LiteralTrash001: Nope, the real "real" world is the one where Reeling in the Years is happening. Everything else ever, including stories by other authors, fan art, and the show itself, is an AU.
STR2D3PO: Mountain Dew is alright, but Lincoln's right, Coke is best.
MrNonsense: :hug:
On the morning of December 20, Linka shuffled into the kitchen like a corpse risen from the dead: Shoulders slumped, head hung, long, broken moans rising from her throat. Her bare feet scraped the linoleum with a scritch-scritch sound, and her flannel nightgown rustled around her knees like the soft whisper of dead leaves. She bumped into the fridge, said "'Cuse me," and went to the coffee pot, navigating by its telltale rattle alone.
Linka was not a morning person, but today was especially rough; she was so excited for her upcoming date with Lincoln that she didn't sleep a freaking wink. She laid there, hand gripping the blanket, and grinned up into the darkness like a fool. Every time she tried to close her eyes, they popped back open, and when she tried to switch her mind off, it rebooted like a PC that didn't want to shut down. I'm sorry, Linka, I'm afraid I can't do that.
That was from a movie she watched called 2001: A Space Odyssey. There was this computer and he...well, she couldn't remember, but a guy told it to do something and it was all lol, sry, bro, nah. Her mind did the same thing...hour after hour after hour. You know, the faster we go to sleep, the faster tomorrow will be here, she told herself at one point.
Nope. Didn't work. She was wide awake the whole night. By the time 4am rolled around, she figured she was a lost cause, got up, and played games on her phone for a while...which turned into looking at pictures of her and Lincoln. The one with her on his back, her legs wrapped around his waist, her arms thrown around his neck, and her chin resting on his shoulder, their cheeks pressed together, was her absolute favorite. She would totally make it her wallpaper but someone might see and be like Linka...why does that boy look exactly like you?
Uh...we didn't turn the flash on?
Okay, that was dumb, but she was flipping exhausted, okay?
At the counter, she grabbed a mug from the cabinet and poured herself big old cupful of coffee. She didn't really like this stuff, but she needed something to put some pep in her step.
Wonder if Luke has any coke?
If he did, first of all, she wouldn't take any of it because drugs are lame, and two, he'd better be right with his God, cuz she'd open a can on him.
A can of whupass.
(Patent pending).
Seriously, if she found out any of her brothers were doing drugs, she'd pop off.
Picking up a shaker of sugar, she added it to her coffee and threw her head back with a groan. Ugh, her eyes felt like a musclehead kicked sand in them, and a hot twinge in her forehead threatened to turn into a full-blown headache if it wasn't nipped in the butt. She really wished Lincoln was here right now; he could wrap his arms around her from the back, pull her close to his chest, and nuzzle her neck like an affectionate dog. Ooooh, that'd make her feel better. Then he could slip his hands…
No. Bad Linka. It's too early for this.
Turning around, she leaned back against the counter and brought the mug to her lips, blowing a little curl of steam away. Lynn came into the kitchen, looking as tired as she felt, and crossed to the pantry, where he grabbed a box of cereal and brought it to the counter. "Ugh," he greeted, like a caveman.
"Uhhh," Linka returned - her voice box wasn't ready to start its shift, so that was all he was getting.
Smacking his lips, he got a bowl from the cabinet, filled it, and went out into the dining room...then backed up, opened the fridge, and took out the milk. He left again, then came back again, this time for a spoon. Linka watched, and when he was gone, she took a sip of her coffee.
Then spat it out. Oh, yuck! What's wrong with my joe? She looked around and whoops, that wasn't sugar...that was salt.
She dumped the ruined coffee into the sink and poured some more. Luke, Loki, Loni, and Lane drifted in, dumped cereal into bowls, and went into the dining room as she sipped her fresh, not salt-i-nated brew, its heat spreading through her and perking her up just enough to feel human again.
Taking her coffee into the dining room, she sat in the chair next to Lane and took a drink, the boiling liquid burning her lips and her throat.
"Morning, Link," Lane chirruped. He, unlike her, loved mornings. He said he came up with his best jokes before noon...guess he's only been telling us the ones he came up with after noon.
Wow, that was mean! Lol. Grumpy Linka. "Good morning," she said.
"You look like you literally didn't sleep last night," Loki stated without looking up from his phone. "Are you feeling okay?"
Everyone looked at her, and a chunk of ice dropped into her stomach. Uh-oh. To say her brothers could overreact at times would be like saying a few people got injured in the Holocaust: A massive understatement. The last time she had the sniffles, they forced her to lay on the couch, under a heap of blankets, and eat chicken stock - she hated chicken stock, and after fifteen minutes, she was so hot from all the covers she felt like she was going to melt. When she tried to get up, Loni told her she might die if she didn't lay back down. Then he started crying.
Needless to say, she did not want them thinking she was sick. "I'm fine. I just..stayed up late playing games."
"You gotta get a solid eight, sis," Luke said with a touch of concern. "Beauty sleep's important." A glint entered his eye. "You don't get enough, you'll wind up looking like Lane."
Loki snorted. "When it comes to beauty sleep, he's an insomniac."
He and Luke snickered; Lane crinkled his nose and mocked their laughter in a high, tittering falsetto.
Great, another breakfast roast. Lovely. Linka tuned them out and took a sip of her coffee. What time was it? She twisted around and glanced at the clock on the wall. 8:52. Lincoln would be here at 2:30 - five and a half hours.
