Cherreads

Chapter 2 - Chapter Two: Morning Lori

Luna crept through the darkened living room, being extra careful to not make much noise as she made her way towards the kitchen.

Luna had always been a bit of a night owl. It was one of the few times her home was relatively quiet. One of the few times she could quiet down the buzzing alertness that was her train of thought.

It had been an hour or two since the family had retired to their rooms for bed, a solid four hours since Lincoln had been put to bed himself. At Eleven O' clock at night, she was risking a stern chiding from her parents for being out and about.

But she would have that glass of water.

So, on tiptoes, she darted past the threshold of the living room, rounding the corner of the dining room and into the kitchen.

The feel of the cool kitchen tile signaled Luna's arrival to her. With practiced ease, she edged to the left and deftly flipped the light switch, summoning the soothing warm light of the kitchen to her surroundings.

Luna blinked several times, dispelling the little spots that danced through her vision. Okay, gotta be quick, She told herself. She made her way towards the kitchen sink, grabbing one of the glasses from the drying rack and then flitted to the fridge.

The muted sound of water streaming into her cup filled the kitchen, and Luna turned towards the kitchen entrance every few seconds to check for one of her parents. Once it was filled, she brought the glass to herself and took a long drink.

The water soothed the itching dryness of her throat, spiriting away the dry taste in her mouth. Ah! Much better! She thought, bringing the glass away from her lips and back towards the spout of the fridge.

Once she topped off her drink, she clutched the glass to her chest and moved towards the exit of the kitchen, intent of making quick way back to her room. With the return of darkness, she padded back through the dining and living rooms, approaching the stairs with careful, silent steps.

"So, we're in agreement then, right?"

"Makes sense to me."

Only to be stopped in her tracks by the muffled voices of her parents, garnering her attention to their closed bedroom door a few feet away.

"I mean, what else can we do? There's quite a bit to consider." Lynn Sr. spoke up, his voice lowered with weariness. "The poor little guy has gone through so much. We can't just put him to a thousand things at once."

Luna's ears perked up, and she found herself creeping towards her parent's door. They were talking about Lincoln.

"That's why it's probably best we take these things one at a time," Rita said. The sound of shuffling papers could faintly be heard behind the door. "At least we can take solace in how good today went."

"Absolutely," Lynn Sr. agreed. "Especially in regards to the girls. They really went above in beyond with welcoming him."

"They're amazing girls," Rita said, her voice swelling with pride for her daughters, bringing a small surge of warmth through Luna.

After the talk they had had after Rita had put Lincoln to bed with Lori and Leni, Luna had found herself feeling a little better. A simple moment of sitting together, Luna eating a snack cake while her mother ran a hand through her hair along with reassurances that Lincoln's bad times were behind him had dispersed a fair portion of the despair she had been overcome by upon hearing the trials and tribulations that Lincoln had endured in his concernedly short life.

"So, a quick review then," Lynn Sr. spoke on, another sound of shuffling papers echoing past the door. "We wait until the cast comes off in a few weeks before considering enrolling Lincoln in school, right?"

"Right, we should give him time to adjust to life with us first," Rita agreed.

Luna took her parents words in, absorbing their meaning before nodding to herself in agreement. Considering how reserved Lincoln was just with them, she didn't want to imagine how he'd react in a classroom full of other children. Best he get used to the Loud house first. Even better, him getting his cast off in a few weeks meant that he, in some small way, was getting better already!

"Okay, good," Lynn Sr. said. "And we're agreed on us taking Lincoln to work with us on a shift schedule? One day me, the next you, so on and so forth?"

"Yes, I'll be taking him on Monday," Rita agreed. "I wanna show Lincoln that a dentist's office isn't anything to be scared of; considering we're going to need to schedule an appointment for that as well…"

"Right…I forgot about that." Lynn Sr.'s tone shifted to a somewhat bitter one. "I just can't believe—what kind of parent neglects their child so egregiously?"

"I know," Rita said, "No dental records, no vaccinations, and he looks so underfed!" Luna heard her mother sigh, followed by, "We really have a bit of a journey ahead of us, Lynn."

"I know," Lynn Sr. agreed. "But we can at least take solace in the fact that he's here with us now, and the girls have shown such promise with him. Did you see his face when Lori gave him his food?"

"I know, it was adorable!" Rita laughed. "I couldn't have imagined it going better with them. I'm sure Lincoln'll flourish with them."

"Without a doubt." Another whisper of shuffling papers sounded next, "Well, I think we've discussed about as much as we could tonight, don't you?"

"I'd say so," Rita said. "Best get some sleep while we can. We probably have a busy day tomorrow all things considered."

"Most likely," Lynn Sr. replied.

