AN: Honestly surprised people responded to the Haiku thing as positively as they did. It was a cute little idea I thought up in the planning stage for that particular scene, and I threw it in because I thought it'd be funny. Happy to know it landed as well as it did.
Guest: Glad to hear you're enjoying the story. Those were some of my favorite chapters to write, so its always nice to see that they're landing with readers. I feel justified in taking a degree of artistic license with the behaviors of these characters because they're all much older in this story. All of them are far removed from the snapshot of their lives that is the actual show, and all of them, Lincoln included, have gone through major life changing events in this timeline. That said, yeah, there are things I could have done better with regards to Haiku. Hindsight is 20/20, sometimes you map a concept out in your head and you can't quite stick the landing when you try to execute it.
As for the tone of the story, it was bleaker initially, that was on purpose. At the onset of the story, Lincoln was relatively alone, estranged, isolated in a world where he didn't feel like he belonged. As the story has progressed, he's formed connections, started repairing bonds that he thought were long lost. He has something of a proper support structure in his life again, and a semblance of the family that has been missing from his life. The tone is lighter because Lincoln is reconnecting with his world as much as he is with his sisters. Whether or not I'm actually pulling that off, that's the intended progression for the story. It's not going to be all sunshine and daisies going forward, but the story is ultimately supposed to be an uplifting one, because that's the kind of thing I like to write. Also I pretty much exclusively write comedy, so that should be expected :)
Kamen Rider Ranger: Thank you. It's incredibly gratifying to hear when my silly stories manage to give people a brief reprieve from their real life stuff. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the chapter, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story going forward.
JRC1700: Umbra is a super hero. She's just the spooky kind, not unlike characters like Raven, or Cloak.
qazse: Lucy was extremely good at hiding even when she was just a cute little goth girl, and now she has nearly a decade of experience and shadow powers under her belt. She's really good at what she does :)
Lori opened her eyes and found herself amazed by how refreshed she felt. Academically, she knew that this was the function of sleep, one went to bed tired and awoke with more energy than they went to sleep with. This is what allowed people to live their daily lives. And she knew for a fact that at one point in her life, long before she became a full-time superhero, that she would engage in this cycle on a regular, if not daily basis. As with most things, however, circumstances changed once she grew up.
As a hero Lori had responsibilities. To the people under her protection, to her fans, and, unfortunately, to the shareholders whose funding ensured that Lori could continue to do her job without worrying about where her next meal would come from, or whether she'd be able to pay rent that month. Balancing her moral responsibilities against her business obligations was a challenge, to say the least. Lori had fought alien warlords, been munched on by all manner of horrifying monstrosities both terrestrial and extra, and on one occasion had been forced to have lunch with a sentient, omniscient burrito who was way too interested in her family life. And yet, photo ops, new product rollouts, and public relations management still managed to rank among the most unpleasant things she'd been forced to experience.
Lori would often find herself laying awake at night, endlessly worrying about...everything, really, her mind racing, calculating, formulating. She'd seen far more sunrises than she'd cared to admit, each one bringing that tiniest sting of defeat with it. The loss of sleep wasn't a problem, not a very big one at least. Lori's powers allowed her body to store more mundane forms of energy, such as electricity, and convert them into an entirely new form of "cosmic" energy, identified as such because it apparently resembled the kind that had given her and her siblings their powers in the first place. As long she retained her charge, she was capable of all sorts of superhuman feats, which seemed to include not getting tired, physically at least. But the stress still wore at her. And even more than that, the rising sun often served as a painful reminder that for all her power, Lori Loud, the Luminary, had very little control over her own life.
And yet, here she was. Absolutely no memory of what had transpired between crawling into bed the previous night, and waking up. More than that, she felt...energized! Alive! Lighter than...air?
