40. Ch 40- A New Exercise Experience

(A/N: Hey, guys, quick apology. I know I've already mentioned that I'm back at Uni, so sorry for this being late. As much as I enjoy writing and want to keep making regular uploads, I'm not sure how much I can keep up a regular upload schedule for the next few months, so… no promises anymore. I'll do what I can, but no guarantees.

Thank you for reading, and enjoy!)

For Lincoln, the school day seemed to just fade away- his classes weren't exciting but they didn't drag on at all, he had chatted with his friends at break and sat with the girls and Artie at lunch again, and though they were quick to ask him about what he told Lynn, it didn't feel any different to any other day. Even as the final bell of the day rang, and he began to pack his things up, the day felt the same as any other. It wasn't a bad thing, by any means- just, ironically, different to usual. As he walked over to his locker and began to sort his things out, he heard the locker next to his shut.

"Hey, Lincoln," Clyde spoke, the white haired child closing the door to face him. "We're gonna head by Gus' on our way home. Apparently, they just got the new Eradicator machines set up!"

"No way! The ones based on the new movie?"

"You betcha! So, what do you say? You in?"

"Sorry, buddy, but I have to head home. Lynn wants to help me workout."

Clyde nodded, Lincoln having told him about how the sporty Loud sister now knew the truth about his extra curricular activity. "Okay. We'll let you know how it is. Hopefully, it's not as bad as the Exydus ones."

Both boys shuddered at the memories of that film. "I hear you. Well, thanks. I'll see you tomorrow." They both waved as they went their separate ways, with Lincoln heading to the front entrance, stepping outside to see that his younger sisters (sans Lily) were stood waiting for Vanzilla to turn up. "Any message from Lori?"

"Afraid not, elder fraternal relative," Lisa explained, wiping the smudge off of her glasses. "Our eldest sororal sibling's current unexpected tardiness is-"

"She's just running late," Lucy explained in quicker fashion, irking the four year old PhD slightly.

"Precisely…"

"Don't worry, girls, I'm sure she'll be here soon," Lincoln assured.

"She'd better be," Lana grumbled, which made Lola roll her eyes.

"Ignore her," Lola insisted. "She's just a little mad about what happened in class earlier."

Lana slapped her on the shoulder, blushing furiously. "Shut up!"

Lincoln could see the fire in their eyes as they glared at each other, so he quickly stepped between them before a fight could break out. "Girls, calm down!" He quickly told them, putting a hand on each of their shoulders to keep them apart. "Now, Lola, you know that wasn't fair. If something happened in class, then Lana doesn't have to talk about it, and you shouldn't talk about it if she doesn't want you to. Okay?"

The pageant princess rolled her eyes, spitting out a "Whatever" as she returned her gaze to watching for Lori to show up.

"Thanks, bro," Lana told her brother, who smiled back at her.

"It's okay, Lana," he replied, before looking up and seeing Vanzilla draw near. "They're here."

Eventually, the relic of a van pulled up in front of them, with Lori rolling down the window. "Sorry about that, traffic was literally a nightmare for some reason," she explained. "Anywho, get in. I've got a video call with Bobby later, and I'm not going to be late for it."

"Then maybe don't be late here," Lana whispered to her brother, who chuckled back.

"C'mon, let's just go home."

After letting his sisters get in first, Lincoln climbed into Vanzilla, sitting next to Lynn and strapping himself in. Once she was certain everyone was secure and the doors were closed, Lori began to drive on home, the rest of the sisters doing their own things to pass the time. After a moment, Lynn nudged her brother to get his attention.

"So, bro, I got some research done," she explained to him. "I'll be honest, most of it was all of the sciencey stuff to it, which I had to skim past or I was gonna fall asleep."

Lincoln once again found himself chuckling. "Why am I not surprised?"

She lightly pushed him on his shoulder, reminding him, "Hey, I'm doing this to help you, remember?" He held up his hands in defence, allowing her to continue. "Anyway, once I got past all of that stuff, I managed to find the important stuff, and I've managed to come up with a new workout schedule for you. Fortunately, my practices are either during lunch, on the weekend or when you have practice, so I'm gonna be coaching you through it."

"Well, I appreciate it, Lynn. It means a lot to me."

