Chapter IX: Ever Just the Same
THUMP!
The sudden, urgent sound made Luan wince, jerking away from the book she'd been reading (or at least, trying to read).
Since they'd woken this morning, the Loud family's castle-hijinx had only gotten louder. Luan took it as a sweet sign they were feeling much more comfortable around her fearsome-looking (though deep-down adorable) friend, although it did make it all the more difficult to seek out one of only a few remaining quiet spots.
Luan wasn't usually bothered by loud noises. In fact, she welcomed them. From the moment she was born, her world, for better or worse, was a whirlwind of chaos. Someone was always doing something, or shouting at someone. The fact that her family practically lived out of their trusty Caravanzilla, constantly speeding along from place to place, only made things even more hectic. It was nice to have a familiar place to crash for once.
There were plenty of times when she fretted over Benny, though. Where her life was all nuisance and noise, his had been silence and stillness. And though she'd made pretty decent strides trying to bust him out of his shell with her furious onslaughts of pranks and puns, it quickly became clear to her that the boy simply possessed a rather shy and introverted nature.
Plus, she knew by observation that his hearing was far more sensitive than hers, probably due to his cursed, animalistic traits. If he was keen enough to pick up on the sound of her lightest, tip-toed footsteps in a room containing twelve other extremely loud Louds, the noise levels they were currently reaching were probably akin to someone repeatedly smashing a grating pair of symbols only a few centimeters away from his ears.
What really touched her was the way he kept going through it all. Just over the course of yesterday alone, she'd seen him playing a game of catch with Lynn Jr, building a blanket fort with the twins, playing the tambourine during Luna's midday jam session, being a test subject for Lisa's questionable experiments, and listening intently to Lori and Leni's relationship drama.
All without a single complaint.
Luan could've sworn this boy was a saint. Her family, she knew, was hard to keep straight and even harder to keep up with. But he was genuinely making an effort, and she admired him for that.
He'd won over her heart for sure.
If there was anything she could do to make it up to him for all of that, then ding-dang-darn it, she'd do it. She'd made more than a few attempts to keep her family's noise at a manageable volume, which was in all essence a lot harder than it looked. Sometimes, she'd distract her siblings (even once going to one of Lola's dreaded tea parties) to allow her sweet friend a moment or two of peace.
And of course, there was what she was currently doing, which was attempting to decipher the jargon-infested magic spellbooks Lisa had been perusing. Luan doubted that she would figure out anything Lisa couldn't (or even just anything in general), but if there was even a chance she'd pick up on something crucial that Lisa had missed, then this comedienne was willing to risk the hours of boredom and pages of crowded letters that came with it.
Why couldn't she just fix a curse with something simple, like a comedy routine? For the love of cream pies, was that too much to ask for?
Apparently so.
"Is everything all right?" Luan shouted, concerned about the ominous thumping and bumping that had come from the floor below.
"It's all cool, luv!" Luna's voice yelled back. "Lana, Lola, and I were just playing a game of keep-away with Lisa's dictionary, but accidentally dropped it on the floor. Apparently seven-year-olds don't have the best hand-eye coordination. Who knew?"
Luan cracked an affectionate grin at their shenanigans. She wouldn't have minded joining them, if not for the much more pressing issue on her plate.
Her eyes flickered back to the gibberish written in the book, trying desperately to pick out a single word she could understand without having to consult the English-to-magic-jargon dictionary Lisa had started constructing, Aside from a little doodle of a frog in the margin, however, she had nothing.
But she had to keep on trying. Because this was for Benny's sake, and she knew the time left to break the spell was dwindling by the day. She'd snuck in a quick trip to the attic yesterday, only to discover to her horror that two of the lily's petals were long-gone, and a third was already starting to violently tremble.
Now she was really starting to worry. And when Luan worried about something, she worried nonstop. No breaks in between her racing thoughts, not even to use the bathroom.
Her motivation restored, Luan returned to the books.
Thirty minutes passed without any interruptions. Then an hour. Then two.
By now she'd perused so many boring pages that she'd lost nearly all of her will to live.
How did Lisa do it?
Sighing, she allowed herself a small break, letting her eyes meander around the room she'd claimed as her hiding place for the day.
She thought it might be a throne room of some sort, though what she assumed were thrones were more rubble than stone at this point. The red-gold carpets upon which Luan had curled up were dusty and moth-bitten. A suit of armor guarded the imposing spiral staircase in the corner, though he himself was missing an arm. Several holes in the wall and floor indicated that the room had once glistened with jewels, though they'd presumably been gouged out long ago.
Really, the only fully-intact object in the room was the old portrait on the wall. Luan, glad to stare at something beside spidery cracks and stone debris, examined it carefully.
The two adults in the picture, garbed in jeweled velvet robes and glittering, heavy-looking crowns, wore polite smiles, though Luan's comedienne instincts could tell the faces were probably forced. Only the third person in the portrait, a young curly-haired boy wearing a smaller crown, kept his expression genuine. From the way his shoulders slouched, his hands cradled his cheeks, and his eyes drooped, it was made hilariously apparent that the child had not enjoyed sitting still long enough to get his portrait painted. Royalty defying the odds and keeping it real–now that was something that got a chuckle out of her.
Although…there was something about those deep brown eyes and the mischievous glint they held that made Luan feel a bizarre sense of familiarity, of deja vu.
It struck her like a pie to the face. Was the boy…Benny? And were those his parents?
Her first thought upon realizing this now-obvious fact was, Hm. He was pretty cute as a kid.
Her second was about how upset the harmless image made her feel. Seeing her friend as he truly was, how he was supposed to be, was incredibly jarring. Especially when she thought back to how different he looked now.
She gave a jump at the sudden sound of a knock on the door. "Door's unlocked!" she said. "Who's there?"
"It's Benny."
Luan's face picked up the smile it had forgotten over the course of the last two hours. "Benny who?"