The light streaming from the crack beneath the door shut off, leaving Luna in total darkness again and hearing her parent's final goodnights to one another. Once silence pervaded the area completely, Luna took a breath and made her way back towards the stairs once more.

Again, the heaviness of Lincoln's ordeals weighed heavy on her heart, slowing her ascent up the stairs into a slog.

So in addition to being injured by someone who was supposed to protect him, Lincoln had never even been taken to a doctor. The thought of that small child facing countless ailments all on his own filled Luna to the brim with sadness. How could the world be so cruel to someone so undeserving of it?

As she made her way up the steps into the darkness of the second floor, no answer came…

A horridly disgusting scent, bitter and nausea inducing burned through Lincoln's nostrils, jolting him into lifting his head from the cold and itchy mattress he found himself lying on.

"Hey, where's the grub I was saving?" A belligerent voice, filled to the tip of the tongue with malice snapped through the air, and in its wake, Lincoln immediately felt a chill of fear run through every inch of him. "Did you eat my food again, stupid brat?"

Lincoln tensed significantly, and his body instinctively brought him to his feet. His heartbeat began to ring in his ears and he stumbled through the darkness, only broken by the flickering fluorescent light streaming through the shutters behind him.

"And you're still awake?" The voice started to grow distorted, ringing through the darkness and growing noticeably more monstrous the closer it got. "What does it take to put you down!?"

Lincoln stumbled on something, something that rolled away with a clatter, and fell into a jumble of clothes, completely entrenched in the same disgustingly bitter scent that had woken him up.

THUNK! The door flew open with a slam, letting in more harshly bright light, and Lincoln scurried into the pile of clothes, trying to throw them over himself to hide his presence.

"There you are!" The monstrous voice grew more terrifying, ringing with multiple voices layered over one another.

Lincoln gasped and turned to face the voice just as the ground quaked with their stomping feet.

The sight of the smoke and ash cloaked monster filled him with pure, blood-freezing terror. As it marched towards him, amber liquid fell from its limbs, intensifying the bitter scent stronger still with each drop.

"No, please, I didn't—I was just hungry!" His own voice quaked from behind his shaking lips and his right arm raised itself over his face defensively.

"Just shut up and get over here!" The monster stepped right over him and reached out for him with a dripping, smoke cloaked hand.

"No! Please!" Lincoln tried in vain to scoot back, but only succeeded in stalling for a second more. With his back against the wall, the hand snatched a bunch of his hair between its foul fingers.

And then pulled with tremendous force.

"Augh!" Lincoln shot up, eyes shooting open and every ounce of air forcibly expelling itself from his lungs.

It took a few seconds for his vision to clear up, only doing so after several very quick, very painful breaths struggled their way into his chest, circulating his terror through his quivering body and pushing it down to his fingertips where it burned like little painful embers. When the fear dissipated just the smallest amount and he was able to breathe normally again, he was finally able to take in his surroundings alongside his heartbeat ringing through his ears.

He wasn't in the dark room with flickering lights anymore; he was in a relatively well lit room, bathed in baby blue light by a nightlight with rabbit ears and cute little black eyes. He wasn't on the pile of bitter scented clothes anymore; he was in a warm, comfy bed, swaddled by a dark blue comforter with his head against a soft pillow.

W-Where am I? He thought, looking around the room. His fingers on his left hand gripped the blanket tight as his mind tried to put together what had brought him to that room. I—how did I get here? His eyes watered with the steadily mounting fear that clenched within his chest. What is thi—

Suddenly, he remembered. The Loud family, his new sisters, the meal he had shared with them.

His failure to stay awake. The nightmare. The monster.

His shoulders rose and his body tensed with the realization. Then, with a whimper, the tears rolled down his cheeks and he began to cry.

"Not again…" He wept. "Why does this keep happening?" His shoulders shook and his gaze fell to the blanket in his lap. "I don't wanna see it anymore…" In lieu of the deluge soaking his cheeks, Lincoln moved his arm to wipe at his eyes.

And felt his arm brush against something nestled against him.

"Ah!" He jumped with a squeak and moved away from whatever was next to him, flinging it against the wall with a panicked swipe of his hand. The item flopped against the wall before falling back down just as quickly, giving Lincoln a chance to see just what it was.

A stuffed bunny with soft white fur, garbed in a little purple T-shirt stared blankly at Lincoln, bereft of malice despite the unintentional roughness of its bunkmate. Staring at it, Lincoln felt the uptake of fear he had just experienced fade away.

Is—Is this mine? Lincoln brought his hand towards the stuffed toy carefully, as if worried the toy might have hard feelings for being so rudely tossed. His fingers brushed against the material it was made of, and Lincoln found it feeling pleasantly fuzzy and soft, sort of like actual rabbit fur. Tentatively, he took the rabbit into his left hand and held it up in front of himself.

