Luna's Limbo

>Leni's the first one downstairs in the morning.
>Or so she thought, as she hears the TV suddenly click off and the couch springs squeak.
>Curious, she goes to investigate, seeing someone in purple laying prone on the couch, her eyes closed.
>"Luna? What are you doing here?" she asks, gently nudging her sister awake.
>A moment of silence, and an exhausted groan creeps out of the prone Loud, weakly pushing herself up to a sitting position.
>Leni was about to say something cheerful, before seeing how bad Luna looked.
>"Jeeze Luna, you look terrible!"
>The rocker winces at her voice. It's just the right pitch to ring through her skull.
>"...Mornin' to you too Leni. I'm...not feeling so hot, you mind tellin' mum I'm going to bed?"
>Leni stares at her. "You mean back to bed?"
>Luna blinks.
>"...Whatever."
>It takes a bit of effort, but she forces herself onto to her feet, and slowly plods to the stairs before struggling to climb up.
>"Goodnight Luna!" Leni calls from the living room. She doesn't hear the groan.
>Luna pushes the door open and staggers into her room. Luan's just finished dressing up, pulling a scrunchy through her hair.
>"Oh, hi Luna!" her roommate chirps. "I got a joke for you. What do you get when yo-uh, Luna? That's my bed."
>Luna ignores her sister. Having no strength to climb to her bunk, she just walks into the edge of Luan's bed, toppling over and lying face-first onto the pillow.
>"Luna, get out of my bed."
>Luna doesn't move. Not an inch.
>Luan doesn't bother pushing the issue. She's gonna be late for school.
>"Eh, whatever, later Luna!"
>And with that, she's out the door, leaving Luna in silence.
>She doesn't move until noon.

>Leni's the first one down the stairs this morning.
>Or so she thought, hearing the TV rambling in the living room.
>Curious, she investigates, seeing Luna laying slack against the armchair.
>"Good morning Luna!" she chirps happily.
>Luna doesn't answer, staring blankly at the TV.
>"Good morning Luna!" she repeats, undaunted.
>Luna's eyes flick from the screen to her painfully loud sister.
>"...What's so morning about it?" She asks.
>"Well, the sun's out, the birds are singing, we're having breakfast, then we're going to school, th-"
>"Please stop. I'm...I'm going to bed."
>Leni's brows furrows slightly. Has this happened before?
>"You mean back to bed?"
>"Just help me up."
>Leni pulls her sister off the couch, and at her later urging, helps her up the stairs and to her room.
>It took a few flicks to the face to convince Leni that Luna doesn't want to go up to her bunk.
>Helping her to the beanbag chair, She puts a blankie on the tired rocker, plants a kiss on her head, then goes out to school.
>She didn't give her the remote to Luan's TV.
>Luna sits there until 3:30.

>Leni's the first on the ground floor this morning.
>Until she hears the TV blaring...in the...living...room...
>Wait.
>Something wrong.
>Not good.
>Leni goes into the living room. Luna's there again, this time on the floor, her neck making an L with her head against the couch.
>"Good morning, L-" Leni stops with her greeting. She furrows her brow in confusion, suddenly in deep thought.
>He she seen this before?
>Was it a dream?
>...No, there'd be cute boys in the house.
>"Luna?" she tests, approaching her sister. "Is everything okay?"
>Aside from a barely audible "uh," Luna doesn't respond. Her eyes are barely focused, staring blankly at the screen.
>Now afraid, Leni steps closer. She can clearly see the heavy black circles under her eyes, and just how bloodshot her eyes are.
>"Luna, what's wrong?" She's afraid now.
>A minute of silence. Then Luna's eyes focus on Leni.
>Another minute. Then she opens her mouth, barely.
>"Uh...b-bed..." she rasps, before taking a deep, shuddering breath.
>Leni has other plans. She turns heel and flees to the kitchen.
>"Lori! Lori, come here!"
>"Leni! For God's sake, stop shouting! You'll wa-get your hands off me! Leni!"
>Leni drags Lori by her arm into the living room, pushing her in and pointing at Luna.
>She hasn't moved.
>"Something's wrong with Luna!" she gushes.
>"I've come down here, like, three times, and three times she's, like, been in here, laying around!"
>"Leni."
>"First she went to her room, then yesterday she needed me to help up, and now she won't look at me or tell me my hair's pretty!"
>"Leni."
>"I tried saying good morning, but she won't answer, and I'm scared to touch her and catch what she has and-"
>"LENI, GET OUT AND EAT SOME BREAKFAST."