Has Levi invented a time machine yet? Because if he hasn't, he needs to get on it pronto.
Imagine how handy having one of those would be; you'd never have to wait for anything ever again. Line outside the bathroom? Crank the knob and jump fifteen minutes into the future. Fail a big, important test? No problem, go back and take it as many times as you like. Just don't bump into your past self or the universe will implode.
She finished the last of her coffee and stared into the empty mug, her lips scrunched to one side. Five hours is a really long time, how was she going to fill it? Obviously she was going to shower and put on makeup (since this was a super special occasion, their first Christmas together...even though it wasn't really Christmas), but that came later. Can't be fresh and clean if you shower too soon. She couldn't sit around, though, because if she did, she'd go crazy with anticipation.
Maybe she'd hang out with Claudia.
Yeah, that'd distract her. A little. Kind of. Somewhat. Not at all.
Getting up, she took her mug into the kitchen, rinsed it out, and went upstairs, passing Leif and Lexx in the living room, Lexx with his head high and nose pointed up and Leif already (mysteriously) covered in dirt. "Morning, Link!" Leif piped.
"Good morning, Linka," Lexx said.
"Morning," she replied.
In the dining room, Luke sat back from his bowl and glanced at Lane. Now that Linka was gone, the fun could really begin. "Anyone ever tell you you look like a faggot?" he asked.
"Anyone ever tell you your faux-hawk makes you look like a retard?" Lane retorted.
Loki laughed, and Luke clenched his jaw. "It's not a faux-hawk."
"Yes it is," Lexx said dispassionately as he went into the kitchen.
Leif tilted his head and regarded Luke for a moment. "It looks dumb whatever it is."
"Dude, it is a faux-hawk," Loki said. "It's like you're not cool enough for the real thing, so you go for the fake look."
Okay, that was uncalled for. If there was one thing in the world Luke Loud was not, it was fake. Sure, he might brag about banging girls even though he'd never gotten to third base, and maybe he acted tougher than he really was sometimes, but he was still legit. "You're the last person who should be talking about someone's hair," he said and shot out his hand, tickling Loki's hair chin. "With these pubes on your face. Does the carpet match the drapes, Princess?"
Loki smacked his hand away and Lane laughed. "He doesn't have a carpet - Bobbie makes him wax."
A blush burst across Loki's face which told Luke that maybe she did. "No she doesn't," the older boy said. "She likes it all natural."
Luke blew a raspberry. "Shut up, I bet you never even got to second base with her."
"What's second base?" Leif asked as he sat his bowl on the table and dropped into an empty chair. Lexx took the one next to him and ignored the proceedings like he was too good for everyone.
Making a mental note to target his beauty queen of a brother next, Luke said, "Ask Loki...oh wait, he doesn't know either."
Flashing, Loki punched Luke's arm, and Luke jumped. "Shut the fuck up, fag. Go suck Sam's dick some more."
"I never sucked his dick," Luke said and rubbed his arm. He was into girls and girls only; maybe chicks are open to swinging both ways, but not him. Nope. No way. Not at all. He never thought about kissing Sam and touching his junk. Pfft, what do you think he is, a homo?
"Do you spit or swallow?" Loki asked.
"Neither," Luke said indignantly.
"So you take it on the face?" Lane asked.
"He likes it when Sam cums on his dick," Loki said.
Now Luke was starting to get mad. "Fuck you guys," he grumbled, "always talking that gay shit. You're the fags." He crossed his arms with a defiant flourish.
"You wear boots, an earring, and tight pants," Loki said, "you are literally the poster boy for being gay."
"No I'm fucking not," Luke growled.
"Too bad Sam's not gay for you the way you are for him."
Luke snapped. He pushed back from the table and jumped up, knocking the chair over. A ball of hot anger throbbed in the center of his chest and his face blushed so hard he felt like his skin was gonna blister. He balled his fist and almost threw a punch at Loki, but stopped himself at the last minute and stormed off instead, shoulder checking Lars' bitch ass on the way out. He pounded up the stairs, stalked into his room, and slammed the door behind him so hard it shook in its frame.
Fuck those assholes. Sam doesn't feel the same way about you. Well...it'd be great if he did.
Gay! I meant gay not great! And I don't feel shit for him, no matter what Loki says. He's the one who likes dudes; probably dating Bobbie just so he can get close to Ron, fucking homo.
Luke dropped onto his bed and took a deep breath through his nose.
He wasn't gay.
He wasn't.
Lincoln Loud passed the day in a state of restless discomfort, unable to sit still or think of anything but Linka - being in love sucked sometimes. Does Lisa have a drug to blunt it a little?
Man, imagine if she did; she'd make millions, no, billions. The girl you're into isn't into you? Pop one of Dr. Lise's Love-B-Gones and wah-la, no more moping, listening to sad songs, and filling the void in your heart with drugs, loveless sex, or Dungeons and Dragons. Your daughter's head-over-heels for a guy named Scar whose face is one big, unemployable tattoo? Crush up a couple tablets, sprinkle it in her dinner, and watch as she turns into a frigid bitch. Debbie Johnson - Armand, Kentucky: Before Love-B-Gone, my son was a filthy homosexual, now he has no one and I've never been happier. Thanks, Dr. Lise!
Sigh. He didn't wanna fall out of love with Linka, he just didn't want to be so fucking consumed with it that made him feel like this. Love is like alcohol, when you think about it: It's medicine...and it's poison.
