Disclaimer: I don't own The Loud House, the brand, as well as all of its characters and settings belong to Chris Savino and Nickelodeon, all rights reserved.
Chapter 42: Distraction.
- Ok honey, just like how we practiced, if you can't get Lincoln to say anything, just keep him distracted long enough - Rita quietly whispered to her husband, who was now gulping with evident anxiety at the though of what they were about do.
- Y-yes hun, you too take care, Lola seemed really upset last night - Lynn Sr. replied with concern in his voice.
- Don't worry cookie, you know I have some experience with that ~ - The matriarch answered confidently, looking lovingly at her husband before giving him a quick peck on the lips and going upstairs.
- Ok, stay calm Lynn, you can do this! - The disoriented father of 11 began talking to himself in desperate need of a confidence boost, now was not the time for an emotional breakdown, he needed to be strong, he needed to be there for his children.
That of course wasn't helping much, but he was trying.
- I already told you dad, we were playing, she cheated, I got mad, I yelled at her, she ran off, that's it! - Lincoln's rage was already reaching his limit, his dad was trying all sorts of mental gymnastics looking for a better answer, but he didn't have one.
He refused to give one.
- Ok ok, i believe you, really son! - At last, the father gave up on pushing the issue on his only son, judging by his overall mood and expression, he knew without a silver of a doubt that Lincoln was lying, but he also knew that pressuring his son for a real answer would not be appropriate giving the recency of the latest disturbance in the family, he didn't want to lose the trust of his son and regardless.
Rita was the one asking the real questions.
- But can you tell me about what happened between Lola and Lana? - The aging man still wanted to extract some truth from him, Lana and Lola's argument wasn't exactly the quietest event last night, and, though muffled and distorted, Lincoln's name was apparently mentioned a few times in their discussion.
- That… I don't know dad, I was already focusing on getting some sleep so I really didn't pay attention to their argument, I think you might need to ask Lana instead - Though unsatisfactory, Lincoln's answer this time around sounded genuine enough for his dad, who smiled briefly in understanding.
- Ok champ, thank you for your honesty, how about you let your old man reward you with an ice cream? - Lynn Sr. comments excitedly while showing the keys to Vanzilla - I have a really good selection in Lynn's Table, care to join? - He finished while landing his hand on Lincoln's arm.
- uhhh, yeah, why not? - Lincoln hesitated for a moment, before remembering his prime objective of leaving the house for a while, he didn't really have that much of an appetite, and being with his dad after being recently interrogated is not the definition of "comfy".
But he would take any excuse.
*knock* knock*
- Come in! - Lily exclaims happily at the notion of a visitor in her and Lisa's room, not often do people knock on that door for the fear of receiving a radioactive blast to the face, perks of still sharing a room with a child genius.
The stranger opens the room softly, avoiding to make noise as much as possible, a very atypical behavior in the house, unless it's-.
- Greetings, Lucy, I Imagine you want me to explain something? - Lisa turns around from her seat near her computer to face the intruder to her room, not even requiring a proper presentation before correctly identifying the suspect in question.
- …yeah, I do - Lucy doesn't back down, as she proceeds to invite herself to the busy room.
- Lily, could you please do us a favor and go outside for a bit? We're about to talk about grown up stuff - Lisa formally addresses to Lily in the hopes of obeying her command without much questioning.
- What!? But there's nothing to do outside! Besides, you are just two years older, not fair! - Lily resists the order, feeling entitled to a conversation between sisters, something she rarely gets to take part in anymore.
- Lily, I promise I'll play something with you later, I need to speak something very private with your roommate - Lucy then spoke while using an uncharacteristically soft tone, knelling down to her sister's height.
- mmm… nah - Lily resisted her sister's pleas, curiosity taking over her.
- Ok, you leave us with no alternatives Lily… Todd! Please escort my youngest sibling to the exterior of the house -
- Right away Lisa - The robot chimera quickly obeyed with it's monotone voice, grabbing Lily despite her protests and closing the door to the laboratory.
With that, the innocent youngest was out and Lisa and Lucy were finally alone.
- Ok Lisa, first, put your soundproof walls - Lucy ordered.
- No need to, already did - Lisa calmly confirmed.
Lincoln and his father were now getting their seatbelts fastened while getting the motor ready for action, old Vanzilla still being able to carry them around from time to time.
- Ready to go my fellow orange Iguana! - Lynn Sr. enthusiastically reminded his son of the name of their team in Legends of the Hidden Temple, always a good father-son memory, even after their defeat and eventual trouble with airport security.
- Yeah, let's go - Lincoln found himself guilty of not sharing his father's excitement, but his mind was still trying to return to unwanted thoughts every time, the live action show that he and his dad went through a few years ago was overall still a source of good memories, but then his own mind made sure to remind him of the "Hidden Temple" part of it.
Why did everything keep reminding him of that damn story?
