Post-meta Royal Woods could never be said to have been "quiet", exactly. It was part and parcel of everyday life that something was always going on somewhere, an unfathomable number of adventures ranging from the fantastical to the extra-ordinary, unfolding simultaneously and in rapid succession at any given time.
As such, it came as little surprise when the relative quiet of this particular day was abruptly shattered by the roar of an enormous armored vehicle as it tore its way through the city. The streets themselves function as little more than a suggestion as the multiple-lane wide behemoth took the most direct route possible to its destination, with any dissenting matter that got in its way quickly finding itself pulverized under massive, armored treads. The passage of the beast did not go unnoticed, as everywhere it went, innumerable camera emplacements scattered around the city whirred to life and turned their mechanical gazes upon the monstrosity. Contrary to what one might be tempted to think, however, this was not for the purpose of enforcing the law. Rather, each of these cameras had been installed on small, specifically designed plots of land that had been bought and paid for by various media outlets. The footage they captured would later be combed through by analysts, with the parts deemed usable to be dispersed for usage in various avenues of entertainment. A thousand mechanical eyes, silently watching. Waiting, for something truly spectacular (and marketable) to respond to the threat.
Such was the scene as Lori Loud found it, as she dipped down below the skyline, the trademark luminescent streak she left in her wake serving as a clear indicator that heroism was about to commence.
Squaring her shoulders, and adding a little extra oomph from her energy reserves, Lori rocketed earthward at the speeding vehicle, adjusting her trajectory to account for its speed. It was capable of surprising speed, given its size and density, but at the end of the day, it was limited by the fact that it was a large, extremely non-aerodynamic hunk of metal, a quality that no means of propulsion could ever hope to completely eliminate. Lori, under no such constraints herself, was capable of easily outpacing the beast by several orders of magnitude, but for her purposes on this outing, it was enough to simply match pace with the thing, and once she was close enough, she aligned herself with the roof of the vehicle, and anchored herself to it by ramming all ten of her fingers through its armored hull. Step one, complete.
Now that she no longer needed to worry about flying, Lori took one finger and charged it with energy until it was hot enough that she could feel the tell-tale warmth of the superheated air now being generated around the ionized digit blowing in her face. Nodding in satisfaction, she stabbed it back into the roof, and began to carve a large rectangle on its surface. It took a bit of on-the-fly fiddling to find the right temperature for seamless, uninterrupted carving, but eventually, she found herself with a pattern of acceptable depth and consistency. Nodding at her handiwork, Lori cocked her fist, gave the armored surface one last once-over—
WHAM!
—And punched clean through it, the roof giving way exactly to the outline she'd carved into it and no further. It was as clean a breach as she'd ever managed, quite the achievement. Pleased with her handiwork, Lori poked her head through the hole, prepared to announce her presence in a more formal manner...only to find herself staring down the barrels of half a dozen rifles.
"Ooooh..." She began, only to be abruptly cut off as her assailants opened fire—
PEWPEWPEWPEW!
—sending a torrent of crimson-colored beams rocketing directly at her now exposed face—
SCHLOOP
—whereupon they were harmlessly absorbed into her body.
"...KAY!" Lori finished. A little louder than was necessary, but it was difficult to make herself heard over the ongoing sound of laser fire. Slowly, but surely, the fusillade began to slow, until it had ceased entirely. Once the metaphorical dust had settled, Lori found herself face to face with a compartment full of well armored, and heavily armed men. A sight, which probably would have been a lot more intimidating, had it not been for the utter futility of their opening salvo. Uncertain how to proceed, Lori decided to give it a few more seconds—
"Aw crap, it's Luminary!"
—and exhaled, suddenly relieved. That was the response she'd been waiting for.
"That's me," Lori said, laughing good-naturedly as she tore the hole open a little wider and lowered herself further into the vehicle, glancing around to confirm her suspicions.
"Which means," She continued, taking in her surroundings."You'd better have something other than those blasters on hand. Otherwise, this is going to be a really short fight."
"We...uh..."
"Yes, you in the back." Lori pointed at one of the masked fellows towards the back of the cabin, as he slowly began to raise his hand.