Presently, he sat on the edge of his bed with his hands splayed on his knees, his head slightly bowed and his shoulders slumped. He just got back from Clyde's house, where he spent two hours trying and failing to lose himself in Steal That Car: Sin City. Normally he loved shooting hookers, beating homeless people to death with blunt objects, and dying in police shootouts, but today his focus was so bad that at one point, while thinking of kissing Linka, he drove his car off a bridge and drowned.
SIghing, he snatched his phone off the nightstand and checked the time.
1:45.
His heart skipped a beat and his stomach did a somersault. In less than an hour, he and Lisa would pack into the teleporter, push a couple of buttons, and cross an infinite gulf of time and space on the other side of which was Linka. He was nervous, excited, happy, and impatient, and if he didn't distract himself right now, he'd pull his hair out, dive head-first through the window, and plummet to the ground like The Falling Man.
A shower, right, he needed a shower.
Getting up, he grabbed his towel and a fresh change of clothes (opting for the red undies Lola bought him...Linka liked those) and went into the bathroom. He shut the door behind him, threw the towel over the rod, and laid his clothes on the closed toilet lid. Thinking twice, he moved them to the sinktop; you never know when someone's gonna need to really pee or, dear God, bomb the bowl, and he didn't feel like having his clean, wrinkle-free clothes flung aside like a stripper's thong.
People made such a big deal about him being "kind" and "considerate." No, he just wasn't a fucking asshole. The Bible said do unto others as you would have them do unto you and whether that came directly from the mouth of God or not, it was a pretty good philosophy. Would he want his shit thrown on the ground? Nope, so why would he do it to someone else? He loved his sisters and all, but they could be so fucking rude sometimes, and it drove him crazy.
He stripped to his underwear, hopped into the shower, then pulled them off and tossed them over the top. Speaking of rude, they also had a problem with the concept of "privacy" and "personal space." He couldn't count the number of times he was reading a comic or playing a video game in his room when one of them just barged right in. Lincy, I need your opinion. Uh, no, you need to knock. Thankfully none of them ever caught him in a compromising - actually, wait, Lisa did.
Wow, he forgot how embarrassing that was
On the other hand, it lead Lisa to hook up with Levi and introduce him to Linka, so all in all, it was worth it. He just wished it didn't take his sister walking in on him masturbating.
He turned the bath on, adjusted the temperature, then pulled the converter: Hot water cascaded over him like a gentle summer rain, and he shivered in delight. Nothing quite as nice as a hot shower, amirite? Especially on really cold days. During the winter, he could spend hours in here, letting the water pound down on him and melt the ice in his bones. Growing up in Michigan, he should have been used to the cold, but he wasn't - it went through him like a Taco Bell grande meal; from December to May, he was a perpetual block of ice and the only way to warm up was to take long, hot showers.
Only, hot water doesn't last forever. Ten minutes, fifteen tops, and it started to run tepid, then icy. And God help you if all nine of your sisters (excluding Lily) bathed before you cuz you were getting water so cold it made the shit the Titanic sank in look like a warm bubble bath.
Ducking his head under the spray, he grabbed the shampoo from the ledge, squeezed some into his hand, and massaged it into his scalp. It was a fruity, girly brand that made him smell like a woman. For some reason, he expected Linka to use the same brand, but she didn't - her brand was more neutral, which made sense. He lived with ten sisters, so femininity ruled the roost; she lived with ten brothers, so masculinity ruled the roost. Funny how their worlds were so similar yet so different.
After lathering up and rinsing off, he cut the stream, grabbed his towel, and dried off. Wrapping the towel around his waist, he hopped out, went to the sink, and grabbed his deodorant from the medicine cabinet. Thankfully, while he was expected to use the same shampoo and body wash and shampoo as the girls, Mom and Dad didn't make him use Secret like his sisters.
Next, he brushed his teeth and gargled with mouthwash, then brushed his teeth again because why not? Linka was gonna be sticking her tongue in there later, gotta make sure it tastes and smells good.
He blinked.
Putting it like that made it not as sexy. It's interesting how you can take the same thing and make it sound two different ways depending on what words you use to describe it. For instance, he read a lot of Ace Savvy fan fiction, and in one story, he was doing this author's sexpot OC, and the way the writer wrote it...oh, my God, umf. Ace hooked his arms under her legs and pressed himself to her moist opening...idk, it was better than that, like really hot. Then in another, Ace was doing another sexy OC and it was like Ace shoved his meat into her bearded clam. Ugh, It was so gross.
Done, he dressed, brushed his hair, then went back to his room, side-stepping Lucy AKA Miss I-Like-to-Read-While-I-Walk-and-Not-Pay-Attention. A muffled umph told him she bumped into something, which kind of served her right.
In his room, he grabbed a pair of socks from the dresser, sat on the bed, and pulled them on, followed by his shoes. There. He was ready. He checked his phone.
2:10.
Thank God, he was going to literally go crazy if he had to wait much longer. You know what he didn't get? Why couldn't Lisa create a device to freeze time so that Linka could come over whenever? Push a button and everything just...pauses. She could certainly do it, I mean, come on, she built a teleporter that traveled between dimensions. At this point, nothing was beyond her.
If she did something like that, Linka could technically spend the night. The prospect of falling asleep with her in his arms and his face buried in her warm, fragrant hair made his heart bounce. Waking up with her in his arms...rubbing his nose against hers, kissing her lips, and running his hand up and down her soft body...made something else bounce.