- Dad? Linky? - Before Vanzilla took off, the loud voice of a little girl was heard by the duo, Lily had apparently come out to play in the yard with Lisa's robot for some reason, but hearing the roar of the ignition of the van, she approached the vehicle to investigate.
- Oh, Lily dear, didn't see you there hehe - Lynn Sr. answered awkwardly while rubbing the back of his head.
- Uhh, where are you guys going? - Lily pointed out the Elephant of the room, to the patriarch's dismay.
- Well, you see honey, we-
- We're going for some Ice Cream at dad's restaurant, wanna come? - Lincoln intervened without hesitation, Lily coming along with them was the perfect distraction that he needed, an energetic little girl with a lot of stuff to talk about, and also a perfect foil to any plans of his dad for further interrogation, now all he had to do was to pretend normalcy until about 5:00PM.
Things were now looking up.
- How long? -
- about 2 years -
- … -
- I can't exactly provide a specific date, as much as I would like to be technical about this, but empirical knowledge and accumulation of related scientific literature made up for any remaining gaps in my suspicions -
- Why didn't you tell anybody? -
- As certain as I am about this, no deliberate compromising action can be performed if I don't confirm my sources with the necessary witnesses -
- Meaning? -
- I need to ask both Lincoln and Lola for explicit confirmation - Lisa held her glasses while cleaning them, removing eye contact with Lucy temporarily.
- That still doesn't explain why you would lie to our parents about it - Lucy was adamant about Lisa hiding other intentions.
- As unprofessional and out of character as it may seem, I do care about Lily's feelings, I did not want unnecessary derailments in the conversation, our parents were not the main factor to justify my actions - The genius girl explained while putting her glasses back, resuming eye contact with her Gothic sister.
- But-
- Now, as part of my own cross-examination, care to explain what you were doing in the vents all these years? - Lucy had not even finished her own questions before Lisa began her own, putting the reserved maiden in a lot of pressure.
- I… was spying on them - Defeated, Lucy confessed the raw truth, partly because of their silent agreement to tell the full truth, partly because Lisa was way too smart to fall for any lies she could come with and she probably still had camera's installed everywhere, meaning that there was a chance she too was spying on them frequently.
- I see… what is your main assessment? - Lisa remained calm while getting her pen ready to write notes in her journal.
- Lola and Lincoln initially bonded over a story that they were writing in conjunction, said story became their excuse to hang out and sleep in the same room. -
- Keep going - Lisa continued writing without changing her stoic expression.
- Over time, Lola began helping Lincoln with everyday life's issues, including his romantic success with Stella -
Lisa kept writing.
- At the same time, Lola and Lana began hanging around talking about their respective crushes, Lana was always talking about Liam, while Lola was always talking about a "teen crush" from around the pageant business -
- … -
- Lana was also reaching out to me for information, she was always suspicious of Lola's story, but I had no choice but to confirm Lola's version, for awhile Lana seemed to be content with that -
- … -
- I… don't know what happened during the school dance, or after that, or how, but she found out -
- … -
- So she texted Lori about that, blowing my cover in the process, then went to Lola's room and I believe you can fill in the rest of the events from there - Lucy finished the recounting of events from her perspective, eliciting a long sigh in the process.
- Appreciate the narration of events, Lucy, now, in regards to your perception of their attachment to each other, please elaborate - Lisa continued her analysis.
- Lola is utterly obsessed over Lincoln, her desire for having a good reputation in the house was not strong enough to stop her delusion from giving obvious signs to the rest of the family, when I confronted her about that, she deflected my warnings and remained certain that only Lincoln's rejection would stop her -
- … -
- Lincoln is harder to read, but I'm pretty certain through their interactions that he is heavily impacted by the content of their story, he seems to have a confusion with detaching Lola from her fictional self-insert, which creates issues, as said story features them being romantically involved, he has told some of his friends over repeated, repressed dreams were he is found doing compromising stuff to her self-insert, but his normal self appears to live in denial about them. - Lucy finished unloading her knowledge to the child prodigy, feelings exhausted just from the recalling of events.
- So, if you could point out to the main instigator in this situation, who would it be? - Lisa stopped her annotations to formulate a simple question.
- … Lola - Lucy answered definitely, lowering her head in complete impotence.
- Thank you for your time on this inquiry, Lucy, I would heavily appreciate your retreat for now - Lisa formally addressed Lucy to leave her room, expecting no further interruptions.
- … ok - Lucy obligued with no more objections.
Just as she was about to leave the room-turned-laboratory of the prodigy, Lucy stopped right after reaching the door to look back at her sister, one last question in mind.
- Lisa -
- What is it now? -
- What do you think about this? -
- I'll reserve my personal affiliation for the justification of my current project -
- I'm not asking Lisa, the scientist, I'm asking Lisa, my sister -
- … -
- … -
- I don't condone it, not one bit -
- … thanks -
- Linky! Not fair, I want with 2 balls too - Lily complained at the serving that Lincoln was providing her, for a little kid, she sure was capable of eating her size, thought the albino.