"We were kinda expecting that Super Mandy'd be on duty today." He explained, shrugging helplessly. "And she's bulletproof. So we figured...you know, blasters would...probably be better."
"You may have taken that thinking a little too literally," The blonde superheroine deadpanned, rolling her eyes. "Because even Mandy's not lame enough to go down to a bunch of dime-store energy blasters. Seriously, did you spend your entire budget on the tank? I didn't even see any exterior weapons!"
"It...smashes stuff real good." Offered another one of the goons.
"Well..." Lori threw back her shoulders, effortlessly tearing off enough of the roof that she was able to comfortably slide into the vehicle's interior, and gently land on the ground. "So do I."
"Normally, I would have left it to the on-duty heroes to deal with this kind of thing," She continued, loudly cracking her knuckles, each pop causing the villains to put a little more distance between themselves and her. "But you guys pulled this little stunt way too close to something I really...really care about. So, I'm going to give you a choice."
Her eyes narrowed as she took one menacing step forward. "Either stop this heap. I, stop, YOU!"
Lori punctuated her ultimatum with a well-placed kick to the nearby wall, causing the vehicle to lurch upward on one side, only to crash back down as gravity played its hand. So forcibly, that it flung the vehicle up on its other side, locking the behemoth into a repeating cycle of constantly upending itself, until finally, its armored treads ground to a halt.
Lori floated there, cooly regarding the crumpled heap of minions, victims of the cruel toll physics had taken on their little joy ride, and awaited their response.
"We...surrender!" Squeaked an obviously pained voice from somewhere within the pile, which was immediately followed by a chorus of agreements in various states of agony.
"Smart choice," Lori replied. Her duty concluded, she squared her shoulders and once again rocketed into the sky, deliberately punching through a different section of the roof on her way out, just for good measure.
A hundred miles away, give or take, Lori gracefully floated into Lincoln's still open bedroom window, already disrobing from her hero outfit before she even touched the ground. The costume went into a garment bag, which was unceremoniously slid into her brother's closet, and then she set about quickly changing back into her civilian clothes. Giving herself a once-over, just to make sure everything was where it was supposed to be, Lori nodded in satisfaction and was about to proceed out into the hallway. However, she stopped herself, and after a moment of consideration, she removed her bra and flung it aside. Now, she was ready.
Lori slipped out into the hallway, careful not to let her feet touch the ground, and glided down the hall. Just as she reached the living area, however, Lori abruptly arrested her movement and flattened herself against the wall. Lincoln's apartment was theoretically a safe space. Given how frequently she and Lynn were around, it was arguably among the safest places in the entire city, possibly in the entire world. But one did not become a hero of her caliber, by blindly barging into a room. So, just to add that extra bit of caution that could make all the difference in the event that something nefarious had taken place in her absence, Lori leaned around the corner and scoped out the room.
Much to her relief, the place was more or less as she'd left it. Lincoln was sitting on the couch, his attention fully absorbed by a sheet of paper absolutely loaded with extremely small print type. In front of him, within reaching distance was the coffee table, upon which sat an assortment of writing tools, a stack of textbooks, an extremely dog-eared copy of Black's Legal Dictionary, and an absolutely massive stack of documents that, from this distance, looked almost identical to the one he was currently pouring over. There was a part of Lori that swelled with pride, seeing how diligent her little brother had remained in her absence. This was no small task he was assisting her with, and she would not have blamed him at all if he'd decided to take a break while she'd flown off. The fact that he hadn't, was almost certainly because of how much he cared about her, and that knowledge was incredibly humbling and heart-warming.
At least, it would have been, had Lori been in any state to process rational thought. Because at some point during her train of thought, Lincoln had pulled his nose out of the document he'd been pouring over, and she now found herself incapable of focusing on anything other than her brother's face. Or more specifically, what was on it.