He tried to shove those thoughts away, but they came regardless: Him slipping his hand between Linka's thighs as he placed sleepy kisses to the side of her throat; Linka spreading her legs to give him better access; her sickly heat; her dampness; her…
...now he was hard.
Damn it.
He forced visions of morning sex with Linka out of his mind and checked his phone again.
2:15.
Giddy excitement filled him. Just as soon as he was soft, he'd head to Lisa's room.
Something occurred to him, and he snapped his fingers. Damn, almost forgot. He popped up, went over to his nightstand, and opened the drawer. Inside, between a slim Ray Bradbury paperback and a deck of Yu-Gi-Oh cards, was a small gray box topped with a silvery bow. He reached in, picked it up, and held it in the palm of his hand.
In this humble box resides my heart, he thought, and to you I give it today, Linka.
That's not what he was actually going to say...he thought. He had to say something deep and romantic; he couldn't just toss it at her and go Here's my heart or something, have at it. He'd been trying to find the prettiest and most meaningful arrangement of words to go along with his present since the day he got it, but gave up and decided just to go from the gut. After all, nothing inspires a man quite like a beautiful woman. Hell, half the poems written in the 1800s were basically some lovesick guy talking about the girl he liked. She walks in beauty...and I wanna put my dick in her so fucking bad. Ugh. He remembered a documentary he saw about WWII and a narrator read a bunch of letters American servicemen sent their wives and girlfriends from the front; he was shocked by how poetic these guys were, most of them being uneducated grunts from Tennessee and Camden, New Jersey and shit. That's when he came to believe that all it takes to turn a man into a poet is a woman - missing a woman, loving a woman, pining after a woman.
Linka, you mean everything to me, and I…
No, he didn't like that. She was a queen and an angel and no mortal words could do her justice.
Standing there in front of his bedside table, he forced himself to remember that while they were not the same person, he and Linka were very similar in the way they thought, felt, and reacted, to the point that they were constantly finishing each other's sentences. She wouldn't care if he spoke like Keats or a long-haul trucker with three teeth; the gesture of symbolically giving her his heart would be enough to make her heart melt.
Even so, he loved her and he wanted everything to be perfect.
He closed the drawer, checked his boner (nonexistent now), then tucked the box into his pocket. He went to the door, poked his head out to make sure the coast was clear, then hurried to Lisa's room. While Linka's family would be out of the house today, his wouldn't, which was fine. Remember that thing about getting lost in the pack? Sometimes, like right now, it worked to his advantage. No one would miss him or Lisa for a few hours, and if they did, well...he took his little sister to the park, what?
In her room, Lisa sat slouched before her computer, her chin resting in her palm. For some reason, the communication lines between their world and Linka's were acting up lately - more static than normal, dropped calls, trouble establishing video conferences. She was working on it but couldn't figure out what was wrong. Probably faulty wiring on Levi's side, she told him, that boy's impossible sometimes. She grinned fondly as she said it.
She looked over her shoulder when he closed the door behind him. "2:20," she said and got to her feet. "I was expecting you earlier."
"I wanted to be here earlier," he said, "a lot earlier."
Crossing to the teleporter, which sat in the corner and covered with a white sheet, she said, "I can't lie, I wanted you here earlier too. The appointed time, however, is 2:30 and we must keep as close to that as humanly possible to avoid any chance of discovery." She pulled the sheet off with a crisp whipping noise and tossed it aside. "You know how long it takes our family to get out the door; Levi's is worse."
Lincoln walked over and stood next to her as she connected the teleporter to her computer terminal. She was just as excited to see Levi as he was Linka - you might not be able to see it, but he could sense it, like the crackle of electricity in the air before a storm. On Halloween, he and Linka caught them holding hands while they talked, their fingers threaded together and goofy little smiles on their lips.
Which reminded him.
"So," he said as Lisa input a series of numbers on a keyboard, "you gonna kiss Levi this time?" His voice lifted teasingly as he spoke. Her cheeks turned red and he smirked. He liked picking on her about Levi; talking about him was the only time she ever displayed any emotion and it was actually really nice to see her smile.
"I doubt it," she said, ignoring the bait, "the human mouth is a cesspit of germs and bacteria, and neither one of us is particularly interested in swapping saliva." She hit a button, and a digital readout flanking the teleporter's door lit up.
"True," he said seriously, "but kissing someone like that…" he thought of all the times he and Linka did it and his chest tingled. "It's really intimate," he said, settling for that word because no other one, in his limited vocabulary anyway, existed to convey the sense of tender affection and closeness that came with French kissing.
Lisa crossed to the teleporter and unhooked it from the computer. "Be that as it may, we've mutually decided to hold off." She stopped and tilted her head back. "Though, I must admit...when he is speaking, I cannot maintain eye contact and look, instead, at his lips, and feel the overwhelming urge to press them against mine." The corners of her mouth turned up and she hung her head as if to hide it. "They look very soft."
"I bet they are," Lincoln said. He didn't want to know for himself, but he suddenly found himself wanting Lisa to. Same principle as cheering for the couple in a romantic comedy, he figured. He leaned over her shoulder. "Only one way to find out."
She turned her head to face him, her lips twitching...then she broke out in the biggest, most radiant smile he'd ever seen from her. "Shut up, Lincoln," she laughed.
"It's true," he said.
"It's also true that you're a doofus," she retorted. She checked her wristwatch. "2:28. I think we can leave now." She opened the door and motioned for Lincoln to enter ahead of her. He went over, stepped in, and turned, his heart beginning to race. Finally, after two long months, he was going to see and hold Linka again.
