a heart attack, it's just a date." Lynn replied.
She sighed "I'm sorry dudes, it's just I'm really nervous about Mom and Dad's impression of him. You know how Dad can get with boys over." Lincoln smiled sweetly and patted his sister's shoulder. "Don't worry Luna I'm sure everything will go well." Right then the sound of an engine bursts out loud in the neighborhood. Lynn sr. and Rita ran out of the kitchen to investigate the sound. "What is that noise?!! Lynn sr. yelled over the the engine roaring. "I think that's my date!" She replied with a nervous smile. The doorbell rings "I will get it!" She yells while running to the door. Lynn sr. beats her to it.
Outside the house
Marcus turned off his scooter and jumped around it. He walked up to the Loud house, his hands shaking. Was it just him or did the temperature drop about a thousand degrees. Walking up the stairs to the patio very slowly he shifted nervously. His hands were shaking, he started cracking his fingers. He figured everything would be ok just as long as none of them brought up family. "Ok..ok here we go, no need to worry just be yourself in front of her freakishly large family...Christ almighty..." He took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.
Don't you hate that moment when you were expecting a short brown haired girl dressed in a purple shirt and skirt with boots to answer the door and you instead are met face to face with a middle aged man who's balding and staring down at you with cold stern eyes. Lynn sr. was smiling a fun hearted smile with all the strength he could muster up. "Oh hello you must be Marcus." Both sat in silence for several seconds.
Both guys knew something about each other. Lynn didn't like him and he didn't like Lynn. It was a mutual agreement that didn't need words. Both males stood their ground attempting to have a Mexican standoff. Marcus fist clenched at his sides and he sucked in a huge amount of air, put on the biggest shit eating grim he could muster and held out his hand. "And you must be Mr. Loud." Lynn sr. looked at his hand for a few milliseconds before taking up his offer and grabs his hand, squeezing it hard enough to crack whatever is in his grasp.
"Come on in, Luna and the girls are trying to put Lily to sleep. Why don't you just make yourself comfortable while I go check on dinner." Marcus walked in and saw the Loud house in all of its glory. "Wow..." All of a sudden a Loud wailing sound came from the living room near the couch. "Aww don't cry Lily maybe you want a hug from your big sister!" Leni said excitingly. She bent down to pick Lily up. It was knocked aside by Luan wearing a clown suit. "Can't you calm her down?!" "Look I'm trying to but nothing's working!! Lisa do you have that sleeping pill ready?"
Lincoln's eyes widened " A sleeping pill?! Guys you know she is 15 months old!" Lynn rolled her eyes and pushed him away from the crowd of sisters hunched over the bawling baby. "Relax Linc we are crushing it up and putting into jelly, the little tyke won't be able to even taste a thing." He bit his lower lip nervously "I know that but don't you think that's a bit dangerous for oh I don't know.. a baby!!!" He yelled furiously.
Lynn scoffed "Well feel free to chime in with any of those so called plans of yours!" The sound of a metallic door closing like from Star Wars silenced the rowdy siblings. "My dear brethren, I have the antidote to our infants restless insomnia." They all stared at the four year old child prodigy with curious faces. She sighed ever so vexation. "I have her sleeping pill." "Ohhhhh" everyone chimed in. "Holy shit...She wasn't lying..she really does have a huge family."
Being amused by all this but afraid to let anything else happen Marcus stepped forward. "Why don't you let me try something." Luna turned around so quickly she created a little whirlwind behind her. "MARCUS! You're here..."She said while turning bright red. He looked at her confused. "Uh..yeah you said Friday I was gonna meet your parents right?" Leni came out of no where and picked him up in a big hug. "Omg!!! I can't believe my little sister is going on her first date with a totes awesome boy like you!!!" She yelled. "Holy hell!" Marcus wheezed through the crushing pain. "Leni...please for the love of God...put me down..please..." She happily listen and "gently" set him down to his feet. "Sorry." She sheepishly said. Luna shook her head and replied.