The rabbit and Lincoln regarded one another for a long moment, with Lincoln in particular staring into its comforting eyes. Where did this come from? He thought. He lowered the rabbit and took a deep breath through his nose, clearing out the congestion that had built up during his crying fit. Did…Did my new family give this to me?

The thought shifted his mind further from the nightmare, instead summoning the images of the people he had met the day before, specifically his sisters. In his mind's eye, he recalled the brief period of time he had spent with them. Sitting together in front of the TV, eating dinner together; both events were interspersed with instances of them interacting with him. They had been so kind with him, nothing like he had feared on the drive over. They even didn't mind that he needed space from them. Sure, some of them were a little excitable, but they were still remarkably patient with him.

This is really nice, He mentally declared. A tiny sniffle escaped him, and with the best effort he could muster (Considering one of his arms was in that accursed cast), he brought the rabbit against his chest in a hug, soaking the remnants of his tears in its velvety fur as he nuzzled it.

He wasn't in the presence of that monster anymore, in a room of near complete blackness with that horrid scent burning his nose; he was in a room of comforting blue light, with a sweet scent permeating the air, and a stuffed bunny clutched against his chest wordlessly telling him that everything would be okay.

Unbeknownst to him, he had not been the only one awake at that time that night. Standing not far in the darkness of the outside hallway, Luna stood with a glass of water clutched between her pale white hands.

She had heard Lincoln's crying, heard his lamentable little statements bemoaning his continued plaguing by his nightmares, but she had been unable to move. She had been left completely paralyzed, stock-still as her own tears descended in reaction to the sound of Lincoln's cries. And now that he had found comfort in his gift from Leni, completely without any action from her, she could only remain standing there, shame surfacing through her every sense.

Lincoln, I— Her tear trails grew thicker, and beneath the crushing weight of her shame, she turned and ran into her room, I'm sorry, Lincoln, I'm so sorry!

Lori had always been a bit of an early bird. The time between the sunrise and the time that the good cartoons came on the TV was one of the few sanctuaries of calm that could be found in the Loud house.

A yawn escaped Lori, forcing her body to tremble as her sleep heavy limbs stretched out from her torso.

KRICK! She sucked in a breath with the cracking sound that went through her spine. Ooh, that's one for the record, She thought, pressing her fist to her chin to get another krick out of her neck. She took a few more moments to gather her senses, scratching and tousling her messy golden locks as she blinked away the remnants of sleep that clung to her eyes. Whoever said Sunday morning was easy never had to wake up at 7 just to have some alone time.

She released a breath through her nose and threw her blankets off with an unceremonious kick of her legs. She swung her legs over her bed, setting her feet on the carpet beneath with another yawn. She rubbed an eye with a balled up fist, thinking over what she could do with the day ahead of her.

That's when she heard it. The faintest pitter patter tapping away above Lori's head.

Is that rain? She thought, standing up on wobbly legs. She made her way towards her window, her steps steadying along each pace.

Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw her street. Dark gray clouds covered every bit of visible sky, puffy with little bits of lighter gray colors coiling at their edges, giving the clouds a more defined series of shapes. From the clouds, a light drizzle fell to the world below, speckling the ground as well as Lori's window with a fine sheet of clear, wriggling water.

Well, that cuts out any outdoor options, Lori thought, biting her cheek. That's gonna be a punch to the gut for Lynn. Which means we're gonna have our work cut out for us in keeping her in check.

She sighed and turned away from her window, going towards her bedroom door with hunched shoulders. Better move quick if I want first dibs on any waffles left in the freezer, She thought, carefully opening her door and darting out into the hallway.

Without the light and without any form of sunlight, the hallway still remained rather dark, mired in a very dark gray dimness that forced Lori to focus her eyes.

Where's that stupid switch? She thought, fumbling through the dark. She slid along the wall, running her hands along the smooth surface with her tongue poking out of the corner of her lips. Come on! Why does this hallway always feel a thousand times longer in the dark!?

Thankfully, she finally dispelled the darkness when her index finger brushed the switch upward. The golden light forced Lori to wince, and she had to rub her fists against her eyes to get rid of the spots that popped up in them. Yeah, it's official, kind of a crap morning so far, She thought, lowering her fists and blinking hard.

Once she was able to see clearly again, she looked across the hallway, catching the briefest glint of blue light in the distance. Oh, right, Lincoln! She thought with a jolt. How could I forget about him?

Following her last encounter with her new brother, Lori had spent a fair portion of the previous night pondering what she would need to do to keep the promise she had made to him. One such crucial element to those thoughts had been simple enough to think of. If she wanted to make sure he was well cared for, periodic checkups were a must!

