Ask a Stupid Question

Lincoln Loud and Ronnie Anne Santiago were at Gus' Games and Grub playing Super Rival Fighters Tag Team Wrestling Tournament V Turbo. Both of them were down to their third fighter in a brutal 3-on-3 match when Lincoln spoke up. "Say Ronnie Anne, can I ask you something?" he asked.

Ronnie Anne didn't take her eyes off the game, "If it's how to do Captain Strong's Foxtrot-Tango-Mambo Combo then forget it. It gives me an edge."

The boy shook his head, "Nah it's not that! Nevermind, it's just something stupid that I've been thinking."

She snickers and gives him a smirk, "Like every other stupid thing you think about?"

The Loud boy frowned at this, and suddenly let go of the controls just as Ronnie Anne started imputing a combo attack. She didn't notice that he'd stopped playing until after the combo was finished.

"K.O.!" roared the arcade cabinent, following with "Continue?"

Ronnie turned towards her boyfriend, "C'mon Linc, best three out of five!"

Lincoln put his hands in his pockets and started walking away from the cabinet. He headed down the row of arcade games with a sullen pout.

"GAME OVER PLAYER 2!" announced the fighting game.

Ronnie glared at the cabinet, "Oh, shut it!" she then followed after Lincoln who had stopped in front of a cabinet for The Residence of the Evil Dead 3. "Alright, that was too mean. Sorry about that Lincoln."

Lincoln shrugged as he put a few quarters into the machine, "It's okay, I hear that insult at least twice a week from Lori." he picked up the light gun shaped like a shotgun as the game started.

"Then what's with the sulking?" Ronnie asked as she inserted quarters of her own and picked up the other light gun. "What's on your mind, lame-o?"

Lincoln answered as the first cutscene started, "Well, it's about how we got together."

Ronnie raised an eyebrow, "What's there to think about? We were bored and wanted to play some games." she turned her attention to the screen and started shooting at zombies.

"No, I didn't mean tonight! I meant how we got together as a couple!" he told her, "I'm probably just overthinking it."

"Hey, if you got something on your mind then say it." she said back, "If ya don't, you'll be out of the zone all night and kicking your butt will be too easy."

Lincoln took a deep breath and asked his question: "Why did you pick on me?"

The girl paused for a second. Her side of the screen went red when a zombie bat attacked while she was distracted, the words "Continue?" appeared as Ronnie snapped out of it, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I was thinking back on how this all kinda started with you picking on me." Lincoln explained, "If I remember correctly, I wasn't the only kid you picked on, right?"

Ronnie shrugged and took a seat at a nearby booth, "Yeah, I pick on a lot of losers. Most of 'em got what's coming to them, and any others are just to boost my rep."

Lincoln stopped playing and took a seat across from her, "So where do I fit in? Did I have it coming or was I just an easy target?"

She shakes her head, "Nah, you were just a weirdo."

He raises an eyebrow, "So an easy target?"

She waves her hand, "No, you just acted weird. I mean, you didn't get too upset or anything after the first time I messed with ya."

Lincoln put an elbow on the table and tapped his chin as he thought back, "I remember you tripped me and then mocked me saying I should watch my step."

"And then you just got up and brushed it off like nothing happened! It didn't faze you at all!"

Lincoln shrugged, "What can I say? I know how to take a fall." he looked aside, "Living with ten sisters pretty much made falling down an everyday occurrence."

"So then I started to pick on you more to see how you'd react, I wanted to see how much you could take." she gave him a grin, "Then one day you finally called me out on it."

"You were really starting to get annoying."

Ronnie smirked, stood up, and started walking to another arcade game, "You know, only a handful of morons have ever called me out to fight or something, and nearly all of them were too chicken to show up!"

Lincoln followed at her side, "I don't blame them, you can be really scary when you want to."

"I'll be honest, I started to get nervous when you stepped outside the house like you were on top of the world. Of all things, I didn't expect you to kiss me on the cheek!" the two stopped at the cabinets for the multiplayer racing game "Crazy Cruis'n GTR" and each sat down on the racing seats.

"I was thinking of kissing you on the lips, but I got nervous." Lincoln admitted, albeit embarrassed. "And then you punched me in the face."

Ronnie's cheeks turned red a little, "Sorry, I didn't know how to react! After the kiss, my fist just moved on it's own and I gave you a shiner!"

Lincoln picked his car to race, "And after getting that sorry note, I got the idea that you were a tsundere."

Her face scrunched up while trying to identify that word, "Soon-what now?"

"Tsundere. It's a manga term that describes a character who's violent to their love interest most of the time, but are sometimes sweet to them." he explained, "Mostly they're girls with red hair and emotional problems."

Ronnie laughs at that as the race starts, "Sheesh, that sounds like an abusive relationship waiting to happen!"

Lincoln laughs with her, "I know, right? Pretty much every relationship with a tsundere has verbal or physical abuse towards the guy, and it's meant to be funny because it only happens to the guy."

More laughter is had, "Dude, that's kinda messed up!"

"Yeah, but they're still a step up from yanderes who straight up kill their love interests if they don't like them back."

"You read a lot of messed up junk Lincoln!"

By now the race was over with Lincoln coming in first place. The two got off the racing seats and headed over to the skeeball machines.

"So, what made you want to be my girlfriend?" Lincoln asked as he put in his quarters.

"Is that another stupid thing you think about?" she asks teasingly as she puts in her quarters.

"Yes, yes it is." he says as he throws a ball down the ramp.

"You're interesting." Ronnie puts a spin on her thrown ball to help it into a higher hole.

Lincoln smirks at her, "Oh really?"

"Yeah, really!" she pointed at his hair, "I mean, you got white hair for starters! Why? Do you bleach it or is it from stress?"

He shrugs, "Eh, I'd rather not talk about it."

"Well whatever it is, I like it."

"Thanks Ronnie."

The two continued to play skeeball until they ran out of balls. Ronnie Anne finished first, and tickets came out of the machine "So, you got any other stupid questions Lincoln?" Ronnie asked.

Lincoln shook his head as he threw his last ball, "I guess what really matters now is that we're happy together. Are you happy?"

Ronnie nodded with a grin, "Of course I am! You gotta stop asking stupid questions Linc."

He shrugs with a smile, "Can't help it, it's just how I am."

She gives him a small kiss on the cheek, "And I love ya for it."

Lincoln's cheek turned a light red as he blushed. In retaliation, he took her by the hand and gently pulled her in for a kiss on the lips.

Ronnie was a bit surprised, but wrapped her free arm around Lincoln's shoulder during the short embrace as she kissed back. They soon released one another, both slightly embarrassed as they looked around to see if anyone saw them.

"So ... you ready to head home?" he sheepishly asked.

She shakes her head, "Nah, I've got a fistful of quarters left and there's still a bunch of games to play."

He offers her his hand, "Shall we then?"

"As if you have to ask!" she takes his hand and the two headed for their next game.