Lori glanced down as that thought crossed her mind, and sure enough, found that she was floating several inches above the mattress. She was also glowing, in the literal sense of the term, her body emitting a soft luminescence. Lori took a deep breath and focused, gently lowering herself back onto the bed. That was embarrassing. Power incontinence was a common enough occurrence among metas, particularly young or inexperienced ones, but Lori was neither of those things, having mastered her powers long ago. A quick glance around, and Lori was able to breathe a little easier. She was alone, nobody around to see her shameful little display. At least, she'd hoped neither of them had seen her like that. Lynn would undoubtedly tease her unmercifully. And Lincoln, well...
Memories of the previous night slowly trickled into her mind. Short, fragmented flashes, but they were enough. Lincoln's heart beating in her ear. His arms wrapped tightly around her waist. His breath brushing against her cheeks—
"Gah!" Lori shot up in bed and leaped to her feet, landing several feet away from the bed and the awful, sinful secrets it held. "Get it together, Lori!" She scolded herself. She'd enjoyed last night more than she'd had any right to, even the parts that came before those...other...parts. But this was only going to work if she maintained control of herself. She couldn't let a little thing like spooning with her estranged little brother get her so flustered. It's not like she'd wanted to squeeze into his tiny, tiny bed with him, after all. There were...circumstances that had called for it. Logistics. Safety concerns
Lori let out a loud moan of delight as Lincoln shoved his face into her cleavage, his touch causing ripples of pleasure to reverberate throughout her body. She tightened her grip on her brother, holding him in place, silently imploring him to go further—
"Time for breakfast!" Lori announced to the empty room, shaking off the memory that had gripped her so suddenly, and so fiercely. It was then that she noticed she was glowing. Again. "And maybe a cold shower."
One quick shower and a change of clothes later, and Lori was ready to face the day. After a little more internal coaxing, that is. While Lori'd had the opportunity to rush back home the previous night and grab a few things, her lifestyle didn't often afford her the opportunity to wear civilian clothes. Hero work, social functions, and the various business dealings her estate was involved in called for Luminary, not Lori Loud, and because those things occupied so much of her time, she tended to go from sleepwear, to her costume, and then straight back to sleepwear in order to prepare for the following day, wherein the cycle would repeat. For this reason, Lori owned a wide variety of pajamas in various styles, but actual, non-superhero clothing had become increasingly sparse over the years. That, combined with her continued reluctance to leave Lynn alone with Lincoln for...various reasons, hadn't left her a lot of time to get her affairs in order. She'd ended up stopping by one of her secondary residences, a small building where she leased an apartment. The nature of Lori's job as a superhero could potentially require her to be nearly anywhere at a moment's notice, and so Lori maintained a number of such residences, both on and off-planet, where she could crash if need be. Some, like this particular apartment, had a secondary purpose of being paid for anonymously, for those times when the world wasn't in danger and Lori desperately needed some time to herself. The upside was that it was close enough to Lincoln's apartment that she could be there and back within only a few minutes, even while flying at a reasonable speed. The downside was that she was forced to make do with what was already stored there. Toiletries weren't a problem, as a public figure Lori needed to look her best at all times, and she made a point of stocking all of her hideouts with those essentials, as well as extra costumes and her delicates. As far as actual clothing went, she'd been forced to take a gamble. All in all, she supposed the selection could have been worse.
Lori's options had been rather limited, especially once she'd ruled out a rather risque swimsuit she'd once worn for a charity photoshoot, something she could have sworn she'd ordered to be disposed of after the fact. From what little else remained, the best she could salvage was a complimentary t-shirt she'd received as part of a licensing deal with Ultra Cola. It was several sizes too large, but was mercifully bereft of anything too embarrassing, merely displaying the Ultra Cola logo, a jagged lightning bolt wearing a pair of bottle-cap sunglasses, and the name of the flavor she'd lent her name to; Luminary's Light. As she inspected herself in Lincoln's mirror, trying to arrange the oversized shirt to minimize how frumpled it looked, she made a mental note to check with her PR firm and find out if Ultra Cola had ever solved that issue of the experimental food coloring that gave the beverage its signature glow getting into the drinker's bloodstream and turning them into human night lights. As far as she knew, the effects were temporary, and nobody had actually filed any lawsuits yet (on the contrary, the soda was doing gangbusters. Apparently her die-hard fans were delighted to have the opportunity to become a little bit more like their favorite hero), but it seemed like the sort of thing she should keep an eye on, just in case.