But he's probably still sleeping… Lori thought, biting her cheek. A pang of hurt hit her heart when she remembered Lincoln's nightmares. She really hoped he had been able to avoid them. Maybe—Maybe if I'm real quiet, I can just pop in and be on my way. Yeah, that's all I gotta do. Then when I know he's okay, I can relax.

Her reasoning found, she began moving towards the door at the very end of the hallway, moving closer to the blue light gently inviting her closer with each step. Once she was at the threshold between hallway and bedroom, she brought her hand up to the bedroom door. Gently, she pushed the door further in, taking great care to keep any creaking from sounding out. When the door was open enough for her to enter, she slid through, leaving behind the golden light of the hallway in favor of full immersion within the blue.

Lincoln's room was much the same as it was the night before. Still neat and tidy with everything arranged to make the most of the relatively small space that was afforded to the boy. From the circular window on the back wall, a faint stream of gray light came in from the rainy day outside, blending with blue ambiance in a subtle mix of color.

Then there was Lincoln himself.

Lori's worries all but melted away when she saw him. Nestled within the dark blue comforter she had arranged so carefully the previous day, Lincoln lay curled up on his side, sleeping peacefully with the stuffed bunny Leni had given him clutched against his chest. His face was pressed against the top of the bunny's head with his nose nuzzling the spot between its ears.

AWW! Lori brought a hand to her rapidly warming heart, moving a little bit closer to her slumbering brother with a smile crossing her face. He looked leagues better than when he arrived yesterday. The rings around his eyes had faded greatly, now nearly imperceptible unless one got close to him. The tension that he seemed to exude at all times had diminished greatly as well. There, curled up with that toy, Lincoln appeared completely at peace, with nary a sound but the hushed squeaks of his breaths making any discernible noise at all.

Even some color had been brought upon Lincoln's face. What had been sallow and gray before now actually bore some shade of color resembling a child that was properly cared for, a testament to the wonders of a good night's sleep and a comforting meal.

Now if only that bruise could be so easily wiped away.

Lori couldn't help but zero in on the marring mark. That horrible splotch of dark colors stared right back at her, cutting through the blue light with its intense reds and blackish-purples, almost daring her to look away.

Lori wouldn't give it the satisfaction. Instead, she squared her shoulders and reached out to brush Lincoln's bangs over it, obscuring it behind the shaggy whiteness. I should probably give the rest of the girls a heads up on this, She thought, pulling her hand back. Maybe at the next sister's meeting. Oh, wait, Lincoln really should be invited to those himself. Which means it's more of a sibling's meeting than a sister's meeting. But how can I bring up Lincoln in front of Lincoln without making him feel awkward? Ah jeez, talk about complicated. Maybe if I talk to the girls one on one—

Krooom! A flash of light cut off Lori's train of thought, immediately followed by a crack of thunder and the faintest rumbling vibration quaking through the house.

"Whoa!" Without realizing it, Lori let out a gasp and turned towards the window where the flash had come from. With the absence of the lightning's flash, she immediately saw and heard the immediate increase in rain, blurring the outside view further in a stream of droplets.

"Mrrrmmm…" And just as quickly as the lightning had grabbed her attention, a grumbling groan completely pulled it back to the boy she had originally walked in to check on.

Lori's eyes widened and she debated the thought of running out of the room as she watched Lincoln shuffle and squirm within his blankets. Her thought process proved too slow however as Lincoln shook his head against the stuffed rabbit and his eyes creaked open with a sleepy flutter, revealing herself standing right there by his bed.

Unfortunately for Lori, despite Lincoln's relative comfort with her the previous day, there was very little way to be seen standing by a person's bed while they are just waking up without coming off as frightening.

Lincoln immediately tensed upon seeing Lori, and with a rush of movement he sat up and scooted towards the wall his bed was set against, cowering and clutching the rabbit against him as he tried to shield as much of himself as possible within the ball he was shrinking into.

"No! Wait! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! Whatever I did, I'm sorry!"

Lori's heart cracked in several places at the sound of Lincoln's frightful whimpers, and she had to blink away the moistness that threatened to climb into her eyes before she could act. "No, no, it's okay!" She said in a whispered hush, raising her hands up to calm the boy in front of her. "Lincoln, it's just me! Lori, remember? I'm your big sister. Remember, I told you yesterday there was nothing to be afraid of. It's just me."

Lori continued her rush of reassurances, interspersing her statements with little shushing sounds, just like her mother had done for him yesterday when putting him to bed. Eventually, her efforts proved fruitful, and Lincoln's hyper-panicked gasps died down to little wisps of tentative calm.

"It's okay, Lincoln," Lori whispered. "It's just me. Just Lori. You're safe. Safe and sound."

And it was with that, after another ten seconds or so, that Lincoln finally turned to Lori, opening his eyes to look at her with a cautious gaze.