"Ah, don't get all mushy on me." He rolled his eyes, but she continued before he could say anything about it. "So, we're gonna do the regular workout on Wednesdays, and do our parkour runs on Fridays. Today, though, we're gonna do something different." She anticipated what he was going to say the second his mouth opened, so she quickly added, "soon as we get home, get some workout gear on, and I'll tell you what it is. Just know we're gonna need the TV for it, and I've reserved it for after dinner."

"What?!" They heard Lola yell from the backseats of Vanzilla. "But my prison pageant season premiere is on!"

"Sorry, Loles, but I got dibs on it."

"But, that's not fair!"

"Lola, we can DVR it for you, if you like," Lincoln offered, but when he turned around in his seat, he saw she was pouting. Having known her for her whole life, however, he knew the trick. "And, if it helps, I'll be your butler for your tea party next Saturday."

"… Okay, deal," she accepted, a smile returning to her face.

"You know you're probably going to regret that later," Lynn told him, to which he shrugged.

"Maybe, but I'd rather regret it later than deal with an argument now."

"Touché."

After the 'eventful as always' ride back home, the Loud siblings all went off to do their own things, making the Loud House live up to its reputation, with the usual sounds of rock music, sibling arguments, laughter and a minor explosion filling the air, until it was time for dinner. Everyone gathered in the dining room and sat down to be served their weekly helping of meatballs, which they happily ate whilst talking amongst each other about things such as school, plans they have made with their friends for the weekend, and their usual activities, with Leni reminding Lincoln about how they will be heading to Jordan's house on Wednesday to continue work for her fashion show. Of course, this led to a couple of his sisters making jokes about him and Jordan becoming an item at the show, but the presence of their parents made most of them keep quiet about it, which he was thankful for.

Once everyone had finished their food and their parents allowed them to leave the table, they resumed with their usual activities. The only exception to this was Lincoln, who instead went into his room and traded his regular clothes for a tank top and some shorts. 'Time to go see what Lynn has in store for me,' he pondered. Heading out of his room, he dodged his sisters on the landing and made his way downstairs, where he saw Lynn in the living room, moving the couch to the back of the room. The coffee table had been moved to one side, and two mats were laid out facing the TV screen. As he reached the bottom step, she looked and saw him, and smiled.

"About time!" She joked, making him roll his eyes. "What took you so long?"

"Lynn, I was gone for two minutes," he argued. "If anything, I should be surprised it took you two minutes to move the coffee table and the couch."

"Pffft! That only took ten seconds. I was waiting for mom to get the DVD for me."

He raised an eyebrow as he asked, "DVD?"

"You'll see. Anyway, get on one of the mats." Knowing better than to question her, he obliged, walking over to the mat on the right, while his sister walked over to the TV stand, where she picked up a case and took the DVD out, before putting it in the DVD player. As it began to load, she grabbed the remote and walked over to the other mat. "So, gonna be honest- I'm about as new to this as you, bro."

"You are?"

"Yep. So, yeah, this could go one of two ways, but I'm gonna give it a go."

"So, what are we-" he stopped himself when he saw that, on the TV, the screen showed the main menu for a yoga workout, with a woman in a tank top and yoga pants sat in the lotus position, bringing a blush to his face. "Bah… bah… bah… bah…"

Hearing her brother make these noises made Lynn look back and forth between him and the screen, a grin coming to her face as she realised what was causing it. "You want me to leave you two alone?" She joked, making him blush even more and look away from her. "I hate to see what you'd be like when puberty hits, Stinkoln."

"Don't even remind me."

She sniggered, before telling him, "well, better get your head in the game. If you need to focus, just imagine it's your teacher or something. I dunno, whatever gets your mind out of the gutter." He rolled his eyes at her crude attempt at a joke. "Anyway, let's just start this and see how we do."

She pressed select on the remote, which started the video. After Lynn put the remote back on the coffee table and returned to the mat, the woman in yoga pants had walked into a yoga studio. "Hello, and welcome to this introductory yoga video. I'm Kathleen, and I'll be your instructor today."

'Dang it, why did she have to sound like a goddess?' Lincoln mentally groaned. 'Okay, relax, Lincoln. Just follow her instructions.'

