Luna's Lullaby (Comfort, no ship or lewd)

Luna’s Lullaby

When she found out tonight was to be one of those rare instances where most of the Loud house had decided to spend the night elsewhere, Luna expected some peace and quiet. At least until everyone started filling back into the house, erupting it into its usual chaos.

Eight of Luna’s siblings had found themselves at a friend’s house for a sleepover, or spending the night at a party in Lori’s case. Her parents and Lily had also left for the night. The only other child still in the house was, of course, her younger brother Lincoln. He never did like to leave the Loud house for long, which worried not only his parents, but also his older siblings. The kid may have been super smart, and very mature, but he wasn’t very sociable.

Regardless, Luna was looking forward to finally getting a full night’s rest without worrying about being woken up by any of her sibling’s usual early-morning antics. Both her and Lincoln were pretty late sleepers, and would more than enjoy those extra few hours of shut-eye.

What Luna didn’t account for, of course, was Lincoln’s own trouble sleeping in an empty house. The maturity and level-headedness that he displayed at such a young age came at a price. Lincoln had nonstop nightmares and night terrors that were only made worse when he wasn’t in close proximity to his sisters, the most powerful consistent forces in his life.

As such, Luna couldn’t exactly be blamed for the sudden terror she felt when she heard the entire Loud house explode in the most terrifying and painful-sounding yell she’d ever heard in her life. Immediately, she was able to discern the terrible sound as coming from Lincoln’s mouth. Still in her sleep wear that consisted of a tight black tanktop and navy blue sweatpants, she raced to her younger brother’s bedroom, all manner of uncomfortable and terrifying thoughts racing through her head.

What if he’s hurt? What if he’s being kidnapped or killed? A million other thoughts raced through her mind and as she threw open the door to his room. Luckily, the sight that greeted Luna wasn’t anywhere near as terrible as the one she had originally imagined. Still asleep in his own pajamas, Lincoln was thrashing about in his bed, screaming and crying profusely.

“Linc,” Luna said, her voice cracking and barely above a whisper.

Once she got a hold of herself, she jumped to action.

“Linc!” Luna yelled, shaking him back and forth. “Linc, wake up!”

“What?” he said, lunging forward to sit up as he regained consciousness. “What happened?”

Suddenly he noticed his sister sitting on the floor the next to his bed, tears in her eyes. “Luna? What’s the matter?”

“What’s the matter?” Luna exclaimed, “you. You were yelling and crying in your sleep, bro!”

“Oh, that,” Lincoln said, sheepishly, “yeah I get like that sometimes. It’s whatever.”

“No, it’s not whatever.” She said, staring her younger brother down. “What’s the matter? Why were you crying?”

“I always have nightmares, Luna,” he answered. “Tonight they were just worse than usual because everyone’s out of the house.”

“So your nightmares get worse when our sisters aren’t in the house?” Luna asked, looking up at Lincoln.

“Yeah, pretty much. It’s nothing to worry about. Sorry for waking you up. If I go back to sleep now, when I’m still awake, it’ll happen again.”

“Oh, Linc,” Luna began, speaking in a motherly tone he’s never heard from her. “You should have let me know. I’d have stayed with you or let you bunk with me tonight.”

“Stop it,” Lincoln said, blushing. “You’re embarrassing me.”

“Am I?” She said, smiling. “Here, move over squirt.”

Lincoln shifted over on his bed to give Luna enough room to comfortably sit down. “Seriously sis, I’ll be okay. You really don’t need to be here. I’ll just read my comics or something until I get tired and pass out. And boom!” He moved his arms for emphasis, “no more nightmares. Problem solved.”

“I don’t care that you woke me up,” Luna said, ruffling her brother’s hair. “I care that you’re in pain and never told anyone. C’mon Linc, you know better than that.”

“Now, what are these nightmares about, bro?” She continued, looking at Lincoln in hopes of answers.

“I don’t know,” he sighed, “they happen all the time. They’re always about one of my sisters, usually them in pain or crying, or being alone. I thought it would be alright tonight, but I guess I was wrong.” Lincoln’s lips began to quiver as he wiped away his already-forming tears.

“Hey,” Luna said, holding his shoulder. “It’s gonna be okay, man. They’re just nightmares. Do you wanna talk about them?”

“Sorry,” she continued, rubbing the back of her neck. “I’m not too good at this. The whole comforting gig was always Lori’s job.”

“I think I’m gonna try to get back to sleep,” Lincoln decided, shutting his eyes and turning away from Luna. “Hopefully, the nightmares left for tonight and I can get some rest before everyone comes home.”

“You sure, bro?” Luna asked, worry evident in her voice. “We can watch a movie or something in my room, if you want.”

“No,” he yawned, “I’m gonna try and fall back to sleep. Don’t let me keep you up.”

She leaned over to Lincoln and giggled before asking him a question “How about I play you a song or something?”

Lincoln sat up and looked at her, not believing what he just heard. “What? Are you serious?”

“Yeah, dude. I used to sing you to sleep all the time when you were a kid.” She smiled down at him and stroked his hair. “You loved it. It was the only way we could get you to actually fall asleep some nights.”

“M-maybe,” he stuttered, looking down at his hands, attempting to avoid his sister’s eyes. “What would you sing for me?”

“Well, you used to love it when I sang Twinkle Little Star for you. How’s that?”

“Y-yeah, that might work.” He answered, casting his eyes to the ceiling.

“Alright, dude. Here goes nothing.”