Lori put aside the hurt and pity she felt for the little one desperately trying to shield himself and offered what she hoped was a comforting smile instead. "There we go…" She said soothingly, "See? It's just me. Good morning, Lincoln."

Lincoln's shoulders fell from their place bunched up against his neck. "H-Hi…" He uncurled his body and sat up, still clutching the stuffed rabbit against his side. "I—Um, how are you?"

Wow, still polite, Lori thought, I definitely would've gone with "what are you doing here?" if it was me. She brushed the thought away and answered with, "I'm doing well, thank you." She stood up a little straighter and brought a hand to brush some hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry for scaring you. I was just coming in here to check on you when I was surprised by the lightn—the rain, I was surprised by the rain." She didn't want to risk scaring Lincoln with the storm on top of everything else.

Lincoln took a moment to absorb her words before responding. "I-It's okay," He said. "Do you want me to go back to sleep?"

Lori could have been blown off her feet by a gust of wind in response to that question. Did Lincoln just ask her if she wanted him to go back to sleep? As in, volunteering to sleep, a complete opposite to some of her other sisters, most notably Lynn who had once hid on the roof to avoid a nap.

Under normal circumstances, she would have thanked the heavens for such an accommodating sibling. Instead, the reservedness he asked her the question with just made her sad, like he had asked her if he was allowed to eat. "No…" She said, shaking her head. "No, you don't have to go back to sleep if you don't want to." She placed another smile back on her face, "It is morning after all. In fact…" She took another step towards Lincoln, her mood lifting when he didn't recoil from her, "Do you wanna join me? I can make us some waffles and you can join me while I play some videogames."

Lincoln blinked, "What are those?"

Lori gasped, legitimately gasped, "You don't know what waffles or videogames are?"

Lincoln looked down, "I don't know a lot of things."

Lori immediately felt a surge of guilt pierce her emotions and her shoulders fell. "Well, that's okay," She said, perking up. "You're just a little guy after all. There're a ton of things to learn about the world. And I'd be more than happy to show you what I can." She reached out a hand, prompting Lincoln to look up at her, "So, interested? I can promise you that waffles are mighty tasty."

Lincoln regarded Lori, matching eye contact with her. Again, the unexplained feeling of safety came over him, now joined by a strangely warm sensation brushing over the spot where his bruise was, dulling the shadowy pain that it tended to bother him with. In her bright green gaze, he just wasn't afraid.

"O-Okay…" He said at last. He brought his hand forward, laying it tremblingly in Lori's palm. "I'll go with you."

Lori's grin widened, happiness beaming off every bit of her, and she gently clasped Lincoln's small hand within hers, stilling its shakiness and cloaking the chill that covered it with her own palm's warmth. "Alrighty then," She said, helping Lincoln off his bed as he scooched off of it. "Let's get some breakfast to warm ourselves up then, shall we?"

"Okay," Lincoln timidly agreed. He jolted when he took his first step with Lori towards the door. "Oh, wait!" He said, pulling them back towards his bed. Clumsily, he brought his cast covered arm upward and clasped the stuffed rabbit's ears between his exposed fingers, pulling it off the bed and against himself again. "I don't wanna forget this," He explained, looking back up at Lori.

Lori giggled, "You like that toy, don't you?"

"Uh huh," Lincoln replied, bringing it up to his cheek for a nuzzle.

"Well, just be sure to thank Leni when you see her," Lori said. "She spent a lot of time making that for you."

Lincoln looked up at Lori with wide eyes. "She made this? For me?" His mind scrambled to put a face to the name, fortunately summoning the cheery girl into his mind's eye a second later.

Lori nodded emphatically, "She sure did! She really wanted to make sure you had something nice when you got here." She winked at him and crouched down slightly, "So be sure you give her a big ol' thank you when you see her, okay?"

Lincoln nodded fervently, bouncing slightly in his determination, "I will!"

Lori laughed again and began leading them out of Lincoln's room once more, "I'm glad to hear that."

Together, the two of them left Lincoln's room, journeying back down the comfortingly lit hallway towards the stairs. Upon reaching the way down to the first floor, Lori noticed Lincoln tense up next to her.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

Lincoln gulped and squeezed her hand tight, "I—Um…" His words trailed off and he looked away shamefully.

Lori blinked and looked down the stairs, steeped in darkness the further down they went. "Are you afraid of the stairs?" She guessed. When Lincoln responded with a subtle nod, she continued with, "That's okay. We can take it slow if you want." She illustrated her point by stepping down a single step, planting both her feet on it before turning back to Lincoln. "See?" She said, smiling at him encouragingly, "Just take it one step at a time, literally."

Lincoln looked between Lori and the steps, biting his lip apprehensively. His heartbeat was starting to sound in his ears again.