Lori hissed internally, biting her lip in a desperate bid to make sure she kept the quiet part, quiet. Against her will, her fingers began to spasm erratically, digging deep gashes into the door frame she was so desperately clinging to, but the best she could manage was a mental note to reimburse Lincoln for the repair work before all of her remaining brain functions dedicated themselves to trying to regain control of her quivering body. Lincoln was wearing his reading glasses again. Small and unassuming, though surprisingly stylish, especially considering that as far as she could tell, the most dramatic fashion decision Lincoln had ever made was switching from wearing orange polo shirts every day, to wearing orange t-shirts every day. Nevertheless, he wore them well. Too well. That was the problem.
They were supposed to be study aids, so said Lincoln as he sat beside her, fidgeting in obvious embarrassment. Reading small-print documents was part and parcel of his pre-law classes, and when one added in footnotes and citations, pouring through appendices and subsections, it all added up to a lot of eyestrain, so Lincoln had preemptively obtained some eyewear to make the work a little less burdensome on his eyes. It was a smart, responsible decision. It also triggered something fiercely within Lori, to see her brother-cum-boyfriend looking so...studious...and...mature. Sorting out the exact nature of her feelings was difficult, she honestly still wasn't sure if she wanted to be the one keeping him after class, or if she wanted him to be the one teaching her a lesson. All she knew was that she wanted the subject of study to be anatomy.
Taking a deep breath (and absentmindedly pulling her top just a smidge lower), Lori quietly glided out from her hiding place, and slinked low along the ground.
"Lincoln is fragile" She reminded herself, as she swooped around and over the couch, her fingers dancing in anticipation as she loomed over her prey. "You need to be gentle with him!"
Lincoln was in the middle of attempting to parse a particularly ludicrous usage of "forthwith" when he was suddenly wrenched from both his seat and his work, and hauled into the air, steel beams encircling his body and pushing the air from his lungs. There was a brief moment of instinctual panic, but that was abruptly replaced by relief once he'd recognized the hug for what it was. Craning his neck back, and squirming a bit in place, he then found himself looking into Lori's beaming face.
"Hey," He greeted her, puckering his lips expectantly.
"Hey yourself," She replied with a mischievous giggle, meeting his lips with her own in a brief, chaste kiss. Before Lincoln could say anything further, however, Lori's head darted forward a second time, and the younger Loud found himself wincing as the bridge of his nose was suddenly subjected to a short, sharp spike of pain. When he opened his eyes again, the vision in his left eye was noticeably blurrier than that of his right.
"Did...did you just kiss my glasses?" He asked, incredulously.
"Nope." Came Lori's quick reply. Too quick, as it were. Even so, Lincoln chose to drop the subject as Lori placed him back on the couch and floated downward, sitting herself down next to him. There were so many stranger aspects of their relationship that he'd already come to accept as normal, whatever that was, most likely wouldn't even make the top ten.
Once again Lori's arms encircled his waist, though this time leaving his arms free. And being accompanied by the pleasant sensation of the older girl's body pressing against his own. Forgetting his work, for the moment, Lincoln reached for a nearby cleaning cloth, and began to rub the smudging from his glasses.
"Everything go okay?" He asked, as Lori set about making herself comfortable. Unlike Lynn, who just craved physical contact, and was therefore happy to just treat him like a teddy bear, Lori was a bit more particular with their cuddling, and it usually took her some trial and error to find a position she was comfortable with.
"It went fine," She said, nuzzling her cheek against his. "Some low-grade thugs with toys a little above their paygrade. Nothing I couldn't handle."
"Fair enough." Lincoln gestured toward the coffee table, where his phone lay. "Didn't see anything on social about it, so I figured things were fine. But..."
"It was nothing," Lori replied, giving him a reassuring squeeze. "They had pop guns and an oversized car. I wasn't even close to being in danger. Honest."
"Alright. If you say so."
"I do." Lori leaned over and gave him a much deeper kiss. "But thank you for worrying about me."
"R-right," Lincoln jerked his head to the side, extremely mindful of the growing heat in his cheeks. It really wasn't fair that she could elicit that reaction from him so easily. To buy himself some time, Lincoln fumbled for the papers he'd discarded earlier.