Lori hadn't had as much luck when it came to covering her lower half. According to her financial advisers, Lori's legs were considered to be a multi-million dollar asset, with their value making up a considerable portion of her viability as an investment opportunity, and as such Lori had been strongly discouraged from owning anything she could wear out of the house that might interfere with her marketability. She hadn't so much as touched a pair of shorts in years, let alone pants. As she looked herself over in the mirror, noticing that her shirt flowed down past her waistline, but stopped just above her knees, functioning as sort of an ad hoc skirt, she briefly toyed with the idea of just going out as she was. She was decent-ish, after all. She knew that Lincoln typically didn't have company over during the week, at worst she'd just have to deal with Lynn, who'd give her a hard time no matter what she wore, and possibly Stella. It was decent enough attire for wearing around Lincoln's place, probably.
She pictured Lincoln stealing a glance at her as she passed him by, hoping for the opportunity to catch a glimpse of her shapely thighs. She'd forgive him, of course. Lincoln had always been a good boy, and now he was an even better man. He would only succumb to those base instincts after a desperate, internal struggle, one which he was destined to lose in the face of Lori's overwhelming presence. What kind, caring sister could hold something like that against her favorite brother? Instead, she'd reward him for his diligence. Innocently knock something over, then, while in full view of her attentive brother, lean right over to pick it up, "accidentally" giving him a gander at—
"Pajama bottoms it is!" Lori shrieked to the still empty room, her voice several octaves higher than usual, her heart racing as she fought down the surge of emotion that was coursing through her. She wondered if there was still time for a second, even colder shower.
"Bout time you got up." Lynn scoffed as Lori emerged from the hallway and into Lincoln's living room. She was lounging on Lincoln's couch, the tv remote in one hand and a large pitcher of a thick, viscous liquid in the other. Lori's eyes quickly darted around the room, taking in her surroundings, then settled on her younger sister, her lips flattening into a thin frown, her good cheer quickly evaporating.
"It's only..." Lori glanced towards Lincoln's kitchen, spying the display on his microwave. "Ten o'clock? Alright, yeah, that's pretty late for me. But you probably sleep in much later."
"I do." Lynn agreed, taking a swig from her beverage. "But today I woke up with the friggin sun going off only inches away from my face. Made it impossible to get back to sleep, so I moved out here. Thanks for that, by the way."
Lori winced, heat blossoming in her cheeks. Apparently, her little light show hadn't gone unnoticed. She hoped Lincoln hadn't been bothered by it. Speaking of which...
"Where's Lincoln?" Lori asked, scanning the apartment a second time. Not that there was much point in doing so, it wasn't a particularly large living space.
"Out." Said Lynn, turning her attention back to the tv. "It's a school day, so he's gonna be in class for most of it."
Lori's shoulders sagged. Even she was surprised by how hard her mood had shifted after hearing that news, but her little brother was gone and it was hard not to be disappointed. She'd been ready to try and properly patch things up with Lincoln, figure out how she could start being there for him...as a sister, obviously, try to start making up for lost time. But he was gone, and now she was left alone with her rapidly building anxiety over a problem she couldn't punch her way out of.
"You just gonna keep standing there or what?"
And also, Lynn was there. Hurray.
"Just...thinking," Lori muttered, massaging her throbbing temples. She wasn't going to allow herself to get upset. Good sisters didn't blow up their brother's apartments twice in the same week.
"Well quit hovering there in the hallway, it's weird." Lynn jerked one thumb towards the kitchen. "Linc made breakfast before he left. Said he'd put some aside for you." Lori nodded tersely at Lynn and headed towards the kitchen, giving the couch a wide berth. Whatever the sporty Loud was drinking, it smelled weird and it burbled on occasion. Better to keep her distance.