GRRRRMBLE! It was only by the sound of his grumbling stomach that his heartbeat was overridden, earning a quiet laugh from Lori.

"Though it sounds like your stomach isn't so patient," She teased. She squeezed Lincoln's hand in hers. "Don't worry, Lincoln, I've got you."

Lincoln gulped and began edging forward. Then, with a trembling step, he brought a single foot down onto the next step. Once his foot was set, he slid his other foot downward, shaking a little more insistently as it went down the step, bringing his entire body down onto it.

"There we go," Lori said encouragingly, "Now we just need to get down the rest and we're done."

Lincoln only gulped again in response.

It took a full five minutes for the two of them to get down the stairs, and when they finally did step onto the carpet of the living room, Lincoln's poor hand was soaked in nervous sweat, a fact that did not go unnoticed by Lori, who released his hand and crouched to Lincoln's height.

"Great job, Lincoln," She said, taking his hand again and wiping the sweat from his palm with the hem of her light blue pajama shirt. "That was very brave of you."

"T-Thank you," Lincoln stammered.

Lori chuckled at his shyness and took his hand in hers again. Silently, they made their way through the dining room, going into the kitchen where Lori flipped the light on with a flick of her finger.

Lincoln blinked blearily with the light, raising his casted arm to shield his eyes from the sudden onslaught. As his eyes adjusted, he felt Lori's hand leave his and he peered beneath his cast to follow her.

"Oh, good!" Lori said, opening the freezer, "We still have a few! Trust me, you are going to love these!"

Lincoln trotted up behind Lori, lowering his arm to stare up at her warily. The sound of shuffling plastic reached his ears, and with a grunt, Lori pulled out what she had sought to retrieve.

"Check this out," Lori said, kneeling down to Lincoln to present him what she had gotten. "These waffles come with the syrup already inside of 'em! Saves on messiness, see?"

She spoke the truth. Inside the frozen waffles, Lincoln could see a generous covering of red from within, coloring the little squares like dots of pigment.

"I hope you like strawberry," Lori said, moving away from Lincoln and towards the toaster. She dropped the waffles into the slot and pushed the lever down. "Now, you wanna join me in the living room?" She asked, turning around and setting her hands on her hips, "I gotta make sure I make decent progress before the others wake up after all."

Lincoln nodded and presented his hand again.

Lori smiled and took it. Stealthily, they returned to the living room, with Lori leading Lincoln through the dimness by the hand, bringing him to the couch in front of the TV.

Lincoln bit his lip as he stared at the couch, another obstacle that he couldn't overcome himself. If only he could use both his arms to at least climb onto it.

"Lincoln?" Lori's voice cut through the darkness again, prompting him to look up at her. "Do you want me to pick you up?" She asked quietly. "I promise I'll be quick."

Lincoln's shoulders hardened again. Yet again he would require someone to pick him up. He supposed he would have to get used to that considering how many things were infuriatingly so tall compared to him. At the very least though, he could take solace in the calming vibe Lori gave off.

So, with considerably less stone in his veins, he looked down and mumbled a near silent, "Yes please…"

Lori nodded and bent down with her arms extending towards Lincoln. "Okay then, arms up," She said.

Lincoln did as she asked, closing his eyes and lifting his arms towards her while biting his lip. Just like many times before, fear began to claw at his chest. Fear of rejection, fear of coming into harm, fear of just about any negative consequence that could come about from allowing himself to become vulnerable.

Instead, a pair of hands moved beneath his underarms, carefully taking him in their grasp like they were handling the most delicate of crystals. Then, with a little grunt of effort from Lori, he was scooped up against her for the briefest of moments before being set upon the soft upholstery of the couch and released.

"There ya go," Lori said, stepping back. She resisted the frown that threatened to come across her face. Lincoln was so light, almost frighteningly so; and in the short second that she had held him against her, she noticed just how fragile he felt, like a baby sparrow. Hasn't anyone been feeding him before he got here? She asked herself. She shook the thoughts away, instead leaning towards Lincoln just as he opened his eyes. "Comfy?" She asked.

"Mmhhm," Lincoln mumbled with a timid nod.

"Good, I'm glad," Lori said, offering what she hoped was a comforting smile. She stood back up and turned towards the TV, moving towards a little white contraption next to it with a button sporting a faint red light at the top and three gray letters at the bottom.

"What's that?" Lincoln asked, his body relaxing against the couch cushions.

"It's a Nintendo Wii," Lori explained, pressing the button. Immediately, the little black slot below the power button glowed bright blue and Lori picked up a pair of white controllers, one long and slim, the other more angular with a lot more buttons on it, like a typical video game controller. "Dad got it a little while back," She continued, moving to the TV and turning it on. She made her way back to Lincoln, setting the controllers on the coffee table in front of the couch. "Apparently he heard that you could get old games off some online shop on it. After buying it, he started buying at least two games a week. Apparently, they're pretty cheap."