"Wel..I..I..ye..um...I just didn't expect you to be...well early...and so well dressed..."She stuttered. He smiled sweetly and walked over to her. He was wearing a dark grey long sleeve buttoned up shirt,along with some jeans, and converse. He rolled his sleeves up all the way to his elbows. His brown hair was slicked back. He smelled of body wash and ocean spray. "Had to wear something other than that raggedy old hoodie, didn't I?" She said nothing as she admired his attire.
Growing uncomfortable of the staring and the wailing baby in the background Marcus cleared his throat. "So um...I think I know how to handle your rowdy sister." She shook her head free from his hypnotic spell and punched him lightly on the arm. "Sure dude whatever you need and we can help." A calm, cool, confident smirk grew on his face. "Perfect, now I need a piano and for you to let me hold her." Lori held Lily and walked over to Marcus handing her over. "What are you gonna do?" She asked.
Taking the crying infant he cradled her gently in his arms, while dangling his scooter keys for her to play with. "I'm gonna sing a song, one my mom used to sing to me to get me to sleep. It's one of her favorites." "Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people living for today."
"Imagine there's no countries,
It isn't hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
And no religion too,
Imagine all the people living life in peace."
At this point all the Loud kids could do was look in awe, while the 17 year old was gently swaying their baby sister around graciously silencing her with his voice. Luna could barely pay any attention to what she was playing. Lincoln quickly glanced over to see his sisters reactions to his song. Lori, Leni, Luan, and Lynn along with every other sister were smiling and wiping away tears of joy. Lincoln smiled happily and turned to Luna, she wasn't crying but she smiled and put up the devil horns and winked at him.
"You may say I'm a dreamer,
But I'm not the only one.
I hope someday you'll join us,
And the world will be as one."
Finally the blond haired infant slowly yawned and smiled. She softly cooed for a few seconds more before closing her eyes and drifted off to sleep. He kindly handed Lily back to Lori's loving arms. "Wow..." the Loud kids were struck with awe. Nothing could be said at this moment. Rita and Lynn sr. Came rushing into the room. "Who was singing that beautiful music?" Rita asked bewildering.
Luna blushed and pointed over to Marcus. "That would be my date." Rita smiled sweetly and held out her hand. "So you must be this Marcus fellow, we heard saved our little girl and boy from that mugger the other night. You are quite the hero I hear." Marcus swallowed hard in his throat but kept that stoic smile plastered onto his face. He grasped her hand and shook it firmly but gently. "Hi I'm Marcus Roday nice to meet you Mrs. Loud, and No m'am , I just really don't like bullies that's all."
"Well why don't we all have a seat while Lynn checks on dinner." Lynn huffed quietly but decided it best to listen to his wife. The family got settled at the table. Lynn came out of the kitchen carrying what it seemed to look like a thing of meatloaf. He slowly stared at it before cutting a piece down the loaf. He brought it up to his mouth and took a bite. Not bad it was pretty good.
Ever been someplace and you feel like everybody is staring at you and it turns out you were right the entire damn time. That's exactly how Marcus felt at this table. If one thing is for sure, he sure as hell didn't belong here. Lynn sr. spoke up. "So Marcus how about you tell us a little about yourself, we are curious to know." He wasn't a social person when it came to events. Frankly it took quite a while for him to open up. Being put on the spot was no laughing matter either. So Mr. Loud wanted to games did he? Well I can play by the rules just this once, he thought to himself.
"To be honest, there isn't much to say. Who am I anyways? Nice guy, neighborhood guy, good in a fight, not much going upstairs..." He replied. Luna scoffed and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Come on dude, don't try to make yourself sound boring. Tell them about your band." Marcus but his lip nervously and chuckled a little. "Ok, well I'm in this band called Silent Ritual, it's technically a job because well I do get paid for it." Lynn spoke up next "Do you play any sports?"