Crossing into the kitchen area, Lori found a small plastic container with a sticky note on the lid. "Lori", it said, in her brother's small, slightly lopsided handwriting. Funny how that had stayed the same even after all this time. Lori wasn't expecting much, feeding an unexpected guest couldn't have been very high on Lincoln's list of priorities, and she was happy that he'd made the gesture at all. So much, in fact, that she was decided she was going to eat whatever it was her brother had prepared for her, her nutritionist's "dietary suggestions" be damned. Her mind made up, Lori grabbed the contained, deftly removed the lid...and smiled.
"Hard boiled, for Lori." Recited Lincoln's 10-year old voice in her mind, a memory long forgotten under the sheer weight of her adulthood responsibilities. There, in two orderly rows, were eight hard boiled eggs. Soft, pristine, and not a trace of shell to be seen on the glistening pale exteriors of the little morsels. Just like Lori liked them. It was such a simple thing, but the fact that Lincoln still remembered her favorite breakfast meant so much to her. There was a part of her that just wanted to stand here, admiring this small, tangible representation of the bond she still had with her brother—
GROWL
—but even in her dazed, delighted state, she realized that would be really weird. Plus, she was actually really hungry, and the eggs looked good. It'd be a waste to not eat them.
"No breakfast for you?" Lori asked, plopping down on the couch alongside Lynn, her container of little eggy treasured tucked protectively under one arm. She fished one out, popped it into her mouth, and forced herself to resist the urge to moan aloud. It was delectable. Lincoln had always known his way around an egg.
"Already had mine," Lynn replied, jiggling her pitcher. "This is a chaser. It takes a lot of fuel to keep this bod going, and while Linc tries his best, I'd eat him out of house and home if I let him properly feed me. So I've been sending out for my own stuff on the sly, and I Lynn said proudly. fill up when he's not around."
"That's...nice, I guess," Lori replied neutrally. The scent of Lynn's concoction wafter over to her. "Is there anything in there that isn't meat?" She asked, wrinkling her nose.
"I threw in some bacon this time."
"So...meat shake, got it." Lori shook her head in mild disgust. "Classic Lynn."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Lynn said proudly, puffing out her chest before taking another gulp of her shake.
"At least you're dressed now. Sort of." Lori remarked, giving Lynn a sideways glance. It was technically true, the younger girl now wore a pair of jogging shorts and a tank top. Perfectly normal attire for hanging around the house, if a tad more risque than was necessary. Of course, stretched across Lynn's gargantuan, curvaceous, frame, the ensemble was reduced to little more than lingerie, but it was a marked improvement from what she'd slept in.
"Please," Lynn scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I'm not going to take fashion criticism from the girl who flies around all day in what's basically a swimsuit and a cape."
"I'm just playing the PR game!" Lori protested, gesturing to her current, considerably more conservative attire. "We all do that on the job, playing to the audience is part of the whole...hero...thing. It's totally different when it's on your own time. Especially when you're rooming with your brother, who has to see all the...you, on display!"
Lynn pursed her lips, and looked back at Lori.
"Maybe he's the audience I'm playing to." She said, softly. "Maybe I want him to see me. Ever think about that?"
Lori opened her mouth, hoping a snappy retort would come out, but nothing came. Instead, she grabbed two of her eggs and shoved them in her mouth.
"Just how long are you going to be here for, anyway?" Lynn asked.
"I took a personal day," Lori replied once she'd vented enough of her frustration on her delicious breakfast to be able to speak again. "I need to be here to approve the work order when they show up to fix Lincoln's wall."
"So...you're telling me I'm stuck with you, until they get here, or Lincoln comes home?" Lynn said, slowly.
"Pretty much,"
"Fantastic," Lynn grumbled, thumbing the tv remote with enough force that the plastic squeaked audibly. For once, Lori found herself fully agreeing with the sentiment.
It was going to be a long day.