Lisa came in, closed the door, and typed their destination into a keypad. "I assume you have a Christmas gift for Linka," she said.
"Yep," Lincoln said, "it's a heart necklace. It has our names engraved on the inside. I'm symbolically giving her my heart." He said the last part haltingly, realizing that it sounded even cornier out loud than it did in his head.
Lisa didn't reply for a moment, then, with a sigh, "Perhaps my feelings for Levi have softened me, but that's a very beautiful gesture." She pushed a button, and the teleporter began to whirr.
This part always scared Lincoln - as Lisa said long ago, one tiny mistake and they could wind up in a volcano, on the moon, or in the middle of a meeting of the RNC *shiver*
The whirring got louder, louder, taking on a sickly, high-pitched quality that Lincoln had never heard before. The teleporter began to shake, then, with a low hum, the blinking lights all went dark and the movement ceased like flipping a switch, the smell of fried wiring and ozone filling the air.
Lincoln's heart clutched.
"Goddamn it," Lisa muttered. She went to the keyboard and tried entering a code, but nothing happened - the teleporter remained dark and dead, the only light coming through the door, beyond which was still Lisa's bedroom.
"W-What's wrong?" he asked.
"We lost power," Lisa said.
No shit. "Why?"
She pushed a red button, and the door slid open with a whoosh. "I don't know," she said and stepped out, "I'll have to check. Out."
He started to protest, but realized that a malfunctioning teleporter was the last place he wanted be, so he got out and stood to one side while Lisa opened a hatch, revealing the machine's inner workings.
It occurred to him that he might not get to see Linka today, and his stomach dropped like a hanged man through a trapdoor.
On her knees, Lisa bent to one side and examined the guts, a tiny hum rising from her lips. He didn't like the sound of it - it sounded puzzled, like she didn't know what was wrong and couldn't fix it and he wouldn't be able to spend time with Linka.
Panic gripped him, and he took a deep breath that did little to dispel the dark pressure suddenly pressing down on his chest. "What's the matter? Can you fix it?"
Shutting the panel, Lisa got to her feet. "There's nothing wrong with the machine itself," she said, "at least not that I can see. If there is, it's something fairly serious." She paused. "We may have to cancel."
That last word pierced Lincoln's heart like a poison arrow. "Cancel?" he asked dumbly.
"Yes," she said heavily, which told him she wasn't any happier about it than he was, "I'll have to take a closer look, though. I-I don't know right now. Leave me alone." Stress crept into her voice and for a moment she looked lost, then went around the desk and dropped into her chair. Lincoln stood there, not knowing what to do and feeling like a man who just watched everything he loved smashed to pieces; his heart slammed in fear and his stomach twisted back and forth like a wet dishrag...he waited so long to see Linka and the thought that he wouldn't get to made him want to cry.
Across the room, Levi's face appeared on the screen, the picture grainy. "I expected you to be en route," he said with a note of confusion,
"We attempted to leave and the teleporter lost all power. I'm going to give it a thorough work-over...which may necessitate the cancelation of our visit."
Lincoln winced at that terrible word cancelation, and so did Levi. Quickly recovering, the boy nodded. "Very well. Safety is vital in trans-dimensional travel, and I would rather postpone your coming here than...than risk something happening to you." His voice hitched ever so slightly.
"I'll try to be quick," Lisa said.
"Be exhaustive instead," Levi replied and flashed a wan smile.
"I will," Lisa said.
Levi nodded. "I'll check things on my end to make sure everything is functioning as it should. I will call you in...twenty minutes."
"Alright," Lisa said, "talk to you then."
She hit a button, and the screen went dark. Turning in her chair, she fixed Lincoln with a grave expression that may have been a little too dark for the relatively minor setback at hand, but when matters of the heart are involved, every tiny thing is major to the people it affects. "I need to full focus to do this, so...go wait in your room."
Lincoln opened his mouth to speak, but decided against it; any time they spent arguing was time she wouldn't be working on the machine. They could still save today - it might very well be something incredibly minor, like a loose spark plug somewhere. Nodding, he left and went back to his room, dropping onto the bed with a sigh. His stomach ached at the possibility of not getting to spend the day with Linka, and disappointment washed through him like battery acid.
It was nothing, he told himself; Lisa would have it fixed in five minutes, ten tops, and then they'd be on their way.
Maybe he was pessimistic, but deep down, he didn't think that was going to happen. Something big was wrong.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He had to think positive because if he didn't, he'd go crazy.
Resting his hands on his knees, he stared at the wall and fought back dark thoughts.
Linka held her fists anxiously to her chest and watched with bated breath as Levi crawled underneath the teleporter like a mechanic working on a big rig. Her stomach was in knots and she was starting to feel really flustered. Not in a hot way, but in a I'm gonna start shaking and screaming way. Nervous energy surged through her veins and she felt like pacing, but didn't want to be away because she wanted to know what was wrong and what was happening the same second Levi did. "How does it look?" she asked hesitantly and leaned forward as though to see.
"Linka, I haven't even gotten panel off," he said sharply. "Please."
Normally he wouldn't use that tone with her and she wouldn't stand for it if he did, but right now neither cared; they were both worried they weren't going to see their respective partner.
