lincoln loud sat alone on the couch watching T.V., his family, having gone out to one of Lynn's sporting events, had decided that lincoln should be allowed to choose where he went, and what he got to do since he was now twelve years old, there was a knock at the door, he looked away from the device, and stood up, he was told to never answer the door when he was home alone, but he had always ignored the rule, after all, what's the worse that could happen, a murderer showing up on his doorstep, heh, not a likely scenario, but, just to be sure, he checked through the peephole, and was met wat an eye staring right back at him, the person moved backwards, and revealed it to be linka, to which he was surprised, she almost never came over, with the dimensional barrier between them, but it was always good to see her, he opened the door and let her in
"hey linka, what's up," he asked, walking back to the sofa, her following and sitting down together
"just bored, ever since we lost our powers, i've found it pretty hard to fit back in, y-know" she replied
"yeah, it's like 'we saved your lives, and you still pick on us'" he joked
"well, you cant blame them for not knowing, we were the only ones who managed to keep our memory after the supernatural stuff was gone" she pointed out
"well, most of it, we can still use portals, it's just we don't have our other powers" he said, slightly downcast
"hey, whats wrong" she asked
"it's just, I don't know, I kinda miss being different, it made me feel special, now I'm just boring old lincoln again" he looked down to the floor, as if it had suddenly become the most interesting thing in the world
"your powers don't make you special, it's what you did with them, and it's not that you'r boring, in fact, you and me have the most diverse set of hobbies in the world, and we have talents from our siblings too" she told him, in an effort to cheer him up "and besides, our brothers and sisters appreciate us, ronnie, loves you, Ron loves me, our bats are almost inseparable from us, so why are you letting it bother you"
"I guess you're right, and we do need to set up a playdate for them at some point, we've had them for what, a year" he replied
"Yeah, about that long, but we also just need to keep in touch, and you still need to make due on your promise to Lynn"
he had almost completely forgotten, they had lost their powers just before he could actually take her into the air for her bungee jumping, she had seemed really upset about it, but she still understood that it was now impossible
"Ugh, I wish I could fly again, it had always been my dream to fly without the help of an aircraft, and now that I finally got it, it was taken away just because Jake was pure magic, and killing him destroyed that possibility" he complained
"well, it was for the best, after all, if we let him live, he could have gotten out again, and who knows what he could have done when he's prepared for our strategy, there would not be a second time for saving the world"
"Yeah, your right, and maybe there will be a time in the future that we can fly again, that would be awesome," he said, looking up at the ceiling
she leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder, sighing, he wrapped his arm around her, resting it on the shoulder farthest from him, they sat like that for a while, just comfortable, they had discovered that, just like their siblings, they liked cuddling, it was just something that made them feel good, one time, they had been sitting just how they are at Linka's house, when Ron showed up, he had gotten so mad, and accused linka of cheating, to which she was forced to explain the multiverse to her boyfriend, he understood, but was still not pleased with the fact that she would be so close to anyone other than him, ronnie-anne, however, had been more open to it, and even joined them on a few occasions, they sat in silence for a while, until gleam came flying downstairs, and into the living room, he perched on Lincolns head, and started chewing on his hair
"I've gotta feed gleam, but I'll be back" he assured her, before leaving to the kitchen, he went to the fridge, and looked around, nothing, next he checked the freezer, since they sometimes froze food to keep it from spoiling, but that yielded no results either, he walked back to the living room, were linka looked at him hopefully
"there's no fruit, we gotta go out and get some" he explained
linka stood up, and walked over to the door, opening it for him "hurry up, I was comfy" she said as he went over to the door, they stepped out together, and here almost immediately greeted by Mr grouse's harsh voice shouting from the upstairs window
"alright loud, thirteen of you is enough, we don't need clones as well"
"Yeah, and one of you is enough... to make me GAG" linka shouted back
Mr grouse huffed angrily, before slamming his window shut, linka put her hand up, and lincoln gave her a high-five, they walked gleefully along the sidewalk, trying there best to ignore the stares from others, they had done this before, but no-one could wrap there head around it, everyone was familiar with all the Louds, so when someone that looked similar appeared, eyebrows were raised frequently, but when a carbon copy of one of them turns up, it left people wondering if they had miss-counted and if there were actually 14 people at 1216 Franklin Avenue, but in reality, there were still 13 people, just two houses, linked by an interdimensional bridge
"so, how are you gonna buy anything with no money," linka asked