She met his eyes as he nudged open the door. Letting her eyes scan his form, she noticed that his fur was once again a disheveled mess, and one of the buttons on his jacket had come loose, hanging from only a handful of spindly white threads.
He thought for a moment, his eyes wandering skyward, before replying. "Is it Benny wonder I took so long to find you?"
Luan could feel a soft blush set her cheeks alight. "You've been looking for me?"
"Always. I was going to try to find you an hour ago, but then Lynn needed a goalie, so I stepped in there, and then Lisa needed help reaching the highest shelves and then…" His voice trailed off as he sank to the floor, releasing a breath as though it was the first time he'd been able to sit all day. "You have…too many siblings, Luan," he said through a yawn.
She gave a quick laugh. "Nonsense. I think eleven's the perfect number of kids. Except on game night, of course. You'd be surprised at how hard it is to find board games that can accommodate thirteen players."
Benny grinned. "I'll bet. So what have you been doing? Are you…" He chuckled as he gestured to the thick book she was gripping. "...Booked for the day?"
A good literary pun always cracked her up. "You know, normally I leave this kind of thing to the prose, but this time I've got a really good reason. See, Lisa and I are hoping that if we figure out how magic works, we might be able to figure out how to undo the curse. I'll admit this ol' noggin of mine usually isn't the brightest bulb in the room, but who knows, right? Maybe I'll be able to shed a little light onto the situation."
"Luan-" he started to say. Luan paid him no mind, her eyes locked onto the pages of the book.
She massaged her forehead with one hand, furrowing her brow at a passage of incomprehensible gibberish scrawled across the pages. "What the heck kind of language is this?"
"Luan," he repeated.
This time she let him finish. She watched as his ears flicked down and he scratched at the fur on the nape of his neck–the telltale signs that he was anxious.
"Luan, listen," he said with a sigh. "I know you're trying to help, and I lo…sorry, admire you for that, but I…I don't think that's going to work."
She had a sinking suspicion he was hiding something from her. Lifting an eyebrow, she asked, "And what makes you so sure?"
"I just…am."
Okay, yep, definitely hiding something. "That is not a satisfying answer." She put down the book and folded her arms across her chest, her serious gaze never straying from his. "You know you can tell me anything, right? Don't you trust me?"
"Of course I do!" he interjected. "It's just…this is my problem to deal with, and it's already a lost cause. Don't sweat it, Luan, I'm fine-"
Luan threw her hands in the air. "Of course I'm going to sweat it! I care about you!"
"There really is no convincing you, is there?"
Luan firmly shook her head.
Benny managed a tired, defeated-looking smile. "At least promise me you'll take breaks. I miss you."
Luan's face didn't know quite what to do. This creature was really infuriating her right now with his sneaky secrets, but the concern for her written as brightly all across his face as if it had been drawn by Lily's chunky crayons just made her cheeks want to blush even more.
She picked herself off the carpet and placed her hands between his. A bold move, perhaps, but Luan was in a bold kind of mood.
"I haven't given up hope on you just yet," she said. "And don't you dare even try to shake me. When I sink my teeth into something, I don't let go easily. I'm like a piranha."
She looked deeply into his dark brown eyes for a minute, then let her eyes roam across his nose, cheeks, neck, and jawline, searching for any traces of the silly, innocent boy from the painting.
She wondered what he would've looked like, in this moment in time, if he had been human. If the hands that now gripped hers tightly hadn't been covered in fur and barbed with claws, and if there were no horns atop his head.
She had no doubt he'd be pretty cute. Probably way out of her league.
Not that Luan Loud had much of a league to begin with.
Benny was the first to shyly drop their shared gaze. "I…guess I should let you get back to what you were doing. Sorry to interrupt you."
He started to slip his paws out of her hands, but she only gripped them tighter for one final squeeze before he left.
"Don't be a stranger, toots," she said with a wink.
She let him go, but couldn't seem to squash down the smile on her face when he gave her a wink in return. Not even when she heard the faint, familiar sound of little high-heeled footsteps racing down the hall.
…
Lola burst loudly into the lobby where the Loud siblings (sans Luan) were hanging out with a broad, almost manic grin stretching from ear-to-ear. "Oh my gosh, you guys!" she shouted. "You are never going to believe what I just saw."
"Well, don't leave us hanging, brah," Luna said, setting down her lute and looking at Lola with eager eyes.
"Spill it, sis!" Lynn Jr added. Normally, she wasn't the gossiping type, but when it came to the Stone Castle's oddest pair, she was willing to make a small exception.
The girls were, by Lisa's most precise calculations, ninety-three percent sure Benny and Luan had a thing for each other. Not one of them had missed the bright smiles they wore around each other, nor the subtle glances they sometimes exchanged from across the room. And the way he actually mustered up a genuine laugh at her puns? That alone practically meant they were soulmates. At least, according to Lori Loud, the self-proclaimed Literal Queen of Romance.
That was why they'd sent Lola on a little spy expedition. Just to, you know, be really sure. Lori knew Lola always came back with some quality information. For a girl who always walked around in heels, she was surprisingly stealthy.
Lori placed her pen neatly on the table and leaned forward in her chair, allowing herself to abandon the love letter to her sweet Bobby Boo-Boo-Bear for just a moment.
"Hang on, just gotta pause for theatrical effect," Lola said, slowly holding up a finger.
Lincoln rapped on the table. "Dang it, Lola! Just tell us the news already!"
Lola pouted. "Ugh. Link-keee, you ruined my dramatic tension-building scene!"
Nine glaring faces greeted her, waiting for her to get over her little temper tantrum so they could get back to their important conversation. Lori made sure hers was the most intimidating of all. That was a special skill she'd had to learn as the oldest of eleven.
"Okay, okay, I'll tell you," Lola said with a dismissive wave. "It's a code pink!"
"A code what-now?" Lincoln said, his voice barely audible over the clamor of nine squealing girls.