With a sigh, Linka started to pace, going from the teleporter to the door and back again in an endless circuit. Okay, okay, it wasn't the end of the world, it was just a hiccup. It's not like she'd die or anything if she didn't get to see Lincoln today, she'd just be disappointed. Bitterly. She'd been so excited for this day for so long that having it fall through at the last minute would leave her crushed, like waking up on Christmas morning to find no presents under the tree and reindeer poop in your stocking. She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. For one thing, they didn't know for sure that he and Lisa wouldn't be able to come, and for another, even if they couldn't, oh well, they'd just have to reschedule. Yeah, it flipping sucked, but it was no reason to throw yourself on your bed and sob into your pillow.
Which is totally what she felt like doing right now.
She came to a stop in front of the machine and crossed her arms over her chest, mainly because she needed a hug. Levi's feet stuck out from under, and she focused on them instead of the tears brimming in the back of her eyes. No reason to cry, Link, jeez, will you get a grip, please? Lexx is supposed to be the drama queen around here, not you.
A muffled clang sounded, and Levi hissed a nasty word that Linka registered but frankly didn't care to challenge. A minute later, he crawled out and sat up. "Nothing," he said. He got to his feet, brushed past her, and sat at his computer. "Let me just check the uplink," he added absently, his fingers flying across the keyboard. Linka hugged herself tighter.
This was supposed to be our first Christmas together.
That thought drew the tears from the back of her eyes to the front, and she blinked to keep them from spilling down her cheeks. Damn her stupid girl hormones.
"No," Levi said and turned. "There's nothing wrong on our end." He slid his glasses down and pinched the bridge of his nose, something he only did when he was nervous or frustrated. Linka's heart twinged a little; she was kind of hoping it was on their end, because at least that would give her the illusion of being in control. It being completely out of their hands (or Levi's, rather) was like being a ship with no rudder or something, totally at the mercy of the wind.
An idea struck her. "Can't…" she trailed off. She was going to say can't we just go there? But she remembered that Lincoln's sisters and parents were around.
Levi started to reply, then furrowed his brow. "Actually, that gives me an idea." He got up, went to the teleporter, and opened the door.
"What are you doing?" Linka asked.
"Stay here," he said.
W-Was he leaving her? Oh, uh-uh. If he got to see Lisa, she was gonna get to see Lincoln, even if it was just for a quick, clandestine hug. She started toward the machine, but before she reached it, Levi closed the door. Seconds later, it started to shimmer and glow, a quiet purring noise filling the air and making Linka's teeth vibrate. She jumped back with a tiny cry of alarm and brought her fists defensively to her chest. Oooh, when he got back she was gonna make him wish he was never born.
The purring steadily increased in volume until it was a high pitched wail that sent icepicks into the center of her skull. She slapped her hands over her ears and tucked her chin against her chest, her knees pressing together and her feet bracing against the floor in a rough V. It put her in mind of a vacuum cleaner after sucking up water: Straining, sick, and moments from -
With a strange zapping sound, the teleporter fell dark, and the whine stopped. She cautiously let go of her ears and stood up straight. Was it over?
If so, it didn't work: The teleporter was still there.
The door slid open and Levi came out with a frown. "That's concerning," he said, and Linka's heart dropped. That was like the doctor saying your test results are troubling: Very, very serious.
"What happened?" she asked.
He went to his desk, sat, and navigated the mouse across its pad. "The same thing that happened to Lisa's. It lost power and there was a distinctive grinding sensation as though it were struggling to jump but couldn't."
Okay, now she was starting to get really worried. Levi's and Lisa's teleporters were linked, but after getting off the computer with her, he unlinked them, which meant that anything wrong with hers wouldn't affect his. Why were both of them breaking down? It was something terrible, wasn't it? Oh, God, it was.
Lisa's face filled the screen; the picture was sticky and the sound quality was strangely tinny. "I'm still working," she said, "I c-can't seem to find -"
Levi cut her off. His voice was low and severe. "I'm afraid it may be something a lot more serious." He looked at Linka and seemed to consider something for a moment. "Can you go wait in your room, please?"
All Linka could do was nod, suddenly numb and cold all over. She took a deep breath, left, and went back to her room, where she dropped onto the bed. Levi's words echoed through the chambers of her skull like the ominous tolling of a midnight bell. Something a lot more serious.
More serious.
Serious.
What, though? Was it broken? How long would it take to fix? She imagined going months and months without seeing Lincoln, and her stomach turned. She couldn't survive that long without him; she'd go crazy and never come back. The past month and a half was hell, literal hell, and the thought of repeating it two or three times over while Lisa and Levi worked to repair the damage tightened around her chest like a metal band.
She reached for her phone on the nightstand, needing to hear Lincoln's voice.
It rang in her hand.
She didn't need to check to know that it was him. She answered and held it to her ear. "Hey," she said, a trace of sadness in her voice.
"Hey," he replied. "Did Levi -?"
"Yeah," she said, "and...there's a problem here too."
The line was silent for a moment. "What?" he asked.
She explained the best she could, and when she was done, Lincoln sighed. "Damn it," he said.
"Looks like today might not happen," she said, and was not surprised to feel a tear tracking down her face. She wiped her eyes and blinked. It might not be the end of the world, but she was really looking forward to seeing him.
He took a deep, watery breath. "I know. I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault," she said, "and it's not the end of the world. We'll just have to wait a little longer, that's all."