The sudden chime of the console's home screen forced Lincoln to jump in his seat, earning himself a little good-natured chuckle from Lori.

"Sorry 'bout that," Lori said, grabbing the TV remote and lowering the volume. "I shoulda probably given you a heads up on that." She set the remote down and picked the conjoined game controllers back up, "As I was saying; Dad bought quite a few games that he apparently loved to play back when he was a kid. I personally thought they just looked like old-people games at first look, but some of them are actually pretty good. This one right here has had my attention for a little bit itself."

Lori brought the cursor to a little window on the home screen and clicked on it. A beep and a chime sounded off from the screen, and a screenshot of a title screen appeared before fading to black.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

"It's called the Legend of Zelda," Lori explained, correctly guessing Lincoln's inability to read. "It's an adventure game that I saw Dad playing one time. I tried a little bit myself after he ran out of hearts. Before I knew it, I was hooked."

Up on the screen, three golden triangles were floating towards one another, a chiming jingle sounding from the game as they converged into a shape made of the three of them. Then, a bombastic melody played, paired in time with a sword going through the new shape followed by the title and background.

"Though I'd appreciate if you keep that between us," Lori joked, glancing back at Lincoln, "Don't want Dad to know I think he has okay taste. Next thing we know, he's gonna try and have Daddy-Daughter gaming days." She pressed the start button and brought the game into the file select screen, complete with a gentle melody many a gamer would know as the "Fairy Fountain theme".

"I'm gonna go get the waffles," Lori said, laying the controller down on the table again. She looked over at Lincoln, "Do you want something to drink to go with it? Maybe a glass of milk?"

"That sounds nice," Lincoln replied.

"Then I'll bring you a glass of milk," Lori said with a nod. She moved past the couch and flitted towards the kitchen again. "Be back in a jiff!"

"Bye…" Lincoln said, craning his head to watch her disappear around the corner. There, alone again, with only the light from the screen providing any real illumination, Lincoln brought the stuffed rabbit against his chest, squeezing it for comfort and tilting his cheek along its head. She's really nice, He thought, trying to keep his mind off the dimness surrounding him, instead trying to focus it on the girl who had helped him down the stairs and was currently getting him something to quiet his rumbling belly. I'm glad. I hope she likes me.

The thought of her disliking him put a chill in his chest, and he pulled the rabbit tighter against him. Why did the room suddenly feel darker? In an effort to not focus on that, Lincoln instead looked to the TV screen, zeroing on the little pink haired man garbed in green walking next to a couple of hearts. Lincoln watched the little man, walking in place, his shield presented at his side with a little bounce in his movements. Focusing on that, the darkness felt a little less noticeable, the fear, less overtaking.

"I'm back." And before he knew it, Lori had returned. In her hands she held two glasses of milk and in the crook of one of her arms she held a plate with two perfectly toasted waffles, now golden brown with dark red patches of sweet-smelling strawberry syrup pockets. "Hope you're hungry," She said, setting the glasses on the coffee table. She then set the plate next to Lincoln and pulled the coffee table closer so he could reach it before sitting on the other side of the plate herself, her controller back in her hands.

GRRRMMBLRRMBLE! Lincoln's stomach growled, much louder than before, clearly growing impatient with the shy nature of the boy that insisted on waiting to feed himself.

Lori giggled and pushed the plate a little closer to Lincoln, "Well, what are you waiting for? Dig in! One of these is for you, y'know."

Lincoln didn't wait for any further permission. Swiftly, he grabbed the waffle, warming his fingertips as he brought it towards his mouth and took a sizeable bite from the edge.

Crunchy toasty flavor immediately filled his senses, paired with the gooey sweetness of the piping hot strawberry syrup within the waffle. Lincoln's eyes widened, and before he even swallowed his first bite, he brought the waffle up again and quickly took another.

Lori grinned from where she sat on the opposite end of the couch. "Good, isn't it?" She asked, taking a much smaller bite of her own waffle.

"Uh huh!" Lincoln enthusiastically replied.

"Good to hear," Lori said, setting her waffle on the plate and picking up her controller. A beep came with her selecting her file and the screen went to black for a moment.

Then, in a triumphant surge, the man from before reappeared, now in front of a little house, accompanied by the bombastic tune of the overworld every gamer knew the world over as the main theme for the entire Legend of Zelda series.

Lincoln watched Lori set the man forward, jumping off the ledge next to his home. As he took in a few more bites of his breakfast, a thought came to him. And considering how kind Lori had been to him, he actually felt it was okay to speak up on it.