"Um, hello," Lori said, trying to catch her clueless brother up to speed. "A code pink."
When Lincoln still didn't seem to register the meaning of their secret girl language, she rolled her eyes. "It means Luan has a crush."
"She was actually flirting!" Lola added.
This prompted another round of excessive cheering.
Lincoln cocked his head. The expression on his face was the only skeptical one in the whole room. "Luan?" he repeated.
Lori could understand her brother's disbelief. She wouldn't have guessed it, either, if she hadn't seen it so clearly with her own eyes. Luan wasn't normally the flirtatious type. Given her strange obsession with whoopee cushions, it was pretty safe to assume she was the kind of person who was better with matters of the farts than with matters of the heart.
But the sisters' super-secret spy mission had revealed what was perhaps a different, more romantic side to the peculiar comedienne.
By now all of the girls' squeals had died down, allowing them to fully grasp their only brother's doubtful face.
"I'm sorry," he said, running a hand through his mane of white hair. "I just don't get it. Am I missing something?" He raised an eyebrow. "Who's her crush?"
Lori facepalmed. She'd forgotten how dense Lincoln was when it came to romance.
"Are you literally kidding me right now?" Lori asked, getting up from her seat and grabbing him by the shoulders. "She likes Benny, you numbskull."
A few of the girls nodded in agreement.
"It's like, super obvious, brah," Luna added. She reached down to strum a few lazy chords on her lute before adding, "Haven't you picked up on any of the signs?"
"Uh, like what?" Lincoln asked.
He was clearly beyond help at this point.
"Uh, you know, the way she always smiles when she's around him," Lori said.
"The prolonged eye contact was a dead giveaway," Lucy added with a nod.
"Her heart rate certainly escalates," Lisa agreed.
"Plus, she totes laughs at like, all his jokes," Leni agreed.
"Well, that last one might just be because they have the same lame sense of humor," Lincoln pointed out.
"Aaand," Lola jumped in, ignoring her brother. "While they were talking just now, she was actually holding his hand! And you all know these beauties don't lie," she added, pointing to her big, sapphire-blue eyes.
"Yeah, I still don't believe you," Lincoln said. "You said that girl Ronnie Anne liked me, but when I tried to kiss her, she gave me a black eye instead. It hurt for months," he added with a glare.
"And I still think she would've kissed you if we hadn't had to pack up and leave so quickly!" Lori cried. "I'm telling you, when a girl teases you like that, it means she likes you!"
"Yeah, no," Lincoln argued.
"Forgive him, eldest sibling," Lisa cut in. "You may have failed to notice that unlike the sizeable majority of us, he is male, and is thus more likely to be absurdly obtuse when it comes to phenomena such as this."
"You may be onto something there, Lis," Luna said. She stood up, using her toes to gently nudge her lute into the corner of the room where it would be safe from any stompy little Loud feet. "Okay, by a show of hands. How many of you dudes think Luan's got a thing for the beast?"
Nine hands shot straight up. Even Lily, squirming in Leni's arms, reached her tiny fingers toward the ceiling. She blew a raspberry at Lincoln, the only one with his hands still low at his sides.
"Ha! Looks like you're outnumbered, bro," Luna said, grinning as she shaped her still-raised hand into a classic rock 'n' roll salute.
Lincoln shook his head. "Yep. I'm used to that."
"Well, the rest of us are all in agreement. Sick," Luna said through a smile.
Lynn Jr tilted her head to one side. "Yeah, but, I still think we need to address the elephant in the room."
"Indeed," Lisa said. "Lori, rest assured that your pachyderm status does not go unnoticed."
"Hey!" Lori shouted, shooting Lisa a steely, I'll-be-sure-to-twist-you-into-a-pretzel-later glare. Just because she'd scarfed down the entire bag of bean chips Rita had brought back from the market yesterday in only one sitting didn't make her an elephant, for goodness sake.
"No, I mean the other elephant in the room," Lynn clarified, pulling a tennis ball out of the pocket of her red jacket and absently tossing it into the air. When her siblings looked at her with bemused expressions, she continued: "I mean, we're all thinking it. Benny's a cool dude, but, like, he's not the most…er…attractive baseball in the playing field, if you get my drift."
"I think he's great!" Lana said. "He doesn't even care if I wipe my boogers on the castle wall. And, just this morning, he said I could keep any of his shedded fur I found lying around." She pulled a sizable fistful of brown fluff out of her pocket, and held it up for her siblings to observe.
None of them were very impressed.
"Cool, right? I figure in about three days, I'll have enough of this stuff to make a really awesome fake mustache!" She pocketed the fur and touched a thoughtful finger to the tip of her chin. "Or should I go for six days and make a bracelet instead?"
Lori shuddered. "Lana, gross." Looking around at the other, more civilized siblings, she said, "I won't deny that Luan's choice in a romantic interest is…strange, to say the least. But she seems really happy with him, and shouldn't that be the only thing that matters?"
Luna nodded sagely. "The heart wants what it wants, right? Besides, she didn't judge me when I fell for Sam," she added, blushing vividly at the thought of her girlfriend.
"Or when I fell for Edwin," Lucy said.
"Or even when Leni had a crush on that mannequin," Lynn added with a grin.
"Exactly," Lori said. "I think we should try to support her as best we can. That's part of the Sister Law, after all."
"That goes for honorary sisters, too!" Lola exclaimed, throwing an arm around Lincoln's neck and tugging him in close.
Lincoln simply frowned, apparently not a fan of bearing the title, 'honorary sister.'
"So…do you think he likes her back?" Lucy's quiet voice piped up.
The nine girls exchanged a look.
"Personally, I think so," Luna said.
"Probably," Lola agreed.
"Maybe?" came Lana's reply.
"I still think you're all out of your minds," Lincoln said. "Luan doesn't do romance."
"Yeah, yeah," Lori said with a roll of her eyes. "You say the same thing about yourself, but we all know you're still sweet on Ronnie Anne."