Like every moment apart from him wasn't anguish...like waiting a little longer was a simple matter of twiddling her thumbs. It might be melodramatic, but Lincoln really was like the air she breathed, and not being with him was suffocation of the worst sort. Aside from actual suffocation, she figured, but there wasn't all that much of a difference when you got right down to it. One hurt the body while the other hurt the soul.
"Yeah," Lincoln said, "it sucks but…"
She waited for him to go on, and when he didn't, she arched her brow. "You there?"
Nothing.
She held the phone up: DISCONNECTED flashed mockingly across the screen. She sighed in frustration and dialed his number, whipping her hair sassily to one side and pressing the phone to her ear. When he answered, the line crackled with static. "Sor...call dropped."
Inexplicable dread slithered through the pit of her stomach like an eel. She couldn't see him, she couldn't talk to him...she didn't know why, but it felt like a bad omen. "It's fine," she said, even though she didn't think "it" was at all. "We probably shouldn't talk long. I just…"
"Wanted to hear your voice," Lincoln finished.
She smiled warmly. "Yeah," she drew, "I miss you like crazy."
"I miss you too," he said. "I got you a present."
"Oh?" she asked teasingly, "what is it?"
Truth be told, she didn't care what it was. In fact, she didn't care if it was or wasn't - all she really wanted was his arms around her. That was the only present she needed, everything else could take a flying leap. Candy canes? Stocking stuffers? Pfft.
Well...she did want her stocking stuffed but…
She giggled. You have a dirty mind, Linka. You're a thot with a capital 'T'.
"I can't tell you that," Lincoln said, a smile evident in his voice. Your laughter makes me happy, he told her once. "It's a surprise. You'll really like it, though. I hope."
Linka hummed. "I will no matter what it is. I got you something too." She blushed deeply. She tried it on a few time after bringing it home, and while she thought she looked okay, she'd never tried to be sexy for him, so it was kind of, like, awkward. She practiced her bedroom eyes in the mirror, but they looked more like she had something in her eyes. Ow, sand, ow, ow. She didn't have self-images issues (though she sometimes wished her hair wasn't snowy freaking white), but she also didn't think she did "sexy" very well. Eh, guess everyone's not cut out for it. When Lincoln looked at her, though, especially when they were having sex, his face burning with desire and his eyes shimmering with love, she felt like the most beautiful girl in the world.
"Yeah?" Lincoln asked of her present. "Can you give me a hint?"
Linka thought for a moment. "Nope. It's a surprise." She intentionally mimicked what he said to her.
"Aw, come on, I'll give you a hint if you give me one."
Hmmm. Linka considered, then figured what the hey. "Clothing."
Lincoln missed a beat. "Clothing, huh?"
Lol, he probably thought she got him socks or a shirt or something. Too bad for him his girlfriend was a sneaky one. She had ten brothers each with their own birthdays and such, so she got pretty good at evasion over the years. "Umhm. Clothing."
"Well, that's a coincidence, because what I got you is like clothing."
Huh? Like clothing? The only thing she knew that was like clothing was...clothing. "Like clothing," she said slowly, tasting the word as though it were a dish and she a girl who couldn't decide whether she liked it or not.
Like clothing, like clothing.
Now that word didn't make sense anymore because she thought it too many times in a row.
"Yep. It has something in common with clothes."
Oh! It must be made of fabric then. "A pillow?"
"Nope."
Hm. "Fuzzy socks?"
"No. Stop guessing."
She stroked her chin and tilted her head. "A cute comforter."
"No, stop guessing."
"Shoes?"
"I'm hanging up."
"No! I'll stop! I'll stop!"
She brushed her hair out of her face and switched the phone to her other hand. That's when she noticed how hot it was, like the battery was overheating and getting ready to explode. Oooh, that's not good. She thought of the teleporter. "How's your phone?" she asked.
Catching her meaning, Lincoln said, "It's getting really hot."
Her heat twinged. Darn it. "Mine too. You know how the connection's been really bad lately?"
She imagined him nodding. "Yeah, I was wondering the same thing."
It stood to reason that the problems with their connection were related to whatever was happening with the teleporters.
"Maybe we should get off," she said, even though getting of the phone was the last thing she wanted to do right now.
Lincoln sighed. "Yeah, that might be best."
Neither spoke for a second, then, at the same time, "I love you."
They laughed, then Lincoln said, "I love you, Linka."
"I love you too," she smiled.
"As soon as Lisa tells me what's going on, I'll text you. Okay?"
"Alright," she said.
"Love you."
"Love you too."
He hung up, and Linka sat the phone next to her.
It's not the end of the world, she reminded herself, but even so...it kind of felt like it was.
Don't bother her, Lincoln told himself, she needs to concentrate and she can't do that with you popping in every five minutes like a kid asking are we there yet? Just relax.
Yeah, easier said than done, internal-monologue-Linc, easier said than done.
It was closing in on 5pm and Lisa's door was still firmly and forbiddingly shut, a soft blue glow emanating from the cracks. He knew because every five minutes, he checked, hoping against hope that this time, it would be open and Lisa would be like Hey, Linc, all fixed. She never was, though, and he was starting to think she'd be in there forever.
He didn't know what was going on in Linka's world, but he was sure that her family was back from wherever Levi sent them, so today was a bust regardless. He just needed to know that the teleporter was fixed so that he could stop obsessively worrying.
For a while, he paced the first floor, going back and forth from the kitchen to the living room with his hands on his hips, but everyone started battering him with questions. You okay, Linc? You look anxious; hey, Linc, you nervous about something? Hey, Linc; Hey, Linc; Hey, Linc.