>"Oh right, breakfast! I want some yogurt."
>And with that, Leni's gone.
>Lori crouches down and observes Luna.
>She hasn't moved since she came in.
>She doesn't respond to her sister's presence. She's still staring at the TV.
>Lori presses her palm against Luna's forehead.
>Clammy, but nothing to garner concern.
>"Luna? Can you hear me?"
>Luna doesn't answer.
>Lori tries again, putting some firmness in her voice.
>"Luna, turn your head and look at me. Please."
>Luna slowly blinks. That was the first time she blinked, or even moved, since Lori came in two minutes ago.
>Lori puts her hand on her chin and turns her head, snapping her fingers in her face.
>"Focus on me, Luna. Listen to my voice. See my finger?"
>Lori extends her index finger, moving it a few inches in front of her sister's face.
>"Follow my fingers if you can, Luna."
>Lori moves her finger to the left. Ten seconds later, Luna's eyes shift to track it. Then to the right. Twelve seconds.
>Oh wow, her eyes are ragged.
>Trusting her not to disappear, Lori rushes to the kitchen to get some water. She carefully tips the glass against Luna's lips, letting some fluid drip into her dry mouth.
>"Luna..." Lori hesitates.
>"How...many days have you been awake?"
>She doesn't answer.
>She doesn't answer for five minutes.
>Then she looks at Lori's face.
>She licks her lips.
>"F...five..." is all she can rasp before her head slumps back, hitting her head on the couch.
>Lori buries her hands in her face to muffle the loud groan.
>Dear God, she has insomnia.
>She slides her hands underneath her exhausted sibling, hefting her up into a bridal carry.
>Lori mutters and gripes as she carries Luna to her room, dumping her on Leni's bed.
>It's the softest after all.
>"Lincoln!" she shouts down the hall. "Come here!"

>"You bellowed?" Lincoln mutters, stepping into Lori's room.
>"Can it. You have a half-day at school. I want you to come straight home and look after Luna."
>"What? Why? What's wrong with Luna?"
>A soft moan peeps out from Leni.
>"...Why's Luna in your room?"
>"Not so loud. Luna's been having trouble sleeping, and you're the best at following orders. I need you to come home at lunch and try and get her to sleep."
>Lincoln's at Luna's side, placing a hand on her forehead.
>"Is she going to be okay?"
>"It's just some bad insomnia. She'll be fine if she gets some good rest. But this is important, Lincoln, you can't be too loud and cause a racket, or she's just going to get worse."
>Lincoln looks on in worry as Luna struggles to whisper something.
>"I was going to come home anyway, Clyde's busy with his dads."
>Lori stifles a snort at his response. She keeps forgetting that. It's hilarious.
>"Thanks twerp. I owe you one. Luna?"
>A soft moan answers.
>"We have to go to school now. Listen, Lincoln will be home after lunch, he'll look after you. Anything you need, you talk to him. Ok?"
>It takes a minute, but Luna musters the strength to raise her hand and form some horns.
>"Alright kid, let's get you to school. Luna, just sit tight and try to get some sleep, Ok?"
>"s...uh."

>Lincoln arrives at the house after lunch, as he promised.
>He stops at the kitchen and gets some milk, and goes upstairs to check on his sister.
>Luna's still tucked in.
>At least her eyes are closed.
>He creeps back out and fetches the phone, dialing Lori's number.
>"-ove you more. No, I do! Hold on sweety, sorry. What do you want, twerp?"
>"First of all, rude. Second, I'm home. She hasn't moved, but her eyes are closed."
>"Is she breathing?"
>"I think so. What’s going to happen if she doesn't sleep?"
>There's no answser, but he can hear muffled talking on the other end.
>"I'll be home in a couple hours. Keep an eye on her, but don't bother her if you can help it."
>"I can do that."
>"Good. And Lincoln?"
>"Yeah?"
>"Seriously, thanks for looking out for her."
>*clck*
>Lincoln scampers to his room for a few comics and then Luan's director’s chair.
>Placing them at Lori's side of the room, he sits down, cracks open an Ace Savvy, and settles in for the wait.