"I never said that we were going to the store" lincoln replied
then why are we walking towards it" she asked
the forest is right by it, and last time I was there, I saw some apple trees" he replied
"I thought apples were farmed, I didn't know they grew in the wild" she replied
they came into view of the forest, the pine's and oaks stood dauntingly over them, the walked to where a nature trail entrance was and entered the foliage, they heard some rustling in the brush but paid it no attention, instead choosing to continue down the long and winding gravel path
"apples grow in the wild, they didn't just poof into existence the moment farmers appeared," he told her
"well, wouldn't be the most unbelievable thing that's happened" she replied
there was another rustling sound in the bush, and gleam flew off of Lincolns shoulder, squeaking and flying in circles above the source
"is that who I think it is," linka asked, looking into the bush, and seeing a hint of purple
"yep, it is," he replied "ronnie, we can see you" lincoln spoke
"dangit" she spoke, before standing up, and walking to them, her knees were covered with a bit of dirt, probably from kneeling, and her hair was a mess
"spying" lincoln asked in a heavily annoyed tone
"well, I wanted to know what my boyfriend and his gender-bent clone get up to when I'm not here, apparently, it's not all that interesting" she replied
"well, what were you expecting, was the same, so there's not going to be much peer preassure," linka said "although, between us, I think I'm braver than lincoln"
"Hey, that's not necessary" lincoln frowned
"it's true" ronnie quipped, looking smugly at him
lincoln walked up to her and gave her a kiss to the lips, catching her completely off guard, her eyes popped wide, and her grin disappeared for a second in embarrassment
"would a wuss do that" he shouted as he ran down the trail, gleam flying after him
"yeah, and he's also gonna hit the ground" ronnie shouted, grabbing Linka's wrist, and chasing after him
they ran relentlessly for at least five minutes, until lincoln had run out of breath, and dropped to his knees, "alright, I surrender" he spoke breathlessly
"you won't get away that easily," ronnie said, kneeling in front of him, and lifting his chin, giving him a quick peck on the lips, "now we're even" she smiled
"does this mean I get to live," he asked jokingly
"I haven't decided yet," ronnie said, grabbing his arm and pulling him up, he stared into her eyes for a minute, smiling, then something behind her caught his eye
"Hey, there it is" he said, pointing to the tree with the juicy red orbs dangling down, gleam flew excitedly over to the tree, and took a bite of one of the apples, before resting on a nearby branch to finish his meal, lincoln walked up to the tree, he pulled off his polo, and tied the sleeves and neck together, turning it into a makeshift sack, and stuffed as many apples as he could into it
"Hello?, there are girls here" ronnie and linka shouted in unison
"you can take off your shirts too" lincoln simply replied
"what, NO" linka shouted with a disgusted tone
"Well, Ronnie's my girlfriend, and your me," I don't see the problem, but if you aren't comfortable with it, then that's fine," he said while slinging the apples over his shoulder
"you look like a bank robber," linka said in a bored tone
"a hot one" ronnie whispered into her ear
"a what" lincoln asked
"nothing" both ronnie and linka almost shouted
"I heard what you said, I just wanted to hear it again, don't worry, I think you're just as hot like me," he said with a sly grin touching his face
ronnie buried her now-blushing face into her hands, trying to conceal herself from the world
"Hey, if it's any consolation, I think both of you are hot," linka said, looking at both of them, Ronnie's blush disappeared, and was replaced with a white face, just as Lincolns was
"what, I'm open for experimenting, and I am technically dating you," she said, pointing to ronnie, "and lincoln, you and I would kinda just be fancy masturbation if you think about it"
"Yeah, but I don't want to think about it" lincoln replied
"suit yourself"
"Yeah, please keep those thoughts to yourself linka" ronnie spoke, before walking back down the trail
"by the way, when did you find this place," linka asked lincoln
he gave a shrug before replying "lynn was trying to get me to play some sports, and I ran out here to hide, I saw this tree while I was wandering around, and the place just kinda stuck in my head"
they began walking, quickly at first, but slowing down when they caught up to ronnie
"so how have you been holding up without your powers," linka asked, looking to ronnie anne
"okay-ish, I never really got used to having them at my disposal, so it didn't suck as much as it would have for all the others" she replied, still looking forward
"well, at least we're still alive, anyone who was a full bred would have likely disappeared" lincoln quipped
"true enough, though, I kinda wish the battle were a bit more dramatic" ronnie stated
"would you rather someone die, or get a broken bone"? lincoln asked
"well, kind of, it would've added to the drama" she replied
"I can't believe you sometimes," he said, giving a sigh that would make lucy jealous
"let's go back to my place" ronnie suggested, "my mom and bobby are at work, so we'd have the place to ourselves"
"sounds good" linka replied, shortly followed by a look of approval from lincoln, and with that, they changed courses to Ronnie's house