"I do not like Ronnie Anne!" Lincoln protested. His cheeks were stained red as he tossed his exasperated hands high in the air. "I've learned my lesson when it comes to romance. If you're all going to make wild claims about Luan's love life, you'd better be willing to back it all up with strong, solid evidence."
"Well then, we'll prove it!" Lola said simply. She took the tiara off of her head and shined it on the sleeve of her elaborate pink gown until it was pristine and perfectly-perfect. "Stick with us, Linky-poo. You're in for a wild ride."
The nine girls rubbed their palms together with playfully devious grins.
"Operation Convince-Lincoln-of-Benny-and-Luan's-Secret-Feelings is a-go!" Lori shouted, ignoring Lincoln's protesting cry of "Hey! That's my line!"
The girls put their hands together in a circle, sealing their sister pact. Nine rallying cheers could be heard from all ends and middles of the Stone Castle.
…
Benny knew Luan's sisters were up to something.
Granted, he didn't know exactly what they were doing, but every now and then, one of them would lock eyes with another from across the room and they'd exchange a matching set of devilish-looking smiles.
If he was being honest, he was kind of scared. He may have been the one with the teeth and claws, but if all nine of them ever decided to gang up on him, he wouldn't stand a chance.
They didn't look like they were plotting to kill him, though. They mostly just seemed to be relaxing. Luna was gently strumming her lute. Leni had taken possession of his jacket and was currently sewing the wayward button back on with a spool of white thread. Lola was, for once, not arguing with Lana; the two were simply playing a calm game of checkers. Lisa had her nose buried in a book, as did Lucy, though every now and then the inventor would look up and surreptitiously whisper something to her brother, Lincoln, who was writing in a notepad. Lynn was playing a solitary game of wall-ball with her favorite red kickball, while Lori was rocking Lily to sleep.
It didn't exactly resemble a secret gathering of witches around a bubbling cauldron, but still, the looks they gave each other made him wonder if they had some sort of ulterior motive.
Which was why it caught him off-guard when Lori suddenly spoke to him, looking away from Lily's sleepy, half-lidded gaze and right up at him.
"Benny, can I talk to you about something?"
Lori, as Benny was well-aware, wasn't one of Luan's sweeter, friendlier siblings. Aside from the occasional tidbit of juicy gossip, which she confided in him to keep secret from Lola's alert ears, she didn't seem to want much to do with him. She did her own thing most of the time, and he was cool with that.
"About what?" he inquired.
"Well," she said sweetly, "My boyfriend and I just had a bit of a falling-out, and I was wondering if you could maybe offer me some advice. Just because, you know, you seem particularly interested in relationships."
Some of the younger sisters started nudging each other and smirking at Lori's mention of 'relationships,' though the eldest sibling herself only wore an innocent-looking smile.
The problem she told him turned out to be a really easy one to fix, almost as though she'd made it up completely on the spot.
In fact, she probably could've just come up with a solution herself, which made him question why she even came to him at all.
Was this woman just trying to weasel something out of him?
He thought about that for a good five minutes, until Lynn Jr asked him another question.
"So, Benny, you're a prince, right?" she asked, bouncing her kickball off the wall and catching it with little effort.
He nodded in response. "Yes, that's correct," he said, wondering why she was bringing that up.
"But if you're stuck in here because of the curse-thing, and your parents obviously aren't around, then who's running the kingdom?" Lynn tossed her ball high into the air again as she spoke.
Benny, of course, knew remarkably little about current affairs outside the walls of the Stone Castle. Though he could at least give her an educated guess. "I think it's my great-uncle now, maybe? Unless he passed it down to his son already. At this rate, I don't think the crown is making its way to me anytime soon. I'm only like, seventh or eighth in line. Or…was, anyway."
Lynn caught her kickball again and paused. "So if you married Luan, she wouldn't be in charge of a kingdom? That's a relief. 'Cause I don't trust that clown to be good with politics."
Benny's face and neck went red-hot at Lynn's casual innuendo.
Lisa picked up on this, looking up from her sprawling pages to squint at him curiously. "Interesting reaction," she whispered loudly, giving Lincoln a nudge. "Notice the increased capillary bloodflow around the subject's facial area." She gave Benny a sly look.
Lincoln nodded and wrote something down on the notepad.
Dang it. The Loud kids were definitely trying to get something out of him.
Surely they hadn't picked up on his crush on Luan.
Had they?
Come to think of it, he may have been a little more obvious about his affections for the comedienne than he would've liked. Considering the circumstances behind his curse, he probably shouldn't have hinted at them at all. Especially not to her.
But he just couldn't help it. Luan was just so sweet, and hilarious, and (yes) beautiful, but she seemed to be hopelessly unaware of it. Could you really blame a guy for wanting to tell her every day, in whatever subtle ways he could?
Getting ten meddling Louds involved was a whole different can of worms, though. And being a former comedian, Benny knew his cans of worms quite well.
Letting them, especially the littler ones, try to 'help' set any kind of romantic mood would probably be quite akin to trying to juggle ten flaming torches at once. He pictured countless cheesy candlelit dinners and awkward love ballads (courtesy of Luna, no doubt) in his future.
He knew, somewhere in that crazy beating heart of his, that he absolutely could not let Luan suffer the kind of embarrassment that would come with forced romantic antics. Even if it would mean getting to spend more time with her and dragging her away from those painfully meaningless spellbooks. He cared about her way too much for that.
Benny knew what he had to do. He put on the coldest, most unfeeling expression he could muster, lowered his head to hide the last bright traces of blush on his cheeks, looked Lynn Jr dead in the eyes, and said simply and forcefully: "I don't have a crush on Luan."
Despite his best theatrical efforts, Lynn didn't buy it. "Yeah, that's exactly what someone with a crush on her would say."
He facepalmed. "Well, then, what would someone who didn't have a crush on her say?"