>Lincoln ran out of reading material within an hour, and had to grab his lappy for things to manage his boredom.
>Don't get him wrong, he's worried about Luna. He loves her, and it hurts like Hell that she's suffering like this.
>Whimpering and shivering like that.
>She tries to say something when he brings her a drink or changes the cloth on her forehead.
>He's holding her hand when he hears the door open and a pile of feet barreling into the house.
>He can hear Lori trying to maintain order and keep the noise down, to little avail.
>Luna reacts oddly to the din, visibly relaxing and taking a deep breath.
>There's a soft knock on the door, then a click as it's opened.
>"Linc? Everything Ok?" Lori peeks in, seeing her brother standing over her little sister.
>"She's been trying to talk to me since I got here. She kinda relaxes when I talk ba - Lori! She just squeezed my hand!" he exclaimed, raising their locked hands to show it.
>"Keep it down!" Lori hissed, glancing at Luna's face. She's very pale, but at least she isn't twitching anymore. Sighing, she sits down on her bed and rubs her eyes.
>"Mom's home in literally..." She taps her phone. "Four hours, and I don't want to explain why her daughter's almost dead again."
>"Again?" Lincoln repeats, joining his sister on the mattress.
>"I shouldn't have said that."
>"Lori, I want to know. Has this happened before?"
>She looks away, staring intently at a light stain on the wall, like she's weighing her options. Then she sighs.

>"It was just after you were born," Lori starts.
>"Luna was just starting to get interested in music, and she was already getting difficult with volume control. On the third day, mom made a blanket order, no noise in the house past...six, maybe seven."
>She pauses to steal Lincoln's pop out of his hand, taking a deep swig before he could wrestle it out of her hands.
>"Thanks. So, the problem with that was that Luna was already needing music to function. Four days after the ban, she started complaining about being tired all the time and unable to sleep."
>Lincoln feels a pang of guilt at hearing this. Is this his fault?
>"How did mom fix this?" He asks. "How did Luna get back to sleeping?"
>Lori shrugs, trying to snatch her brother's drink away, be he pulls his arms back, keeping it out of reach.
>"Not really sure. Mom gave her something to help her sleep, and then dad soundproofed your room. Wait, gave her something. Hold on."
>Getting up, Lori approached Leni's bed.
>"Luna? Can you hear me?"
>"Ruh..." she weakly mumbles back. Well, at least she's communicating. Lori takes her hand to try and make her focus.
>"Did something happen five days ago? Did you stop taking something?"
>"...nu."
>"Did you have a fight with Luan?"
>"...nu."
>"Did you...take something you weren't supposed to?"
>"...ne."
>"Oh thank God," Lori mutters.
>"Doesn't she wear earmuffs when she sleeps?" Lincoln offers. "I didn't see it when I tried to find some stuff to keep her comfortable.
>"Those aren't earmuffs, twerp, those are headp-" Lori stops. "Those are headphones," she whispers.
>She squeezes Luna's hand tightly.
>"Luna, this is important. Where's your music player? Can you tell us where it is?"
>Luna takes a shuddering breath, causing Lori to flinch back. Then with a flicker, her eyes crack open. They're not nearly as red as they used to be, that's something. Her lips tremble.