"Now, most people know that yoga is a good way to improve flexibility, but it has many other benefits. It can help to strengthen and tone your muscles, increase your vitality, help you to prevent injury and give you an all round improved athletic ability. It can also help you with breathing, which is important in any aspect of life, so that's how I like to start every session I do. Start by sitting in the lotus position." The two siblings followed the instructor, sitting down on their mats with legs crossed. As she led them through the opening breathing exercises, she led them through a series of stretches to warm them up for the coming poses. The minute or so during which this transpired led to Lincoln and, to an extent, Lynn becoming quite relaxed, feeling at peace as they breathed deeply and rhythmically. Eventually, Kathleen spoke once more, ending the warm up. "Okay. Now that we're ready begin, let's get to our hands and knees, and we'll start with the pose that most people think of when they think of yoga- the downward facing dog."

"Heh. This really is for beginners," Lynn boasted, which made Lincoln inwardly chuckle.

'She's gonna regret that,' he thought to himself.

"Start by making sure your hands are beneath your shoulders, and your knees are beneath your hips. Breathe in… and out. Now, curling your toes and pushing back through your hands, lift your hips up into the air." They both followed the instruction of the woman on screen, lifting themselves up so their bodies made upside down V shapes. "Make sure that the weight is going into your legs. Now, again, breathe in… and out…" As he breathed, Lincoln's eyes glanced over to Lynn, who seemed slightly shaky, just like he was, but he didn't say anything in case he tripped. "Next, try bending one knee, then switch to the other. Breathe in each time you bend a knee, and breathe out when you extend it, like so." Lincoln struggled a little, but was able to bend his knee towards his chest, breathing in as it bent and breathing out as he extended it, then repeating with the other leg. Lynn, though she was boastful before, found herself struggling in the same way as her brother, her straight leg shaking when she blended her other leg. After a few bends and extensions with each knee, the instructor spoke once more. "Now, to finish this pose off, we're gonna breathe in as we go to our toes, then as we exhale, push through your hands and bring both knees towards your chest."

The two Louds followed her instruction, bringing their knees up and towards their chests, doing their best to maintain their breathing as they held the pose. For a moment, they were okay, until Lincoln's hand slipped, making him collapse on the floor. While Lynn chuckled at first, her hand did the same thing, making her collapse right next to him. Looking at each other for a few seconds, they didn't say anything until they started laughing louder together, flat on their backs in near hysterics about their mishap.

"Well, I dunno about you, bro," Lynn said between laughter, "but I don't think that's why they call it the downward dog!"

He laughed in response as he got to a seated position, before telling her, "that sounds like something Luan would say." While she rolled her eyes, he got to his feet, then extended his hand to her. "Need a hand?"

She scoffed, before proceeding to place her hands behind her head, lift her feet up, and kip-up to her feet, catching him off guard. "That answer your question?"

After a second, he smirked and told her, "remind me to ask you to teach me that."

"Sure thing, Link. First, though, more yoga."

After getting back on their mats, the two Louds watched as Kathleen took them through a few more poses in a step by step manner, and while they still struggled a bit with some of the poses, they managed to get through the workout, and after the instructor led them through some final breathing exercises and stretches, they just sat on their mats for a few seconds, smiling.

"Well, that could have gone better," Lynn finally admitted, shaking her arms a little. "Still, not a bad first session, eh, bro?"

"Yeah," he replied. "I'll be honest, that was tougher than I was expecting, and if that's a beginners routine, I'd hate to see what a regular session looks like."

Lynn couldn't help but chuckle at his comment. "Yeah, that's only because it's your first session, mine too. Give it a few weeks or so, you'll get the hang of it."

He smiled and told her, "thanks, Lynn. I appreciate you doing this with me. It's been pretty fun."

"Ah, come here." She pulled her brother into a side hug, which he happily returned. "Now, come on. Let's go grab a protein shake." His face changed to one of mild disgust. "Ah, they're not that bad. Just think of it like a milkshake."

"Yeah, but milkshakes actually taste nice."

"Okay, three things. First, you can eat a PB and J with sauerkraut, yet you think this is disgusting?" He shrugged, to which she shook her head. "Second of all, if you want it to taste nice, you've gotta experiment a bit. Try bananas and blueberries, or something like that, and add a little bit of chocolate. Besides, feel glad I'm not making you drink kale and fish oil." She shuddered, remembering the taste. "Now, that was disgusting."

"Yeah, you've got a point there. Let's just get this over with." She chuckled again, leading her brother into the kitchen, where she found a couple of glasses and put them next to the blender. After pouring in some protein powder, she chose to add some strawberries and bananas, then added the milk and mixed it all together, before pouring it into the glasses. They each grabbed a glass and held it up. "Cheers, Lynn."

"Cheers, bro."

CLINK!