"Lori?" He said.

"Yeah?" Lori replied.

"Who is that?" Lincoln asked, pointing at the man Lori was controlling as he dodged a fireball coming from the mouth of a monster in a river.

"Who, the guy I'm playing as?" Lori guessed. She turned the man towards the screen, so he was looking at the two of them with what the pixels could best construe as a gentle expression. "That's Link, he's the—Hey, wait! His name is Link and your name is Lincoln!" Her eyes glittered with the revelation, "You two practically have the same name!"

Lincoln tilted his head to the side, "We do?"

"Yeah!" Lori said emphatically. She turned back to the screen, "Link is the hero of this game. He's out to save Princess Zelda from all the monsters that kidnapped her."

Lincoln's ears perked up and his heart skipped a beat, "He fights monsters?"

"Yup," Lori replied, swiping Link's sword at a spider looking creature, "A lot of them, but he, and I to a greater extent take 'em head on! 'Cause he's the hero of Hyrule!"

Lincoln blinked a few times, and then looked down at the waffle in his hand. "I…I don't think I'm like him then," He said morosely.

Lori sensed the change in mood instantly, and set her controller down after bringing up the item screen, "What makes you say that?" She asked gently.

"I'm not brave like him or you," Lincoln replied.

"Nonsense," Lori instantly retorted. "You came down the stairs, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but I couldn't fight monsters like he does," Lincoln continued. He shrank in on himself, "Monsters are scary…" As he said that, the brief image of a smoke cloaked monster dripping with amber liquid floated into his mind and he shook.

Lori frowned, internally searching for something to say in response. Eventually, something popped into her mind, and she took the plate between her and Lincoln to place it on the table. "You know…" She scooched up a little closer to Lincoln, "I betcha Link thinks the monsters he fights are scary, too."

Again, Lincoln perked up slightly in response. "You do?" He asked, looking up at her.

"For sure," Lori replied, her voice steadying as her confidence grew. "They're monsters. They're supposed to be scary, but he still fights them because he's brave; just like you, Lincoln."

Lincoln's eyes fell again, "You think I'm brave? Why?"

"Because look at what you've done," Lori said. "Lincoln, in the past day, you came here to us, a brand new family, a brand new place, a brand new everything, and you've held it together the whole way through. If I was in your place, I'd be bawling my eyes out, yet the entire time you've been here, you've been brave beyond belief!" She got another bit closer, garnering Lincoln's attention on her again, "You are very brave, Lincoln, no doubt about it."

Lincoln frowned. In his mind, a little voice was still trying to pick apart Lori's words. "But…Monsters…They still scare me."

Lori frowned in return, filled to the brim with sympathy for the boy so intent on decrying his worth. "Yeah, they'd probably scare me as well. But…" She smirked and leaned back, "Mom once told me something. She said that fairy tales don't exist to tell kids about the existence of monsters; it's to show that monsters can be beaten." She smiled at Lincoln, "And I'd bet my left shoe that you could beat yours, Lincoln."

The warmth in Lincoln's chest spread at Lori's words, and in response, his eyes began to water, "I—I—" He sniffed and turned away from Lori, finding shelter in the fur of his stuffed rabbit who wordlessly wiped the water away from Lincoln's eyes before they could fall.

Lori just sat back, hoping her presence would be enough to comfort Lincoln. She wished more than anything she could reach out and bring him into her arms, to rub his back and wipe his tears away like her parents had done for her many times before. But she knew Lincoln didn't like physical contact; it had been a great personal victory for her that he had actually allowed her to hold his hand.

"Thank you…" Finally, Lincoln spoke up with a sniffle, catching Lori's attention. He pulled away from the rabbit, looking up at Lori with watery aquamarine eyes. "You're really nice," He declared. "I—I really like you."

Lori's heart all but exploded at that. A smile, wider than any she had had before that morning crossed her face, so bright that one could almost say it provided the light the absent sun did not. "I—I like you too, Lincoln. You're a really sweet little guy." She had to turn away for a second herself to wipe the water that threatened to crawl into her eyes. "Now…" She turned back, her grin a little shakier, "Let's keep eating, 'kay? Cold waffles tend to be on the grody side."

Lincoln nodded and brought his waffle up for another bite, smiling himself when the taste hit his senses. "Thank you for making me this, Lori," He said between bites.

Lori giggled and pulled the controller back into her hands again, "No problem…Linc."

Together, the two of them sat, enjoying their toasted delicacies in the muted sounds of the videogame in front of them. For Lori; she found herself further endeared to her new little brother, a boy who had placed a modicum of trust in her that she would not squander.

And for Lincoln, he had found a moment there with Lori where he was a little less afraid of both the monster in the back of his mind, and the retreating darkness around them.

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