"S-so..." He brought on fist up to his mouth and faked a cough, trying to steady his voice. "So while you were gone, I was looking over this contract of yours..."
"Which, again, thanks so much for that, Linky," Lori cooed, resting her head atop his shoulder. "I really appreciate that."
"It's not a problem," Lincoln replied. "Though, again, I feel like I should point out that I'm not an attorney. Or anywhere close to being one. Prelaw is pretty much what it sounds like."
"And again, that's fine." Lori gave him a reassuring pat on his lap. "I have a legal team who'll look at this stuff, and I'm not going to be signing anything until I hear their take on it. But you're going to be doing this kind of thing eventually, yeah?"
"Eventually."
"So there's that. But I also thought, you know. It's a thing where my career and the thing your studying come together. So I thought it might be fun if...we, could do this...together."
The blushing girl snuggling up against Lincoln was barely recognizable as his sister, let alone as a superheroine who performed incredible feats of strength and heroism literally on a daily basis. But there was something...comforting, about knowing that Lori trusted him enough to become this vulnerable in his presence. But he also knew that saying as much would only embarrass her. So instead, Lincoln snaked his free hand around her shoulder, and pulled her a little closer. A sharp intake of breath, followed, by a low hum of approval, told him that hed made the right choice. Which was good, because experience suggested that he really wanted Lori to be in a good mood for this next part.
"Right." Lincoln cleared his throat, trying to focus on his work, and not the pleasing sensation of the older girl seemingly trying to meld with him. "So I've been looking this thing over and...you said this was for a toy company? Or something?"
"Or something," Said Lori, pulling herself upward and peering over at the pages in his hands. "It's from one of those big megacorps that have their fingers in basically everything. But yeah, I think they were interested in making a new toyline featuring me."
"Another one?"
"It's just how this stuff works." She replied, shrugging. "There's some kind of new gimmick with this one. I think the toys move, or fight other toys or something."
"That sounds...potentially problematic."
"Legally speaking?"
"More like in a low-budget horror movie kind of way." Lincoln put his reading glasses back on and began shuffling through the pile of documents. Lori's grip on him tightened ever so slightly, but at this point, that kind of thing only registered if it broke bones or kept him from breathing, so he was able to remain focused on his task until he found what he was looking for.
"So in light of that, this section makes a little more sense now." He said, extracting a few pages, and offering them to Lori. His sister didn't take them herself, seemingly content to remain in what she'd presumably decided was the optimum cuddling position. But she did visibly make an effort to read the documents.
"Okay," She said, a moment later, sounding uncertain. "So...what am I looking at here?"
"Alright. Well, this part here..." He began pulling back the hand that was currently wrapped around Lori, but his sister simply held it in place with her own, politely, but firmly informing him that wasn't happening. Used to rolling with these sorts of punches, Lincoln instead began gesturing with the thumb currently holding the documents for Lori's perusal.
"This part here," He continued, lays out the terms of the company's usage of your likeness.
"...Could you explain it like I'm Lynn?"
"Basically, a company can't make anything that looks like you, or has you on it, unless you give them permission." Lincoln elaborated. "This section lays out how they can go about using your likeness, assuming you agree to the contract."
"But that's normal, right? I've done deals like this before."
"The practice is pretty standard. It's the wording that's the problem. Basically..." Lincoln paused, choosing his words carefully. "Maybe this would work better with a visual aid."
"Sounds good."
Lincoln waited expectantly, but his sister seemed content to simply lay as they were.
"Lori, I'm going to need my arm back."
"Uuuugh," The blonde groaned. Still, she allowed him to retract his appendage. Lincoln gave it a few good shakes to get blood circulating through it once more, then reached for a pen and some scratch paper.
"Okay.." He murmured, putting pen to paper. For several minutes, the room was silent, save for the soft breathing of the girl attached to him, and the scritch scritch of his pen upon the page.
"Take a look at this," He said, deeming the sketch sufficient. Again, Lori pulled herself up so she could peer over his shoulder, but this time she let out a small gasp of delight.
"Hey! That's me!" She shouted, pointing, somewhat unnecessarily, at the little cartoon Luminary he'd doodled.