Next, he did the same thing upstairs, going from one end of the hall to the other, pausing here and there to listen at Lisa's door. He heard voices at one point, which told him she and Levi were video chatting; with two epic geniuses on the case, he thought he'd feel a little more optimistic, but he didn't; he felt like he was gonna puke.
Soon, his sisters started drifting up from the first floor, Luna to rock out with her guitar, Leni to mend a dress or something, and Lucy to hide in the vents and read Edgar Allen Poe. He retreated to his room before any of them could draft him for an opinion or something, shut the door, and paced between it and his desk for a while. His space was getting progressively smaller and smaller: First the living room and kitchen, then the hall, now his room. Last step was hopping on his bed and pacing that. Actually, the real last step would be pacing his pillow.
Every so often, he poked his head into the hall to see if Lisa was done. It was getting close to dinner, so she'd have to break - Mom and Dad wouldn't let her eat in her room anymore because they were afraid she'd become a shut in. As soon as he saw her, he'd snatch her by her Shaggy looking sweater and give her the thirdest third degree in Thirddegreetown.
He blinked.
Lol. I sound like Linka now.
His stomach pinched with loss at the mention of her name. He was at peace with the fact that he missed out on seeing her (as at peace as North and South Korea, at least), but if he started thinking about how badly he wanted to hug and kiss her and how much he was looking forward to holding her hand and giving her his heart, he'd go back to war with it.
Presently, he sat on the edge of the bed with his face in his hands, his stomach knotting and his heart palpitating sickly. He ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath. Is this how those guys on TV feel when they're waiting for their baby to be born? You know, the ones pacing the waiting room and chain smoking? Twisted with worry, sick, restless? It wasn't fun, if so. He'd skip the whole having kids thing, thanks.
Well, actually, Lisa said that he and Linka wouldn't be able to conceive anyway, so *finger guns*
He was just starting to get up for another check-on-Lisa trip when someone knocked on the door, freezing him. Probably just Luna. "Dinner's ready, dude-bro, rock on." "Yeah?" he called.
The knob turned and Lisa poked her head in, her expression wan and drawn.
He knew in an instant that something was wrong. Really wrong.
"Can you come into my lab, please," she said. Her voice was flat, washed out, and Lincoln gulped. Oh, God.
Without speaking, he got up and followed Lisa into her room, shutting the door behind him. She crossed over to her desk and sat with a burdened sigh; Levi's face filled the computer screen - he looked just as haggard (and worried) as her, and Lincoln's knees went weak.
"Come over here," Lisa said and motioned him forward. He went to her on shaky steps and stood over her shoulder.
On the computer, Levi turned away, and a moment later Linka joined him. She looked nervous too, but when she saw him, she brightened a little. "Hey," she said.
"Hey," Lincoln replied through a tender though half-hearted picture quality was grainy and dim, like an old school TV station back in the days before HD; Linka was as beautiful as she was in person, though.
He started to ask her how she was, but Lisa cut him off. "Both Levi and myself have been working on this matter for the majority of the afternoon, as you know, and we've reached a conclusion." Her voice trembled slightly, and Lincoln's guts knotted even tighter than they already were.
Levi picked up where she left off. "I trust you have heard the expression the fabric of space and time." He darted his eyes from Lincoln to his sister and back again.
"Yeah," Lincoln said and Linka nodded.
"Matter and energy are two expressions of a single material. We can think of space-time as a fabric; The presence of large amounts of mass or energy distorts space-time – in essence causing the fabric to "warp" – and we observe this warpage as gravity. Freely falling objects – whether soccer balls, satellites, or beams of starlight – simply follow the most direct path in this curved space-time."
Lincoln and Linka both furrowed their brows in identical expressions of puzzlement. Lincoln liked to think he was fairly intelligent, but once you got got him on the subject of math and science, he was lost .
"There is no literal fabric," Lisa clarified. "It is an expression. However, the spacetime that separates the individual dimensions of the multiverse behaves differently from the spacetime within each universe."
Levi nodded grimly. "It behaves as though it were a fabric. Each time that we've traveled through this "fabric" it has caused a rip, and after each passage, the "fabric" as it were...sort of knits back together." He held up his hands and laced his fingers to demonstrate.
"And it grows stronger each time," Lisa put in, a bitter inflection creeping into her voice on the word stronger. She stared off to one side, her thumb hooked under her chin and her fist pressed to her lips. It was the most obvious display of petulance he'd ever seen from any of his sisters, and to see if from Lisa of all people made it somehow worse...somehow scary.
Sighing, Levi nodded. "Yes. A-And right now we cannot safely penetrate it. Our teleportation systems are not strong enough and even if they were, there's a chance that ripping the fabric again will cause, perhaps, a…"
"A black hole," Lisa said sullenly, "a world-swallowing, universe ending black hole that, if God is merciful, would only envelope ours and Levi's world…"
"But may very well consume everything."
On the screen, Linka's eyes widened with a mixture of fear and understanding that sent icy knife blades into Lincoln's chest; he'd never wanted to hold her so bad as he did right now.
"We are able to communicate owing to the low impact nature of radio waves," Levi said. "Imagine water soaking through a piece of cloth and you'll understand. Having said that, even what we are doing right now is causing tiny rips."
"And pretty soon, we'll lose all contact," Lisa said.
"In essence," Levi said gravely, "once these signals stop getting through…"
Lisa pursed her lips unhappily. "We'll likely never see each other again."