"Sports, no never been much into playing sports. Though I did used to take kickboxing." She perked up at this. "Maybe we can sparr later?" She said deviously while cracking her knuckles. "Hate to break it to you kid, but I haven't practiced it for at least 7 years so I'm really rusty." She pouted after hearing that. "Wait but you looked amazing taking down that mugger at the concert!" Lincoln protested. "Little man, what you witnessed at the concert was nothing more than basic self defense moves. I remember some moves but I'm extremely rusty on it." Lucy spoke up next. "So your band name is Silent Ritual huh?" Marcus jerked in his seat almost spilling his water. "...uh...yeah...it is..." she smiled very softly and whispered "sweet." Lola asked next "Is that what you wear on a regular basis?"
"Um...no I normally wear a black hoodie with combat boots." Lola scoffed and replied "If you need help with a better outfit, I'm your man...well princess to be exact." "Uh huh... ok then...um any other questions that need to be answered?" Lincoln spoke up. "Do you play video games?" You can always count on the 11 year old to bail you out of a risky situations. "No sorry Little man, never did get much into them when I was a kid."
"What about jokes? Did you hear about the boyfriend awkwardly meeting the parents?" Luan grinned a metallic toothed grin, Lynn Sr. high fived her while everyone at the table groaned. Lisa cleared her throat. "So besides tranposing the sounds of symphonic, what else do you surround your environment with?" Everyone at the table all stared at her with confusion. It wasn't unusual for this to happen quite a lot at the Loud House. Being the child prodigy she is, Lisa had a hard time fitting in her family. She sighed heavily, maybe one day these buffoons would understand her advanced vocabulary. "She means do I have any other interest ls besides music." Marcus spoke up.
Lisa was stunned. It had been a while since anyone even remotely understood her, let alone speak her kind of language. "My word...I have to say, it's been quite too long since anyone has been able to understand exactly what I've been talking about." Marcus smirked softly "Most of my friends are well...intelligent, extremely intelligent. It's like learning a second language you pick up stuff pretty quickly."
Dinner went well. The family shared some laughs over stories of when the kids were younger. The story they laughed at the most was the one where Lincoln had gotten into their moms makeup kit. "You can really sing can't you?" Rita said while sipping her water. Marcus blushed and rugged at his collar. "Well...I'm not that great, Jim is the one who can really sing. I'm just the back up singer and lead guitarist." Rita smirked and nudged Luna. "So that wasn't you singing that with beautiful voice putting our daughter to sleep?" He rubbed that back of his neck and turned really scarlet. "Wel-..I..I mean..." Lynn Sr. Cleared his throat and decided to speak next.
"Marcus, how is your family?" Marcus froze in his chair. He swallowed hard in his throat. Everything was going fine, why the hell did he have to ask that?! He bit his lip and sat back silent and memories started flooding back. "Get over here boy and take your medicine!" The young boy sat against the wall, covering his beaten state. His eyes wide with fear and warm scarlet blood dripped from his nose and lip. A bruise rapidly formed onto his left cheek. "Son don't make me count to three, now I'm gonna ask you one last time to get over here and take your medicine like a man." Still the boy remains crouched against the wall unresponsive. Marcus grips the tablecloth, it tightens under his grasp. His breathing starts to increase. The family notices the amount of fear spreading across his face. The man snarled as his whimpering son sat across the room burying his head in his knees shaking softy. How dare this little prick disobey him. He really thinks he can disrespect the man in the house. Nobody disrespect Walter Roday and expects to walk away from it without being hurt.
The boy had a lot to learn. He was gonna learn quick and fast. School was in session. "Ok Marcus you win I am counting, Three!!" The boy starts to whimper faster, tears and snot start leaking from his face. "P-please daddy don't, I will be a good boy I promise!!! Please don't!!!" The man begins to undo his belt slowly from his pants almost teasing the boy with the pain he was about to receive.
"Two!" He threatened. Marcus began to sob even harder, pressing his body against the wall curling up into a little ball. The man chuckled at the pathetic attempt of his little bastard son trying so hard to protect himself. Either way he will feel the pain and learn the lesson. No pain no gain right?