"Doesn't matter, 'cause you totally do!" Lola sang. Then she turned to Lana with a raised fist. "Hey, I saw you move your piece two spaces instead of one! Gimme back my king!"
Lana, having been caught in the act, forked the checkers over with a shrug.
None of the other Loud children had paid much attention to the twins' little scuffle. They were all looking at Benny as though he was about to hand them all free jelly beans.
He shrank into the corner of the room, tucking his limbs and tail in tight and reaching up a paw to smooth down the fur on the back of his neck, which had started to stand on end. What he wouldn't give to have some sort of distraction from all these sets of prying eyes.
Luckily, about thirty seconds later, he got a welcome break from the thunderstorm.
Luna's head jerked towards the staircase at the sound of someone descending from upstairs. "Look out dudes, here comes the sun," she hummed, playing a few upbeat chords on her lute.
Benny had to lay a hand on his tail to stop the traitorous thing from wagging. Then, he stifled a laugh as Luan, her nose still deep in that book, walked flawlessly down the stairs only to walk straight into the wall right as she reached the bottom.
"Note to shelf," she declared, closing her book and glancing around the room. "Never try to walk and read a book at the same time. That goes for you too, Lisa."
The inventor shrugged. "Guilty as charged."
"You finally came out of that cave, I see," Lucy said in a deadpan voice.
"Well, actually, I just have to use the bathroom." Luan stopped to brush a thick layer of dust off her cloak, eyeing it with utter disgust.
"Well, can't you stay for a while?" Lori said. "We literally haven't seen you all day."
"I'm actually starting to miss your pranks," Lynn agreed, walking across the room to take a seat on one of the chairs in the corner. A fart sound came from under the cushion, making her groan and roll her eyes. "Nevermind."
"I guess it couldn't hurt," Luan said reluctantly, her eyes darting across the room again. When her gaze fell on Benny, she winked. "What are you all doing, anyway?"
Nobody had a response ready until Lola cut in, flashing an overly-wide smile.
"Well," she declared, giving Luan a meaningful look. "Your petit-ami over here was just about to help me practice my reading." She pranced across the room to give Benny a pat on the head, as though he were just her innocent little puppy-dog.
Benny was about to say something or another, but Lola's suggestive little hint made him speechless all over again. He was grateful Luan showed no signs that she understood French.
The other Louds made themselves busy once more, picking up their books, balls, checkers, and lutes, though every now and then, one of them would look his way.
Relief washed over him when Lola returned with a book, plopping herself down into his lap with all her ribbons, ruffles, and lace. She didn't even seem to care that the claws that gently gripped the book's thin cover could tear her dress (and probably her face) to shreds.
Benny glanced down at the title. "Romeo and Juliet? Don't you know this one by heart by now?"
Lola nodded. "Yeah, but somehow I always want to read it again." She turned her head to give him a look, suggestively waggling her eyebrows. "Besides, I know romantic plays are your absolute favorites."
Oh, brother.
"Just so you know," Lola warned him. "You're probably going to need to help me with the big words. Also the medium words." She sighed. "Actually, probably all the words."
"I've got time," he assured her, carefully opening the book.
The brush of a familiar yellow cloak against his side made him look up and smile. "Make sure to go easy on him there, Lols," Luan said, running her hands through Lola's hair and giving it a quick tousle before reaching up to do the same to him.
His eyes followed her across the room, watching her sit down across from Lana and challenge her to a game of checkers. Seeing Luan look so relaxed, not nearly as high-strung and tense as she'd been this morning, made him smile.
"Now that is what a genuine crush looks like," Lola whispered in his ear.
He felt the blush creep its way back into his face, mixing with the slight twinge of a headache that was beginning to assault his temples, but did his best to ignore it. Maybe if he pretended it wasn't there, eventually it would go away and quit bothering him.
"Anyway, this is how the story begins…"
…
"Twuh-ooh?" Lola sounded out the word, tilting her head in confusion.
"Two," Benny corrected her gently.
Lola flicked her wrist in a dismissive wave. "Right. I knew that! Hou…house–households!"
"Yep, that's right." Benny gave her an encouraging smile, completely blind to the fact that Luan was watching him from her spot on the other end of the room, where she was playing (and winning!) a game of checkers against Lana.
She noticed with admiration how tenderly the boy held Lola in his lap, and how quiet his voice was as he helped her slowly struggle through the book. Truly, the idea of the creature with the horns, fur, and sharp claws somehow managing to be the gentlest and sweetest thing in the room never failed to make her laugh.
Although…she couldn't help but feel just a little wary. Not of him, but rather, the thing inside of him–whatever curse-laden force had caused him to turn on her and attack her that one night.
She had no idea when or if it would ever return, but the thought of putting any of her siblings in danger was enough for her to want to constantly keep a watchful eye on Benny. Any movement he made, even the quickest flick of an ear, was enough to catch her careful gaze.
"Hey, Luan," Lana's voice jerked her back to what she was meant to be doing, which was, of course, crushing her little sister to bits to get that sweet taste of victory. "The board's down here, y'know. Make your move already!"
Right. Luan recalled that she really ought to checker self before she blew her own cover. She didn't want her younger siblings to pick up on the other reason she kept glancing at Benny.
A meddling, category-five Sisternado was the last thing she needed right now, after all.
She moved a black checker across the board, capturing three of Lana's red ones in a single, graceful play.
"There goes your king, toots," she said with a smug grin.
"Dang it!" Lana cursed, slamming her fist down onto the table.
Luan only smirked in response, though it quickly became apparent to her that perhaps she was enjoying the accomplishment of beating a seven-year-old in checkers a little too much.
She studied the board as Lana made her next (most likely doomed) move, but was quickly interrupted when a familiar stench filled the room.
"Ugh, Lily!" Lori cried, setting Lily onto the floor so her hands were free to plug her nose. "Are you literally trying to kill us?"