- Ok, in that case, how about we trade? - Lincoln tried his best to act friendly to his youngest sister.
- Really? Deal! - Lily proceeded to take Lincoln's dish rather forcefully, before shoving the one with only one ice cream ball back to him.
Lincoln, of course, didn't complain at all, he wasn't planning on eating much, but he still played along.
- Hey! I wasn't sure yet - Lincoln feigned indignation.
- Well, too late, try to catch me! - Lily rose from the chair with the plate full of ice cream in her hands, then began teasing Lincoln by showing her tongue to begin the chase.
- Oh yeah? Watch out Lily! - Lincoln complied, feeling energetic for the first time in the entire day.
Lynn Sr. was now watching them from the counter, relieved to see his son spurting a smile for the first time today as he began chasing Lily through the restaurant, despite the internal doubt eating him away, he still loved his only son with all of his heart and wanted nothing but the best for him.
The unexpected activity was also giving him time to catch up, his parental obligation taking priority.
*Hi sweetheart, how is the thing with Lola going?*
12:36PM
*It's ok honey, we're currently watching a movie*
12:48PM
*That's great to hear! How is she right now*
12:49PM
*she's going to get better hun, I'll tell you everything once you're home*
1:02PM
*got it*
1:04PM
*How is Lincoln?*
1:06PM
*He's having some fun with Lily right now, it seems I'm going to have to clean up some ice cream on the floor :(
1:07PM
*hahaha, i knew I could count on you honey! I'll make sure to have some reward when you're home ;)*
1:10PM
*:o*
1:12PM
Lynn Sr. Quickly locked his phone with a radiant blush in his face, he honestly couldn't even comprehend how his wife could still contain this amount of libido at their age, not that he was complaining one bit, but he also remembered that their priority at the moment were their kids, fun would come after that, so he decided to watch at Lincoln's state one more time at the counter.
They were now sitting at the table again, Lily had apparently borrowed some crayons from the kids table and was now scrabbling all over the wooden table, to his dismay, Lincoln was playing along and drawing something right next to her drawing.
- There you go, this is my character! - Lily announced proudly at her brother, a rough tracing barely imitating her young form in what seemed to be a classic super-heroine outfit was being shown in the table, as expected from a 5 year-old.
- Well, this is mine, check out for the awesome aura! - Lincoln then showed a slightly more competent drawing illustrating his old 11-year old self in an Ace Savvy-Inspired costume, remembering his roots as a comic book artist.
- Hey! That's not your character - Lily commented while looking at Lincoln seriously.
- What? Of course he is, he's the legendary Ace Savvy, alongside his trusted sidekick: One-Eyed Jack! - Lincoln accompanied his speech with a rough drawing of Clyde in his One-Eyed Jack outfit.
- Na-ah, that not your character, and that's not your sidekick! - Lily made a pout while closing her arms.
- Uhhh? Then who is it? - Lincoln was now curious at his sister's response.
- mmm… give me a piece of paper - Lily was now demanding in a serious tone, as in by reflex, Lincoln gave her a quick napkin that was found on a nearby table.
- Now please, turn around! - the youngest sister continued with her serious demeanor, making Lincoln obey on impulse and making his sense of curiosity get the best of him.
A few minutes passed without any other sound being made.
- Ok, you can see now Linky! - Lily proudly announced while laying the infantile drawing on the table for his eyes to see.
- Ok, let me che-
*Bzzzt*
A sudden alarm in the phone interrupted Lynn Sr. on keeping an eye on his Children, he quickly hid further into the kitchen to answer the message, which was most assuredly coming from his wife.
*Another thing Honey*
1:42PM
*Anything sweetheart :)?*
1:42PM
*It's probably for the best if we keep Lincoln and Lola separated for now*
1:43PM
The concerned father was about to inquire into the reasonings of his wife, but he didn't have the chance to as soon after the conversation started, Lily broke into the kitchen door, crying ferociously.
- What happened sweetie!? - Mr. Lynn exclaimed with shock in his voice.
- L-Lincoln yelled at me and stole my d-drawing, buahhhhhh! - Lily bawled while describing the event in her own innocent way, she then clung heavily to her dad's leg and cried uncontrollably.
- Lincoln did WHAT? - For an extremely low chance that it could happen, the truth is, that Lynn Sr. was officially angry, like he had never been before, to his son of all people, a betrayal of trust had just happened, his only son had never before hurt one of his precious daughters, he thought that the boy was literally incapable of doing so, he though that his behavior towards Lola had other explanations, but now, he was now holding his youngest and most fragile daughter, from the hurt that his own son had caused.
Suffice to say, he was going to give him a piece of his mind right now.
- Lincoln Marie Loud, I want to know what ding darns exactly happen-
The furious patriarch halted his speech upon realizing that…
…Lincoln was gone.