Marcus started to hyperventilate. Sweat poured down his forehead and he clenched at the tablecloth almost ripping it. Luna jumped from her seat and grabbed his face gently. "Marcus? She said softy to grab his attention. No answer. She tried again a little louder this time. "Marcus?!" She turned to her family, "Dudes I don't what's wrong with him!" Lisa stood up from her chair and marched over to check up on him. "It appears that he is suffering from some phobia of some kind...that or he is going through shock." Luna grabbed her little sister and violently shook her. "Which one Lis? Which one?!" Lisa moved Luna's hands aside and adjusted her glasses. "It doesn't matter which one, just as long if I can snap him out of it."
Walter Roday walked closer and closer to his son. Whipping the belt back and forth like a bat to the palm of his hand. This was getting ridiculous this boy was gonna learn the meaning of respect. He was gonna pass with flying colors or else. He growled deeply in his throat. "This is your last chance to do the right thing bud, because we all know what's gonna come next!" Marcus sniffled and hung his head low. He slowly got up from the wall and moved closer to his father. Slowly and swiftly his eyes never leaving his feet. The sniffling boy barely had the strength to look his bastard of a father in the eyes. Walter smirked. "Closer Marcus, you're making progress kiddo! Now closer. Closer...closer." He said while beckoning with his finger.
The eight year old finally was close enough to hug his fathers legs. "Look at me Marcus." He said sternly. The boy shakenly rose his head. "You gonna take your medicine like a man from now on aren't you? We won't have anymore future problems will we son?" Marcus shook his head no. "Speak when you are spoken to!" "N-no." He softly whispered. Walter kneeled down closer to his son. "I'm sorry, I couldn't quite hear you, say that again but this time a little louder." He sighed and said louder "n-no sir!" He smiled patting his son on the head and Rolfing his hair. "Atta boy!" He dropped the belt and sat on the couch. "You just earned yourself a get out of jail free card, now be a good boy and please fetch daddy a beer."
The eight year old shook his head quickly and raced to the kitchen to get him his beer. While grabbing it he ran back into the room and handled him his drink. "Here you go daddy." He said calmly. "Good you are dismissed." Marcus turned and walked away. "Oh and Marcus." He called gently. the boy turned. "Yes daddy." " Good boys always listen to their fathers don't they?" He put on the realest fake smile he could muster. "Yes sir."
Marcus gasped for air extremely loud and backed away from the table. His chair fell backwards crashing to the floor. His breaths staggering out one after the other. He was shaking, sweat dropped from his brow. His eyes wild like fire. He took a huge gulp and said to the family. "I'm so sorry, but I have to get going." He pulled his jacket off from the floor and chair. Luna looked worried at him. "Marcus is everything alright?" He ignored her and went directly to the front door. "Dinner was great, thank you again Mr. and Mrs. Loud." He said with a hidden anxious tone. He walked out the door. He closed it and sat against it.
He buried his face into his hands. He sweated harder, the weight of all that's been happening finally broke the dam. He grabbed his mouth and stumbled over to the sewer drain. He tripped and fell to the ground and let loose of what was Lynn.sr's meatloaf. He spewed hot chunks. After emptying his stomach contents he grabbed the street lamp for support. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "Damn it! Shit...son of a bitch.." he muttered quietly while hitting the streetlight. "Well that was quite a show you put back there dude." Luna said while joining him under the streetlight. He sighed heavily. He put up his arms "Luna I'm sorry, I didn't-.
"Shush" she said while putting a finger to his lips. He lowered his arms and nodded. "Good now all I want to know is what happened back there? I know you said you don't like talking about family, but could you please explain what you were thinking back there?" He sighed and turned away. "You want the truth...ok. My father was a drinker and a fiend." She snorted and chuckled a little "really fiend? That's the word your gonna use." He shot her one of the dirtiest looks he had ever given anyone. She quickly stopped laughing and apologized remotely. "I'm sorry I want laughing at your pain I was just-" He cut her off. "I know what you mean, now do you want me to keep opening up to you or what?"
"I do." She said softy. She walked over next to him and sat down on the curb. "Alright then...where do I begin?" He sighed heavily.
Well that seems like a good place to stop :D sorry but I've been working on this one too long to where I think it's time to bring back that one story you Ravens have been waiting for so patiently. Tune in for Lincoln's addiction chapter 11 See you soon. "Never more" qoute the Raven.