Lily said nothing, though the malicious smile plastered across her face got her intentions across loud and clear.
Luna dropped her lute, rushing over. "I've got you covered, Lillster."
"No, I totes got it!" Leni interjected, letting go of her spool of thread.
"No, allow me," Lori said with a sigh. "I'm the oldest, and I'm pretty sure it's my turn, anyway."
While the three oldest siblings clamored over each other, it seemed the youngest Loud of the bunch, as usual, had plans of her own. Luan followed her littlest sister's clumsy, toddling steps as, to her wide-eyed surprise, Lily walked right up to Benny and tugged lightly on his sleeve. Benny's tail puffed up a little as he blinked down, clearly startled, at the youngest Loud.
The sudden, shocked hush that fell over the room was so silent that Luan was able to hear the soft tink! of Leni's sewing needle hitting the floor.
Out of all eleven siblings, little Lily had by far been the last to warm up to the unfamiliar Stone Castle and the odd-looking stranger within it. Now and then, she'd send a cautious glance Benny's way, but mostly, she continued to stay close to her older siblings. There had been countless times when Luan had nearly tripped as Lily insisted on burying herself deep within the protective folds of her sister's yellow cloak.
And, of course, no one could forget the sound of Lily's fearful cries upon her first meeting with Benny. The boy's soft and silly heart had no effect on her young brain. She had only managed to see the scary, cursed, beastly features.
Lynn Jr, as expected, was the one to break the silent spell, voicing the question that was on everyone's mind: "She wants you?"
Benny looked to be just as surprised as anyone else. Rubbing furiously at the back of his neck, he seemed to be at a temporary loss of words. "I…are you sure?" he questioned Lily.
Lily nodded timidly.
"But… I don't know how to-"
"It's alright, I can show you," Luan said, getting up from her chair with a swish of her cloak. "If you're up to it, that is."
"Believe me, I've handled way worse than a stinky diaper or two," Benny replied. He started to gently scoot Lola out of his lap, ignoring her mildly irritated pouting. "Besides, I wouldn't want to break the kid's heart."
That's good, because you're warming mine, Luan thought affectionately.
Lily continued to gape at Benny as Luan lifted her into her lap and guided her friend through the required motions.
"Kitty?" she whispered, her sky-blue eyes bright and puzzled.
Benny arched his eyebrows, shooting Luan an amused glance.
"Nope," Luan answered her sister with a faint smile.
Lily furrowed her brow and tapped a ponderous finger against her chin, clearly trying to make sense of what exactly this extraordinary creature was. She cocked her head curiously and studied him again.
"Puppy?" she tried.
Benny shook his head. "Not exactly."
Lily facepalmed, muttering something in her unique little baby language that sounded an awful lot like she was berating herself. She crossed her tiny arms with a frustrated grumble.
Luan gave a quick laugh. "His name is Benny. Can you say Benny?"
The baby seemed to consider that for a minute. She opened her mouth as though she was about to try the word, but then abruptly changed her mind, reaching her delicate fingers up high to tug at a loose strand of Benny's curly hair.
"Fluffy!" she declared, earning a genuine chuckle out of her big sister.
"Close enough," Benny said with a shrug, ducking his head to allow Lily to gleefully run her little fingers through his hair.
Luan fastened shut the last tab on Lily's new, clean diaper and lifted her into her arms. "There you go, toots." She gave Lily a peck on the cheek, which quickly turned into a long, silly raspberry that elicited a giggling fit out of them both. Setting her onto the floor, she continued: "And go easy on the sinister plotting, you little mastermind. We don't want you setting anything on fire."
"Luan! Shhhh!" Lily complained, wiping at her cheek before toddling away to observe Lynn's kickball, which had rolled across the floor.
"Oh, so she'll say your name, but not mine?" Benny said in mock protest.
"Give it time. It took her three months to get the hang of Lisa's."
"My elder sibling's statement, regrettably, is indeed accurate," Lisa chimed in, peering down her glasses at Lily, who was currently trying to stuff the entire kickball into her mouth.
"See, Benny? Nothing to worry about," Luan said, giving the boy a reassuring glance.
Benny didn't respond. Luan observed with a note of worry the way he was gritting his teeth as though he was in perpetual pain. She gave him a quick tap on the shoulder, which caused him to look at her, meeting her eyes with his own.
"Benny? Are you okay?" she asked.
"I…I'm fine," he said softly, though his tone wasn't convincing in the slightest. When Luan fixed him with her special learned-from-Lori-death-glare, he quickly continued: "Sorry. I get these….headaches sometimes." He got up from the floor and glanced at the door. "I think I need a moment."
Luan watched him disappear down the hallway with his tail tucked timidly between his legs. A moment later, she turned around to address her siblings, who were once again staring at her, watching this dramatic play unfold.
"I'm going after him," she declared. She sprang up from her spot on the floor and tugged the hood of her cloak tightly over the back of her head. "Can one of you take care of Lily's dirty diaper for me? I know it's kind of a crappy job, but someone's gotta do it."
"Dibs not it!" all of the other girls shouted, touching their fingers to the tips of their noses.
"Dang it!" Lincoln cussed, having been left with the short end of the stick once again.
The matter at hand having been resolved, Luan turned tail and started down the hall herself, drawing her hood tighter over her head as her face flushed at Luna's snide comment:
"A dude and a chick alone in a room? That can only mean one thing, brah!"
…
Given how many doors there were in this castle, was it really a surprise it took Luan a solid five minutes to find her friend?
Not that she was keeping track, of course. That would be ridiculous, and Luan knew more than a thing or two about being ridiculous.
No, this comedienne had much more pressing issues on her noggin. Namely, figuring out what exactly was going on in her sweet friend's brain.
Was it really just a headache? Or was it–as she suspected–something else?