>Luna looks up through strained eyes, and tries to speak
>At first, nothing comes out.
>Then, mustering her remaining strength, Luna whispers to Lori.
>"I...it broke," she rasps. "M-mum said she'd get a new one next week, and I...I tried to wait, but I'm...I'm so...t..."
>Luna slumps back, the last of her energy spent. She's barely breathing.
>Lori is silent. She changes the washcloth, helps her sip some water, and looks at Lincoln.
>Then his lappy.
>"Do you have any headphones," she says.
>Lincoln winces at the bluntness. He knew what she wanted, and she wasn't asking.
>"...In my room."
>"Get them. Now."
>Lori's hands start shaking, and Lincoln wasn't about to talk back and risk a chair to the head. He scampers off to his room to pull out some old earbuds.
>Then he dejectedly pulls out his nice pair of headphones. They're old, but the sound quality is good. And his sister nee-
>He notices the paper bag on his bed. Wasn't there before. He starts to reach for it, before his sister roars from the other end of the hall.
>"LINCOLN, HURRY UP!"
>"I'm coming, calm down!" he yells back, leaving the bag where it is for now.
>Running back, Lincoln tosses his headphones to Lori, wincing as he sees she has YouTube open, making a playlist.
>"Thanks. Now, she likes British bands, but aside from Swagger, I don't know what to add. You know anyone?"
>"Uh, how about...The  Divine Comedy?"
>Lori taps a few keys and listens to a random song for a few seconds. Being on the chair, Lori has to bend over to reach the keys.
>Lincoln looks to Luna, still lying limp on Leni's bed.
>"Alright, I added some Morissey and some other stuff. What's, uh, Low?"
>Lincoln looks back, under Lori's arm to look at the screen.
>"Oh, um, Luna showed me that a couple weeks ago. It's weird, but pretty atmospheric. She seemed to like it."
>"Alright, I'll lump them in."

>Lori moves the chair closer to the bed, clicks in the headphones, and slips them onto Luna's ears.
>Then she hits play.
>Lincoln grimaces as he can hear the notes play through the speakers. Yeah, they're gonna bust.
>Luna takes a sudden deep breath, mutters something, and her face softens.
>Within two minutes, she's snoring.
>Loudly.
>Lori grimaces now. Very loudly.
>"You know you're not getting the laptop back until Luna gets a new player, right?"
>"...Yeah."
>"You're going to have to find some other way to get spank material."
>"Spank what? Huh?"
>Lori cracks a tired grin.
>"Nothing. Alright, Luna needs her rest, and I need to figure out how to handle this noise. And twerp?"
>"What?"
>"Thanks again. Really. You're a hero. I need to go find Luan. She needs to know Leni's bunking for a couple days."
>Lincoln leaves the room, closing the door with a click, passes through the minefield of the hallway, before returning to his room.
>Feels a bit empty, without his lappy.
>And since he finished his last comic a few hours ago, it's going to be a boring few days.
>Sighing, he hops onto his bed, onto the paper bag.
>Oh, right. That.
>He pulls the nondescript bag from under him, thumbing the lips out of boredom.
>Then he opens and peers in.
>His eyes almost pop out.
>Dumping the contents of the bag, he starts scouring the covers.
>"First edition Ace Savvies?!" He whispered hotly, scrabbling to sort the classic issues.
>"Where did these come from?!"
>The question already gone from his head, he puts on some latex gloves, wraps a sock around his mouth, and cracks open an issue.
>Can't risk damaging the paper.

>Saturday, three days later.
>Leni's almost pulling her hair out after having to put up with Luan's incessant pranks.
>Luan's been toning it down after Lori had a little chat with her.
>Lincoln's about to go downstairs for lunch when he hears a knock on the door.
>Opening it, he finds Luna standing there, holding out his lappy, and a small box.
>"Lori gave me her seal of approval, and mom and dad are getting me a new player tonight. Here's your 'top back, bro," she says, her voice scratchy and firm. "Oh, and, uh, I nuked your headphones, sorry. Oh! But I got you new ones! They're even better!"
>"Thanks Luna. Are you feeling better?" Lincoln asks, taking his precious lappy and placing it back on its chair.
>"Eh, I'm still a bit haggard, but I've had a few good naps lately, bro," she shrugs, turning to go downstairs.
>Lincoln follows. "You look a lot better, too. There's still a little circle, but your eyes look great!"
>Luna ruffles her brother's head.
>"Aw, thanks, luv. Let's get some food 'fore Lori steals it all."
>Then she stops him halfway down the stairs, taking both his hands and facing him.
>"Seriously though, Linc? Um...I wanted to say thanks. For watching out for me on Wednesday. I don't know if you had anything planned, but you stayed home to look after me."
>She pulls him tight, crushing him in a bear hug, and smacks a light kiss on his cheek. All that sound equipment she lugs around has given her some muscle.
>"Now, c'mon! Let's eat!"
>Lincoln smiles happily, following his sister to the kitchen.

~Fin~