"It's just a rough sketch," He said, trying not to show how pleased he was by the implied praise.
"No, seriously Linc." Lori insisted. "That's literally night and day compared to what you could do as a kid. You could totally do this professionally if you wanted."
"Thanks", He chuckled, bashfully. "But these days, drawing is pretty much just something I do to help pay the bills. I've got a part-time gig doing odds and ends for a comic book publisher, but it's just to help pay for school. Not really looking to do that kind of thing full time."
"...I'm sorry?"
A chill ran down Lincoln's spine. Lori's voice was absolutely frigid, completely devoid of the warmth and enthusiasm that had been radiating from her words only moments earlier. Daring to glance sideways, he was that she was now peering intently at him, eyes narrowed.
"You're drawing comics for other metas?" She asked, flatly.
"Not other metas," He explained, trying to placate her. "Just...one...meta. Who pays really well to have he—THEIR adventures adapted into comic book form. That's all."
"Uh-huh." The familiar weight of Lori's head resting on his shoulder returned. This time, however, he could practically hear her sulking.
"Are you mad?" He ventured, really hoping the answer was negative.
"I'm...trying...not to be," She said, quietly. "I'm sorry. It bugs me, but I don't like that it bugs me."
Lincoln didn't know how to respond to that, so instead, he pulled Lori close and planted a kiss on her golden mane. Her shapely frame untensed, ever so slightly. Which he chose to take as a sign of encouragement.
"Would it make you feel better if I told you the work was tedious and unfulfilling?"
"...A little," She admitted. "Is she...cooler than me? Are you like, a fan of hers, or something?"
"No, and no." He replied, rubbing small circles into her back. "I saw a job listing online and I applied for it. Honest. Didn't even know who it was until I actually got the job."
He wasn't expecting his assurances to be met with a derisive snort.
"I knew it was a girl," Lori muttered. Lincoln winced as he instinctively reran the last bit of the conversation through his mind. He'd completely missed the verbal faux pas until he'd already stepped into it.
"With you, it's always a girl behind this kind of thing," Now it was Lori giving him the sidelong look. "Anybody, I know?"
"Lori, you're basically superhero royalty," He deadpanned. "It'd be weirder if you didn't know someone successful enough to warrant their own publishing company. And before we go any further down this rabbit hole, is talking about this really making you feel any better?"
She hesitated.
"I...guess not," She said, at last. Lincoln began to let go of the breath he'd been holding, but suddenly Lori was right in his face, her hands firmly gripping his shoulders.
"But this might." And then her lips were upon his.
Lincoln's mind reeled, still playing catchup from the abrupt shift in focus, but just as he began to process the pleasant, though strangely urgent feeling kiss, Lori pulled back, allowing Lincoln a much-needed moment to replenish his oxygen, which he did with gusto. His faculties restored, he turned his attention back to his sister once more.
"I—" He began, only to be cut off as Lori held up one finger, and gently pressed it against his chest, sending him toppling backward onto the couch. As he was in the midst of his fall, she grabbed a handful of his t-shirt—
SHRRRRRIP
And it off him like it was made of tissue paper. By the time he hit the couch, he was completely naked from the waist up. Nodding in satisfaction, Lori straddled her prone boyfriend and made to remove her tank top.
"Lori, wait!" He protested, holding one hand up, as he glanced to his he returned his attention to the situation at hand, it was to see a visibly irate Lori peering down at him, paused in the midst of undressing.
"What!?" She asked, crossly
"It's just..." He gestured weakly to the clock against the wall. "Lynn's going to be home soon."
"And you're...what? Worried she's going to catch us in the act?" The elder Loud deadpanned.
"Honestly? I'm more worried she'll join in," Lincoln replied, gingerly motioning towards his lower back. "Pretty sure I pulled something last time, and I'm not quite back at a hundred percent yet."
"I promise to be gentle and quick," She said, finally removing her top in its entirety, and flinging it across the room. And suddenly, Lincoln found it impossible to continue protesting.
In the end, she was neither of those things. But in her defense, Lori tried her best.