She knocked on every door she came across, sometimes twice, listening for a reply. Somewhere in the middle of the process, she lost count of which doors and hallways she had and hadn't checked, so she just had to do everything all over again. Though the second time around, she remembered to leave each already-checked door open just a crack, so she would know where she'd been before.
Eventually, though, as she delivered her trademark "Knock knock?" and usual series of three quick raps on the wooden surface, she received a quiet "Who's there?" from the other side of the door, just as always.
"You probably Luanticipated I'd come after you, didn't you?"
When she didn't receive a reply, she asked softly, "Can I come in?"
"Okay."
The first thing Luan noticed as she gently pushed open the door was that Benny looked tired. There was a strange look in his eyes and as he sat, his knees pulled close to his chest and his tail tucked tight against the side of his body, he cradled his cheeks in his paws just as she'd observed in the old picture of him hanging in the throne room. Apparently, some things never changed when it came to him.
She crossed the room to kneel beside him, not quite missing the way he subtly scooted back a few inches, as though he was afraid to get too close to her.
"Hey," she said, in that same gentle tone she used to speak to Lana whenever she needed comforting after a particularly bad nightmare. "Is everything okay?" Studying Benny's weary face with concern, she added: "You don't feel sick, do you?"
When he said nothing once again, she pressed her palm to his forehead, wincing as it came away hot. "I'm no doctor, but I think you might have a fever."
"No, you're just hot." Perhaps realizing the implications of what he'd just said (which sent a light blush fleeting across Luan's cheeks), Benny quickly amended himself. "Warm. You…you're warm. The room's warm." He pulled at the collar of his shirt. "I'm warm."
Luan picked up on an odd note in his voice. There was something he wasn't telling her.
"Did my siblings wear you out?" she guessed.
He surrendered a weak smile. "Nah. They definitely keep me on my toes…or, whatever you'd call these things." He paused briefly to gesture to his wolfish feet. "But it's nice having someone around. They're all pretty awesome."
"Even Lynn? I know she can go a little nuts with that baseball bat sometimes."
"Even Lynn."
"So what's the matter, then?" she pressed. She reached out her hand again to tenderly touch his shoulder. "You don't have to hide from me. Comediennes are remarkably good at keeping secrets, y'know."
He hissed, baring his teeth as her skin made contact with his, a gesture that sent her heart leaping into her throat as she flinched and pulled away. She was instantly reminded of that fateful night–the one on which he'd lost control of his mind and almost-
"That's the problem, Luan," he said, shaking his head as though he was trying to clear something out of it. "The curse is getting worse. Every time those petals tremble, so do I. There are times when I think-" He hesitated, and Luan got the impression he was going to say something painful.
"Sometimes I think…maybe you and your siblings should leave. I don't want any of you around if I…"
Poor thing, Luan thought with a stab of pity. He was trying so hard–and she was, too–but, ultimately, they were still the star-crossed victims of whatever force was stopping them from breaking the spell. She wished there was something she could do or say to make everything go away.
Because she cared about him. As much as she tried to hide it from herself (and especially her siblings), it was obvious. He made her laugh and smile so much, and she wanted nothing more than for him to always be laughing and smiling, too. She wanted to be his sunshine, to be there to chase all those dark and stormy clouds away from his castle.
"Can I give you a hug?" she asked.
"...I don't know if that's safe-"
"I don't care," she said forcefully, pulling him into her arms for a tight embrace. "I may not be an animal whisperer like Lana, but when I see a cute fluffy thing in need of cheering up, I go all in."
Benny made an attempt to pull away from Luan's grasp, but soon enough, he seemed to realize that she wasn't letting him go without a fight, and hesitantly returned her hug. She felt the tension along his spine and neck relax, felt his body melt into that soft, sugary sweetness she knew he kept inside.
Lily had a point, after all. The boy really was pretty fluffy.
"You are either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid," he told her.
"Why can't I be both?"
"I mean it, though," he said sternly. "You really shouldn't be this close. You and your siblings."
Luan begrudgingly let him slip out of her arms. "But they love you," she argued stubbornly. "It'll break their hearts if you send them away. It'll break mine," she added. "We like it here, and I think you need us, too. I don't want you to be all alone."
"But what if I-?"
"Listen," she cut him off. "If it gets really bad, we'll go, okay? But I want to stay as long as I can. I trust you to keep yourself you around them, and to let me know when you can't so I can keep them away. Is that a fair deal?"
"Alright," he agreed.
She offered a slender hand for him to shake, but as he did, a familiar current of electricity zapped through his veins and puffed up his fur.
"Gotcha!" Luan chirped, revealing the joybuzzer she'd pulled out from…somewhere (a comedienne never revealed her deepest secrets).
Brushing her hand along the back of his neck to smooth down the on-end fur (though she did consider the extra fluff to be particularly cute), she offered up a few parting words:
"Well, my siblings are probably wondering what I'm doing," she said. "You take all the time you need to recover, then come find me, alright?"
He nodded.
"And remember…Come what come may. Time and the hour runs through the roughest day." She beamed. "Macbeth. Act One, Scene Three."
She left the room with a quick swoop of her yellow cloak, though she couldn't help but notice that as she did, she left Benny with a small, shy smile on his face that hadn't been there before.
Her siblings, as expected, were packed tight around the other end of the door, eavesdropping on her private conversation. That probably should've ticked her off, but for some reason, she didn't really feel any negativity. Only sunshine.
Luna lifted a suave eyebrow as Luan approached. "Sooo…did you kiss him, brah?"
Luan was glad she was nowhere near a mirror, because her cheeks were probably turning a deeper shade of red than she would've thought possible. Where had her siblings gotten that sort of idea from?
Sure, she'd contemplated it once or twice…or maybe a lot more than that, but she wasn't quite sure it was a good idea to take that sort of risk. She couldn't even begin to imagine what might happen, or whether Benny harbored any sort of real feelings for her. She thought he might, but was she really going to chance it all on a thought?
Luan was an unpredictable spirit, sure. But when it came to things like this, she wanted certainty. She wanted to take the time to make sure it was okay.
Or maybe she just wanted to make excuses to hide her insecurities. She tended to do that a lot.
"No," she said, trying to feign nonchalance, but getting the feeling that she'd failed miserably.
"Did he kiss you?" Leni tried.
"No!"
She yanked up her hood and swept down the hall to find her spellbook, not wanting to deal with any of her siblings' annoying meddling. Sweet comic relief, crush drama was a lot funnier and more entertaining when it was happening to somebody other than yourself.
But try as she might, she couldn't quite ignore the thunderous storm of facepalms and the collective "Dang it!" that ensued.
…
The enchantress wasn't exactly in a good mood either.
In fact, she was positively fuming.
What was it going to cost her to get a certain mademoiselle comédienne to get over her ridiculous teenage awkwardness and confess her affections?
There had been at least a half-dozen moments where she'd almost done something, and then shyly held back, probably for trivial little reasons the enchantress didn't care about.
Honestly, there were a few times when she thought that little prankster might be a lost cause. Not nearly worth all of the time, effort, and coffee the enchantress had spent on keeping the castle free of any thieves and torches.
She'd already tazed two dangerously-curious villagers, wiped the memories of seven, and even managed to summon a skunk from an alternate dimension to give a couple a good spray.
There were a few times when she considered setting the whole ding-dang town on fire just so they wouldn't bother her with their ominous plotting.
Especially since she was running out of magic.
It wasn't exactly an infinite source, after all. In a way, it was like the yellow lilies clustered around the Stone Castle's door. If someone were to pluck a bunch of them, they'd have to wait quite a long time for more to grow back before they could do it again. Similarly, if the enchantress attempted too many complex spells, she'd have to wait weeks for her powers to bloom again.
And weeks would probably be far too late to do anything about the situation at hand.
It was very annoying.
So…what the enchantress needed was something quick and clever that could get the entire town distracted and out of her hair. Something that would keep their puny minds occupied on something other than the rumors about the Stone Castle.
That something also had to be a very subtle way to get those two remarkable idiots of hers on the right track. A little intervention on her part, but not directly.
The enchantress paced around through the Dark Woods, the way she often did when she needed to do some quality pondering. The darkness was creepy to most, but it had a soothing effect on her. She was kind of dark and creepy, too, after all.
And she thought. And thought. And yelled at her daughter when she stupidly tried to eat a trio of poison ivy leaves. And thought some more.
It didn't really do anything for her except give her a poison-ivy-induced rash.
Oddly enough, a decent idea struck her not when she was in her deep, dark happy place, but when she was in her most miserable place: the busy, bustling market in the middle of the day. The scorching sun beat down on her like a strict, shouting mother, yelling at her to do her chores or apologize for scaring the neighbor's kid with her voodoo dolls.
It was then that she saw it, right next to the stall where she was buying her beans (because spooky enchantresses needed to eat their vegetables too, after all). Nothing much, just a simple white mask and a couple of old multicolored beads on a frayed string, probably leftovers from some old carnival that had long since become only a rose-tinted memory.
But it gave her an idea.
A wonderful, sinister-palm-rubbing sort of idea.
...
A/N: Welcome back to the next thrilling installment of "author slowly and painfully forgets how to write short chapters because her brain is stuffed with enough plot bunnies to fill seventy-nine pet stores." I don't actually know quite how I ended up with this 9,000-word monster of a chapter, but I'm just going to roll with it. Call it a casualty of the creative process, I guess.
I've got some really awesome news to share! If you can remember back to a month ago, I mentioned in my author's note that someone mentioned my fic in a fanart they did on Instagram. Well, little did I know then that the same person who made that post had actually made fanart OF my fic. That's right, Sunshine and Yellow Lilies has officially inspired a piece of fanart! Mind. BLOWN!
Someone in the r/fanfiction community on reddit once described the feeling of first seeing fanart of your fic as being "Cloud 81," that is Cloud Nine times Cloud Nine. I'm definitely beyond ecstatic about it! My face has not stopped smiling since.
Everyone go and check out the user meilodramatic if you've got an Instagram account. She does a lot of Loud House fanart, including a lot of Luanny ship art. Of course when it comes to favorite art pieces done by her, I'm more than a little biased towards one in particular. :)
Seriously, I just cannot get over how amazing it is. Meilodramatic's art style is absolutely gorgeous and aesthetically pleasing, and there's so many sweet little details in the drawing that gave me the impression that this person wasn't just reading my fic, but actively paying attention to all of the little ways I described things. From the bright yellow lilies on the Stone Castle's doorstep to the hood of Luan's cloak, to the adorably curious-but-wary expressions on both characters' faces, the care and attention to detail is amazing. And while I never pictured Luan with a cute little ribbon in her ponytail like Belle wears in the actual Beauty and the Beast films, after seeing that fanart, I can't imagine her with anything else. It's just so adorable.
Sorry if this is getting a little long and mushy. Though the fanart's been out for a while now, I've only just discovered it two weeks ago (Classic me, always fashionably late. I swear I'm going to end up late to my own funeral one day.), and I haven't had anyone to gush about it with this entire time. It's just...getting your first fanart is kind of a pretty big milestone in the fanfic community, and it's actually probably one of the best things that's ever happened to me!
All of your reviews continue to be so sugary-sweet! All I can say is that I am one very happy Changeling.
I'll admit that my story's probably not everyone's cup of tea. At this point, I'm deviating very far away from the canon universe and style. But if you like it, I hope you've got a sweet tooth, because I serve my tea with a triple spoonful of fluffy sugar.
Almost done with my first semester of college, by the way. Funny how time goes by. Once I get off for December break, I'm totally going to try to crank out more words. Chapter ten's gonna be a doozy, I just know. The characters in the story aren't the only ones deviously rubbing their palms together.
Until then, take care of yourselves!